The discreet announcement of the arrival of Ubisoft+ on Xbox not only generated criticism from players who consider that its price is an abuse given the offer of titles it has, it also served as a pretext to reveal information about this young sector in gaming. with data that attracts a lot of attention.
Video: What the heck is the new PlayStation Plus?
Players no longer spend as much on gaming services
After the community and the media attacked Ubisoft for the price of its service on Xbox, Mat Piscatella, an analyst at Circana, took the opportunity to reveal data to consider regarding the video game subscription services business, which experienced a bonanza during the times of the pandemic. According to Circana’s Games Market Dynamics report, spending on video game services continues to grow in the United States, one of the most important markets for this sector, but it is far from the numbers it registered a couple of years ago.
Anyways, according to Circana’s Games Market Dynamics reporting, spending on VG subscription services is still growing, but that growth rate is slowing. In Feb 2023, U.S. subscription spending grew 5% vs YA. This compares to +7% in Feb 22 vs Feb 21 and +38% in Feb 21 vs Feb 20.
— Mat Piscatella (@MatPiscatella) April 13, 2023
As shown in the publication, from February 2022 to February 2023 there was a 5% increase in spending, however in the same period from 2021 to 2022 spending was 7% and in the case of 2020 to 2021 was 38%. These data are not to set off alarm bells, but they do show that the gaming services business has emerged from the bubble of the pandemic and could soon see its fair share.
In case you missed it: “Best Game Pass payment”, Xbox players criticize Ubisoft+ for its high price
It should be noted that as has happened with music, TV and movie services, saturation, inflation and different factors could lead to a price increase and a change in the offer to the public. Video game services are no stranger to this and while they are not expected to fall (for now) in situations like streaming services with higher priced packages to avoid commercials or be accessible with ads, the future could bring price increases and perhaps new subscription levels to access content, just like the revamped PlayStation Plus did.
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