PS Plus, Xbox Game Pass Are Not the Future of Gaming, Says US Analyst

For the first few years of this generation, a number of industry analysts argued Sony may need to add first-party games to PS Plus at launch in order to maintain pace with Xbox Game Pass.

The Japanese giant, to its credit, always maintained its position that this was unsustainable. It later added tiers to its subscription offering, providing good value with PS Plus Extra and PS Plus Premium without going all-in like its Redmond rival.

Microsoft has since missed a number of targets with its own service, and has subsequently started releasing games like Forza Horizon 5 and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle on Sony’s console.

[italiangamer]

Well Sony never said that, the other camp did and we all know how that went.

[goken]

Not all know. I am betting those observing this while obscured may have trouble comprehending 😅

[dveio]

Back in the day, there were even discussions and I believe statements from Spencer about wether Sony would allow Game Pass on Playstation.

At least for the time being this option seems definitely to be ruled out completely.

[ravens52]

Duh.

[PanicMechanic]

Even though Matt Piscatella eats a tub of butter for breakfast every morning, he’s still right in this case

[1Victor]

🤣 every time I see a “analyst said” in a headline without naming the analyst I think what did Pacter said this time 🤦🏿

[crazyCoconuts]

Even a dead clock is right twice a day

[TheColbertinator]

Instead of chewing gum, Piscatella chews bacon.

[Terry_B]

Only two things are completely sure for the future of gaming. 100% digital and consoles will be a thing of the past. Its just a matter of time.

[BehindTheRows]

“Consoles will be a thing of the past”.

Yeah, right. We’ve been hearing that since the past. As long as Nintendo and PlayStation continue to appeal to huge parts of the markets that they do, consoles aren’t going anywhere.

[Lightning77]

With Nintendo with all their high prices on everything. Yep sounds like a great future for us. Or PS constant remasters and creeping up prices. The goal is be pay pigs and we'll like it huh?

Nope it's best to have 3 for accountability and checks. I wouldn't expect you to understand any of that.

[BehindTheRows]

@Lightning77

Nintendo and Sony will still have consoles in the future. They appeal to HUGE markets. Pretty easy to understand.

That said, because I know how discussions with you go (usually turn hostile and/or personal), I'm not going to engage further. Life's too good for that.

[darthv72]

The consoles you look to now are more akin to PC. So technically... Terry is not wrong. The days where each one was built in house, and was unique in how they achieved things on screen are long gone. About the only thing unique now is the case... and even that is lacking in style.

[Lightning77]

You realize Xbox is having another platform right?

Hostile? Depends if you argue facts things can get ugly, if you accept facts then thing will be smooth.

[Terry_B]

blabla.

Sooner or later we will have just one device that can play everything. ..sadly most likely just stream everything.

Might be in 10 years, maybe 15..

[crazyCoconuts]

I'm with you on digital, but physics will keep local hardware relevant for the foreseeable future. Whether it's a console tied to a TV or hardware tied to something else (headsets, glasses, etc) is up for debate

[BehindTheRows]

@darthv72

Stylistically, consoles look more like PCs, but they still perform like closed loop systems (what they are). They still have nowhere near the customization and freedom we have on PC.

Besides, he can't be "right" until consoles cease to exist. :-P

[darthv72]

I did say technically. Even a PC with a controller can be called a console if you really wanted to.

[BehindTheRows]

@darthv72

But it couldn’t, because the functions of a PC will never be the same. Consoles remain closed loop and uncustomizable outside of aesthetics. Until Nintendo and Sony no longer see it viable to keep these boxes around, they’ll exist in some form, especially within the next 10-20 years.

[BehindTheRows]

"Blabla" indeed. We've been hearing this same thing for well OVER 15 years. I expect it will continue.

Right now, however, nothing suggests consoles are going anywhere. Not when two of the brands sell north of 100 million and the business model continues to boom.

[SimpleDad]

I also remember that Spencer said Gamepass subs are resulting in more game purchases...
Expedition 33 has 96% game units sold on PlayStation.

[Scissorman]

Don't believe that used car salesman, lol.

[DivineHand125]

This may be a case of an idea being ahead of its time. With the price of hardware and games getting more expensive coupled with supply issues, an option to play games at a cheaper upfront cost than before whether local or on the cloud, would lead people to make compromises and take advantage of it.

The meaning of physical games are being tested on the Nintendo switch 2 and it is only a matter of time before others follow.

[crazyCoconuts]

The "lease a console in the cloud" use case for lower income families may still exist, but neither MS or PS are making that pitch. Their streaming options are only available at the highest tier which is probably out of the low income price range.
Maybe a streaming option that doesn't include any monthly games at $5/month would be a better fit for that market. Basically renting a console in the cloud.

[DivineHand125]

When those streaming services were first put forward, they didn't have the same premium price point they have now. It was actually affordable even for low-income families. The current market conditions have caused prices to increase because they didn't take off as expected.

The hardware situation for chips is not getting better and, instead, it is getting worse in current times with not only high demand but with governments trying to manipulate the manufacturing and distribution channels.

My point is that the idea was ahead of its time, because gamers will not opt into those options on mass unless they have no choice.

[BehindTheRows]

Well, no. Of course they aren’t. Fortunately, Sony never said that, so it leaves Microsoft and clearly it wasn’t what they expected either.

Of course, Game Pass still works, it’s just not going to cause any real shift in the industry. For the most part, people still prefer to buy games.

[yenevar]

"Of course, Game Pass still works"

No it doesn't, it's not profitable. It's unsustainable, Microsoft's targets are unreachable. Even adding CoD increased revenue less than the projected gains from the increase to the cost of subs they did right before.

"it’s just not going to cause any real shift in the industry"

It already has, and it's not been for the positive.

[BehindTheRows]

"It already has, and it's not been for the positive."

Not the kind of shift it needed to make that sort of dent. Even with PlayStation Plus' existence, Sony still doesn't rely on it like Microsoft does with GP.

So, it's more of an experiment and, thus far, hasn't moved the needle, but it DOES still work and when it stops doing that, it will be given the ax.

[yenevar]

The basic thing here is that Microsoft has 25+ studios, at some point the cost of game creation at those studios needs to be in line with profit, and Game Pass is not making enough profit to pay those costs.

This is why they are putting their games on other devices, but that is certainly no guarantee of success.

Game Pass is costing them money. If selling their games on PlayStation and Nintendo doesn't make up the difference and they can't get the subscriber numbers they need, then at some point things will happen that bring it back into line.

[BehindTheRows]

Overall, I agree with you. It won't sustain itself beyond a certain point. I was mainly in the mindset that it hasn't done enough to shift the whole industry to mimic it (and that is a very good thing)!

[VersusDMC]

People also need to realize that if subscriptions were the future then it would just mean more subscription services and less games on your current service.

It would be Capcom pass, Square pass, Sega pass, etc...

[jznrpg]

As long as there is physical copies with the game on the disc I’ll keep buying games.

[OldDuffer]

It's great for consumers who want to play everything of course. But GPU costs £180 a year which is pretty much 3 brand new games owned outright, which is what most casual consumers want from their console... it doesn't make sense to many in the market, which is why subs are not increasing despite some incredible titles on the service.

For those of us for whom it represents great value - eat well while its still here!