It's a meager consolation, but there will be a new batch next year.
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Game Pass has failed to meet Microsofts projections for growth in the past year. It had been pitched for new subs to rise by 48% but reached 37% instead.
Lots of speculation is being bandied around about why this might be the case, mostly on Series X shortages and Halo being delayed. My own view is that Halo will be a factor (though temporary for many who would drop it shortly after release) and that Series X shortages aren't much of a needle mover. I think it likely swings back to things opening up again post-COVID meaning people have less time for gaming and also GP having a lower subs ceiling than many think it does.
Phil Spencer has said that MS Studios still wish to at some point make Killer Instinct 4
He also said MS isn't finished buying up new studios
However, Xbox is 100% not headed into the VR gaming spaceComment
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Originally posted by Neon Ignition View Post
Errrrm, its not that difficult to guess, go on ill give everyone 1 go, and its NOT because of SeriesX shortages.Comment
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It's not difficult to guess, but it'll still only be that... a guess.
So they're 11% off they're original predictions which I wouldn't say paints an entirely negative picture of where we're at with the service.
If anything all the possible influences mentioned could be real factors, plus predicting anything in the current market would arguably be extremely more difficult than usual.
Personally I think it's safe to expect a lull right now,... we're approaching christmas though and Xbox has two major firsty party releases coming in the next two months. You'd expect another spike in subscribers followed by a new year lull.Comment
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Horizon 5 will definitely lead to a push in numbers as the platforms biggest release. Infinite to a small extent given the ropey lead in it's recieving and how the MP is F2P anyway.
Presumably we'll see some shake up in the new year regardless as whilst growth is growth it's still a big swing and a miss target wise so they'll want to adjust. It also highlights how essential it is for them to start getting notable games out on Game Pass which are still missing.Comment
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The more I see of it the more I think Forza Horizon 5 is shaping up to be something of a masterpiece.
Its obviously sitting on top of its predecessors core DNA but listening to Digital Foundry talk about it on their recent podcast, and others in the industry... the general feedback is its just superb both technically and from a gameplay standpoint.
All eyes are on Halo Infinite right now and yet I think Forza is going to be the more important title next month.Comment
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If they wish to grow gamepass they need exclusives on the xbox platform/hardware to push it.Comment
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What a world we live in when 37% growth is considered a failure (by some).Comment
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They kind of need to simplify it too, most xbox gamer's need gold and gamepass to get the most out of their machine, thats £40 to play online and £120 for gamepass yearly. If they want to be the netflix of games they need to make it idiot proof yeah i know you can get it cheaper by jumping though silly hoops but that's not the point. maybe where just at current market saturation with it though, how do you convert a free to play kid who only plays fortnite or other free to play games? jumping from that to subbing to game pass and gold is a big jump.Originally posted by fishbowlhead View PostComment
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Game Pass has been amazing this year. I think if Microsoft had somehow managed to pull off a miracle with manufacturing numbers of the Series X they’d be in a really strong position now.Comment
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PC has no barrier to entry for exclusive hardware PC subscribers are also part of game pass numbers and are an important part of their growth don't forget. its not all tied to Series X production, Series S seems very readily available. PC players don't have to pay a gold sub to play online so its even easier to get set up and going.Originally posted by Atticus View PostComment
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It really has just gotten steadily better through the year. What with Outriders hitting day one early on and then Flight Simulator dropping, then Psychonauts 2, Avengers, Back 4 Blood etc... it's had some major releases every month and now we're at a point where next month it's Forza Horizon 5 and then it's Halo Infinite to round out the year. That's not even mentioning the myriad of smaller titles dropping in as well like The Artful Escape, 12 minutes, The Ascent, Omno etc...Originally posted by Atticus View Post
As for the actual subscription tiers. I think MS would do well to streamline this over time... right now only game pass ultimate includes Xbox Live and Games with Gold per month. I'm sure we will see a point where Xbox Live isn't a thing and they re-jig the subscriptions, hopefully making online play free.
So yeah they didn't hit what appears to be a fairly aggressive target, but there is clearly a healthy growth and lots of road left to run.Comment
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I'm in the camp that is incredibly doubtful a sizeable market is still sitting around waiting for Series X. I'd assume that part of the growth rate slowing faster than expected will also fall on the XBO userbase moving on from that format and not necessarily to Series S/X. Given the rate of sales for Switch and PS5 it wouldn't shock me if the console userbase for Xbox is still facing consumer interest limits and that is feeding back into the GamePass sign ups. Like it being on PC, such a massive market but by comparison little noise from itComment
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Xbox 360 sold over 80 million units. I doubt Series X is anywhere close to hitting its cealing after less than 12 months.
And nor should anyone want to be either - the market needs competition to be healthy and only having a single player isn't healthy.Last edited by MartyG; 20-10-2021, 16:28.Comment
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