Over the last year or so, Xbox Game Pass has grown into a huge draw for Microsoft’s platform. Naturally, the success of the subscription service has led to rumors that PlayStation might create a competitor for Game Pass (apparently codenamed Spartacus), and some reports have even pointed to a spring release window. Speaking to IGN, Xbox boss Phil Spencer was asked about these rumors, and how he feels about the prospect of PlayStation offering a similar service. Spencer said that a Game Pass competitor was always “an inevitability,” and sees it as encouragement for Xbox to continue to look for new ways to compete.
“I don’t really look at it as validation. I actually, when I’m talkingto our teams, I talk about it as an inevitability. So for us, we shouldcontinue to innovate, continue to compete, because the things that we’redoing might be advantages that we have in the market today, but they’rejust based on us going first, not that we’ve created something that noone else can go create,” Spencer told IGN’s Ryan McCaffrey. “I like it because it feeds our energy on what are the next things thatwe should be working on as we continue to build out the things thatwe’ve done in the past. Because I think the right answer is to shipgreat games, ship them on PC, ship them on console, ship them on cloud,make them available Day 1 in the subscription. And I expect that’s whatour competitor will do.”
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Spencer’s take is refreshing in its positivity! The Xbox business model this generation has been vastly different from PlayStation’s approach. While PlayStation is just starting to embrace PC releases, and (potentially) a Game Pass-inspired subscription service, these are concepts Xbox has pushed in a major way. For the video game industry to continue to thrive, companies like Xbox, PlayStation, and Nintendo will have to keep looking for new ways to innovate. Game Pass might be Xbox’s big claim to fame at the moment, but it remains to be seen what the future will bring!
Are you excited by the prospect of a service like Game Pass on PlayStation platforms?What innovations would you like to see next from Xbox? Let us know inthe comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk about all things gaming!
