The Day One release of third-party games in Xbox Game Pass is a low-risk strategy for some games, according to the analyst.
Xbox Game Pass is getting more and more attractive to Xbox and PC gamers every week. In the meantime, it is no longer just third-party games from smaller developers that appear directly in Xbox Game Pass for launch.
For example, the looter shooter Outriders by developer People Can Fly and publisher Square Enix was subscribed to on April 1st. With MLB The Show 21, another title will join the launch on April 20.
And in the future, more major third-party games will land in Xbox Game Pass for release. Because the risk of a leek is low for some games, as Piers Harding-Rolls, Research Director at Ampere Analysis, said in an interview. Accordingly, the Game Pass offers an advance payment and 18 million potential customers for monetization.
“For some titles, introducing Game Pass on day one is an increasingly low-risk strategy. It secures prepayment, has an engaged audience of over 18 million subscribers that can still be monetized through in-game spending, and gives the flexibility to remove the title for premium sales at a later date to increase, if necessary. “
“Those titles that are not among the top in terms of sales volume or are based on new IP – that is, do not have an established audience – could be solid candidates for day-one releases.”
For Microsoft, on the other hand, it would be worth spending money in advance to be able to offer games for release in the Xbox Game Pass. After all, one would not think of short-term profitability, but keep the momentum for the service going, which is a strong step.
“From Microsoft’s point of view, it is even worth paying a substantial sum to secure the game when it is released. Microsoft is not thinking of short-term profitability as it continues its aggressive content and subscriber acquisition journey for Game Pass. From a competitive standpoint, the look of this move is strong, and it keeps the Game Pass momentum going. “