Phil Spencer "Wouldn't Take No For An Answer" When Pitching Xbox Game Pass

thegamer.com:

Xbox Game Pass has become a staple of the medium, a pioneering service that is changing the gaming landscape. There are rumours abound that PlayStation is scrambling to build a competitor as Game Pass continues to flourish, but it was nearly rejected entirely.

"[CEO of Microsoft Gaming] Phil Spencer was at the center of pushing this strategy forward," former Xbox staffer Mr Irving said. "Mr Spencer's staff would present arguments for why Game Pass wouldn't work - publishers wouldn't participate, or it would eat into profits. He wouldn't take no for an answer. He was always trying to find a way to make it work."

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Cut to 2022 and Xbox Game Pass is on PC, mobile, and Xbox, with over 25 million subscribers. The service is making Microsoft a quarter billion dollars per month with Game Pass tracked to make the company four billion dollars in 2022 alone. All the while, the service expands. New acquisitions mean entirely new libraries that Microsoft can put on the platform - we saw as much with Bethesda as Doom, Skyrim, and Dishonored made their way to the service, while Activision Blizzard will bring an even larger catalogue of games.

Spencer is now set to receive the Lifetime Achievement Award later this month during the 25th DICE Awards ceremony: "Phil Spencer was named CEO of Microsoft Gaming in January 2022, and has worked in technology and entertainment for more than 30 years, leading global business, creative and engineering teams," the announcement reads.

"Since joining Microsoft in 1988 as an intern, Spencer has held numerous roles at the company, including Executive Vice President, Gaming; Head of Xbox' Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Studios'