Update (December 1, 2023 4:08 PM)
According to Windows Central, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has quashed any rumors that Microsoft will be bringing Game Pass to Sony’s or Nintendo’s platforms.
I’ll start by saying we have no plans to bring Game Pass to PlayStation or Nintendo. It’s not in our plans. The thing I want to be focused on is how do we continue to innovate for people who’ve made the commitment to our hardware platform? And how do we continue to make sure that they feel great about their investment in what we’ve built.”
Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer to Windows Central
He goes on to say that Game Pass is an “important part of the Xbox console identity”.
Original story
When Microsoft had stated that they were losing the console war, I thought that was very bold of them. But then I remembered that they’re trying to become a service company, not a device company.
Back in 2001, they released a box that showcased what there software could do with the Xbox. This seemed to be a new trend with Microsoft and a lot of software companies. Microsoft also released Windows Phone and the Surface. Google released the Nexus then the Pixel. Some of those worked out. Some didn’t.
But in that time, when the tech was starting to permeate into other hardware partners or, in Xbox’s case, developers, they needed something new to do with the hardware. So services started to show up.
Now that these services have matured enough on Xbox’s platform, Microsoft wants to take them on the road.
There have been rumors since the beginning of Xbox Game Pass that we might see Game Pass roll out to Nintendo and even Sony. That has not come to pass in the six years it has existed, but Microsoft has indeed been working on it.
Xbox CFO Tim Stuart mentioned as much during the Wells Fargo TMT Summit. He stated that their goal is to make first-party games along with Game Pass available to gamers on “every screen that can play games”. That includes the likes of Sony and Nintendo.
It’s a bit of a change of strategy. Not announcing anything broadly here, but our mission is to bring our first-party experiences [and] our subscription services to every screen that can play games. That means smart TVs, that means mobile devices, that means what we would have thought of as competitors in the past like PlayStation and Nintendo.”
Microsoft CFO Tim Stuart
He can say it’s a change of strategy, but a lot of people must have been reading tea leaves correctly. We’ve been seeing that strategy for years.
Source: GameSpot
