Microsoft doesn’t need Activision Blizzard to confirm its dominance, the numbers are in Xbox Game Pass.
Between Sony and Microsoft, it’s the race for exclusives, for the publisher who will have the most studios up his sleeve, and for the past year, whoever will offer the best video game subscription. To catch up with Xbox Game Pass, Sony now offers three PS Plus packages, more or less complete, but it seems that the company has not managed to rise to the ankle of Xbox.
The great strength of Xbox Game Pass is to offer games from the day of their release, whether independent or big budget, and the firm does not intend to stop there. On Twitter, a user by the name of Klobrille notes that 5 of the 10 most anticipated games on Steam will be in the Xbox Game Pass catalog day one. It therefore seems that Xbox has played its pawns correctly, and is visibly at the heart of players’ expectations.
What this says about the firm is that it made the right investments at the right time. Among the most anticipated games are Starfield, Party Animals, Hollow Knight Silksongthe Ukrainian game STALKER 2 and finally Ark 2. Even if it is the Steam wishlist, therefore of games expected on PC, it represents a fairly good sample of what players expect from this year 2023.
The winning formula for gamers and studios
By highlighting this relevance on the part of the Xbox Game Pass, it not only underlines Xbox smells good partnerships, but also that the formula proves to be a winner for all actors in the process. During the Pégases 2023, the developer Sébastien Renard, in charge of the narration on A Plague Tale Requiemtold us that it was a wise choice for the studio which necessarily sees its financial interest.
This must obviously also be the case for Microsoft, which is multiplying acquisitions but also agreements with many studios. On this side the official figures are rare, and the testimonials of the studios quite discreet.
In the end, it is the player who benefits the most, with more than 400 games in the regularly updated catalog and only between 10 and 13 € per month spent. If we already knew that the Xbox Game Pass was one of the best video game subscriptions on the market in terms of value for money, it turns out that it is also number 1 in terms of relevance. Although the strength of PS Plus has so far resided in the universality of its licenses, the next games to come could change the situation as evidenced by this wishlist.
