The past decade has seen Microsoft move away from the classic console gaming strategy of producing exclusive games in favor of promoting its Xbox Game Pass subscription service. Xbox Game Pass has been touted as the Netflix for video games, and it seems Microsoft's ultimate goal for the service is to bring it to as many platforms as possible. In fact, Microsoft is even trying to make Xbox Game Pass available to those who don't even have a console or PC at all, as evidenced by its aggressive cloud gaming efforts.
Besides making Xbox Game Pass as easily accessible as possible, Microsoft has also made it a must-buy for anyone that owns an Xbox console. Xbox Game Pass receives new games on a regular basis, including brand-new, day one releases that make it practically pay for itself. It seems like the sky is the limit for Xbox Game Pass, and one analyst thinks that the service will explode in popularity once a major acquisition goes through.
Analyst Michael Pachter believes that a combination of Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard and the cloud making Game Pass available to anyone with a screen handy will make the service's subscriber count grow exponentially. Speaking to Yahoo Finance, Pachter predicts that the number of Xbox Game Pass subscribers could potentially balloon from the roughly 25 million it has now to a staggering 100 million.
This may seem like an unobtainable goal on the surface, but Pachter points out that the potential market for Xbox Game Pass is going to be over 3 billion people after cloud gaming really takes off. Anyone with access to a phone will be able to sign up for Xbox Game Pass and play it through Xbox's cloud gaming services, and by completely eliminating the need for a console or PC, Game Pass significantly increases the number of potential subscribers.
However, it's unclear exactly when this will happen. Cloud gaming is not nearly at the point where it is a viable alternative to traditional gaming on a console or a PC. While Game Pass' cloud gaming functionality has earned some praise, it can't quite match up to playing a game that's downloaded on one's console. There definitely needs to be some major improvements to the cloud gaming experience before it will be appealing to a mass audience, but once the technology gets there, it's easy to see how Xbox Game Pass would be an attractive option.
After all, Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard will mean blockbuster franchises like Call of Duty will come to Game Pass as day one releases, with the games presumably available to play through the cloud. That could be just the game changer Microsoft needs to take Game Pass to the next level, but fans will have to wait and see how it all plays out.
Source: WCCFTech