If Gamepass does not go big by 2027, Microsoft may pull out of gaming!

[Jim Ryan]

Now we know the date, let's go to work!


More information in @Gamernyc78 post below with infographics and article text.

If Gamepass does not go big by 2027, Microsoft may pull out of gaming!

Now we know the date, let's go to work! More information in @Gamernyc78 post below with infographics and article text. https://icon-era.com/threads/if-gamepass-does-not-go-big-by-2027-microsoft-may-pull-out-of-gaming.5915/post-154955

icon-era.com

 

[Snes nes]

I remember getting excited the last time they threatened to do this.


I'm just waiting for it to happen tbh.

 

[ethomaz]

I will believe when they get out of the game business.
Until there... I don't believe in these claims used in a court to convince the jury to allow an acquisition.

BTW all the leak today I take with a grain of salty because it was used by MS to defend their side in the court.

 

[BroodCorp]

They will just be replaced with Apple who will be way worse due to their active hardware base.

 

[Bryank75]

They will just be replaced with Apple who will be way worse due to their active hardware base.

I think Apple may believe that their phone is enough, possibly adding a " big screen mode".

Sony's best bet is to lean into cinematic AAA story based games that take 15+ hours to finish. Games that are best experienced on a big screen and are only available on a PS console.

They can have all the other games too but they need to expand what they are offering in first party and continue to emphasize the gap between PS first party quality and everyone else. So everyone knows, you can't get anything like PSStudios anywhere else.

They've hurt this perception in recent years though. It's lost ground.

 

[historia]

One can wish.

 

[Sircaw]

Now we know the date, let's go to work!

what are they basing this report on the leaked emails?

 

[flaccidsnake]

Imagine MS taking down Bethesda, Blizzard, Arkane, ID, Machine Games, and Infinity Ward in 4 years.

 

[JAHGamer]

Part of me doesn't want Xbox to die because of "competition", but the other part of me wants Xbox to die since all they seem to want to do is spend Sony out of business and destroy the gaming industry. We don't need people like this in gaming, Sony having a monopoly on high end consoles can't be worse than having to deal with Microsoft's nonsense. Not to mention Xbox brings absolutely nothing new or noteworthy to the medium.

And it's not like Xbox is giving Sony any actual competition either, last gen they were awful and Sony still put out great games. I think Nintendo is enough competition

 

[Box]

Imagine MS taking down Bethesda, Blizzard, Arkane, ID, Machine Games, and Infinity Ward in 4 years.

Would be a dream come true

 

[ToTTenTranz]

B-but Gamepass is sustainable and makes money!

 

[Kokoloko]

They will just be replaced with Apple who will be way worse due to their active hardware base.

Id rather take Samsung, Valve, Apple, Amazon, Google instead of MS

 

[Kokoloko]

Part of me doesn't want Xbox to die because of "competition", but the other part of me wants Xbox to die since all they seem to want to do is spend Sony out of business and destroy the gaming industry. We don't need people like this in gaming, Sony having a monopoly on high end consoles can't be worse than having to deal with Microsoft's nonsense. Not to mention Xbox brings absolutely nothing new or noteworthy to the medium.

And it's not like Xbox is giving Sony any actual competition either, last gen they were awful and Sony still put out great games. I think Nintendo is enough competition

If Xbox dies and another company takes its place. There will always be competition, I just hope its someone else

 

[ksdixon]

Trying to bilk current gen users, in hopes of liberating whichever ABK IP they still can outside of agreements, if they end up buying ABK, in time to either close XB, or go all-in again with withheld games as "non PS exclusives".

 

[Kyoji]

and yet... u have people here who know and realize how shitty of a company MS/XBOX are and still will subscribe to the service and help them just to save a buck or two.

 

[ksdixon]

Part of me doesn't want Xbox to die because of "competition", but the other part of me wants Xbox to die since all they seem to want to do is spend Sony out of business and destroy the gaming industry. We don't need people like this in gaming, Sony having a monopoly on high end consoles can't be worse than having to deal with Microsoft's nonsense. Not to mention Xbox brings absolutely nothing new or noteworthy to the medium.

And it's not like Xbox is giving Sony any actual competition either, last gen they were awful and Sony still put out great games. I think Nintendo is enough competition

Don't worry, if MS ever leave, Valve are getting their ducks in a row now for next gen. Weather that's SteamOS or just Steam on Windows, there'll be different devices for that, powerful enough to already see the supposed 3rd Party "library support" and "split dev focus" issues that get thrown at the idea of a PS4P.

 

[Kokoloko]

Don't worry, if MS ever leave, Valve are getting their ducks in a row now for next gen. Weather that's SteamOS or just Steam on Windows, there'll be different devices for that, powerful enough to already see the supposed 3rd Party "library support" and "split dev focus" issues that get thrown at the idea of a PS4P.

Id rather have Valve than MS in the console space tbh. Easily

 

[ksdixon]

Id rather have Valve than MS in the console space tbh. Easily

I don't disagree comparing to MS. But I don't think Sony can see the forrest for the trees, as they support PC/Deck to their own current/future detriment.

 

[Yurinka]

I think that what Phil says make sense, but also that he's playing victim there and nothing will happen if they don't (and won't) achieve that estimation.

Imagine MS taking down Bethesda, Blizzard, Arkane, ID, Machine Games, and Infinity Ward in 4 years.

I assume that if MS shuts down their gaming business, they'd sell its valuable assets before.

This is if they continue to be valuable and MS didn't destroy their reputation before and if it's before remaining key talent ran away. Something that I think could happen in the long term, but not in 4 years of less.

That would give MS some dozens of billions.

 

[Gamernyc78]

Microsoft May Exit Gaming Business If Game Pass Subscribers off Console Don't Increase Enough by 2027

Microsoft's Phil Spencer said in testimony that the company may exit its gaming business if GP subscribers off consoles don't increase a lot.

wccftech.com

Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer made some remarkable statements on a potential exit from the gaming business. The quotes are extracted from an investigational hearing conducted as part of the Federal Trade Commission's investigation into Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard.

The document has been released today, revealing plenty of interesting information (including a detailed Bethesda games release schedule from 2020). Here, though, we'll focus on Spencer's remarks on the future of Microsoft's gaming business.

FTC lawyer James Weingarten put the following internal Xbox Game Pass slide in front of Spencer, asking him whether he agreed with the projections that show the subscription service surpassing 100 million users between FY29 and FY30, largely due to an increase in the PC and cloud market.


Spencer said in no uncertain terms that Microsoft could exit the gaming business if this projection became reality. Microsoft needs the light green and blue segments (PC and cloud) to get much larger and much faster by fiscal year 2027, or it could opt out of the business altogether.

I do not believe that that is what the future Xbox business would look like. This is a presentation from our devices organization to the gaming leadership team, so this is the view from the team that is chartered with building our hardware on what the future business would look like.

I can fairly safely say that if we do not make more progress than this off of console, we would exit the gaming business. If this were the outcome, we would -- I don't believe we'd still be in the business.

A majority of our customers are found off of our own hardware, I would hope by earlier than 2030. So, when you asked me if I agreed with this chart that the light green and blue depending on what colors you see there would have to be much larger much earlier. I would say by FY26, '27 that we should be in that position, or we'd have to make a different decision with the business.

Now, there is reason to believe Spencer may have exaggerated a bit. Microsoft stressed throughout the whole FTC investigation and later in federal court that the acquisition of Activision Blizzard was critical to its plan to grow in mobile and cloud markets. Otherwise, it might as well exit the gaming business.