I expect Game Pass to grow rapidly, because of its integration with social media platforms and partnerships with device makers.
To compete in the Cloud Gaming market and be a dominate player, you need both of these things.
Project XCloud has a lot of potentials to bring exposure to the Xbox ecosystem and brand. The partnership with Facebook has pretty much meant that Sony is now left out of the cold to find a partner with a social media company.
I have to say Sony truly has squandered any hope for PSNow to be a big player in the Cloud gaming market.
How is this different from local gameplay? Local gameplay suffers from the same problem.
I don't think many people realise how much of a disadvantage Sony is at partnering with device makers and the consequences it will have on the future growth of PSNow.
In the streaming market, exposure is key and Microsoft potentially bundling Game Pass with Smart TVs, TV boxes, mobile devices are a BIG advantage.
Because PS is their core business, Sony cannot sustain the losses that PS Now will endure in a subscription gaming market, especially if it becomes the dominant way to compete, Companies will keep their core business profits and revenue high and use that money to subsidise to invade into other markets.
If Microsoft subsidises Game Pass and it gains major traction, Sony will need to sacrifice their core business profits and revenue to compete.
First Party ...
It's pretty much inevitable that Game Pass will have the most subscribers within the Console Industry and outside Consoles.
Subscriptions Services, especially in the entertainment industry, is VERY hard.
Sub gaming services need to accomplish 3 things to be successful in the long run:
1. Be profitable enough to be sustainable for the platform
2. Fair compensation for content creators
3. Sustain enough content at a low enough...
It's sustainable for MS because they can absorb the losses without making an impact to the overall company. Whereas Nintendo and Sony were they to follow suit, it would cause a massive impact to the company and could bankrupt them.
It's sustainable for Microsoft. Its highly doubtful its sustainable for companies like Sony. This is probably why MS is doing it.
There will be a place for Consoles but its future is only for hardcore gamers and not the mainstream casual gamer. They will most likely move to Streaming.
PS Now is pretty much irrelevant at this point because Sony doesn't put their games and invest enough in the service, therefore it will be ignored.
Because consoles are toys whereas computers and Smartphones are essential tools in modern society.
Consoles exclusives will absolutely go away, it's inevitable. If Sony wants a space in the Cloud Gaming Platform space, they would need to kill of Console Exclusives and not tie their content to hardware.
From the way things are going, Sony is going to irrelevant in the Cloud Subscription space, because Sony fans want them to focus on Consoles.
Discs have been declining in sales for years now.
The reality is that different generations have different taste, younger people will likely prefer subscriptions over purchases.
Because along with Stadia indies and third parties continue to ignore PS Now and the X019 event shows it.
The key in getting a foothold in the market is low prices good content and value and infrastructure, partnerships. Microsoft has the ability to have a lower barrier of entry with XCloud now supporting Game Pass. They also have their first-party content on Game Pass/XCloud and their content is improving, Game Pass has much more value than PS Now and Azure Data centres are in the country. Microsoft already has the ability to get strong partnerships with carriers as shown with them partnering wi...
PS Now offers no incentive for users to keep subscribing to the service. 3 Months for first-party SP games isn't enough to keep them. That alone is why PS Now will likely struggle in this type of market.
Other problems include Sony's short term gain mentality for profit first vs growth first.
I think we can all agree that this business model is hard to money and you need Big Money to sustain. Something Sony doesn't have.
Sony's focus on profit first will reduce growth in the service. 700K user base of PS Now is a consequence of that. If you want aggressive growth you need to sacrifice profit to do that, if you want profit you need to sacrifice growth.
Game Pass is likely at around 10 Million Subs, exactly because Microsoft is willing to sacrifice profit for growth in the user base.
Economics differs from large companies to smaller companies and how much of the business matters to the overall company. Microsoft doesn't care about losing money on Game Pass, because Xbox is currently in aggressive invest mode and all they care is about getting Game Pass subs, MS is also large enough to absorb the losses made and Xbox contribution to the overall company is small.
Sony is the opposite, they are a smaller company, so they don't have much of an abili...
Sony will never be a big player in the Cloud gaming market. Their business model is focused on traditional consoles and selling games at $60. Cloud Gaming thrives on monthly subscriptions with access to unlimited content. Unless Sony can transition their games onto PSNow in a sustainable way, they will be irrelevant to the Cloud gaming discussion.