Publishers Don't Like Xbox Game Pass According to Sony's Jim Ryan

pcmag.com:

Sony Interactive Entertainment president and CEO Jim Ryan claims game publishers don't like Xbox Game Pass and that Microsoft is losing a lot of money running the service.

As IGN reports(Opens in a new window), Ryan's comments were made as part of a pre-recorded testimony for the evidentiary hearing between the FTC and Microsoft over its Activision Blizzard deal.

Ryan claims he has spoken to multiple publishers about Xbox Game Pass, which allows access to games (including new first-party titles) as part of a monthly subscription rather than paying for the titles individually. Ryan said, "I talked to all the publishers, and they unanimously do not like Game Pass because it is value destructive."

Ryan goes on to claim that it's also a service that isn't profitable, "The Game Pass business model appears to have some challenges, and Microsoft appears to be losing a lot of money on it."

Last year, Ryan explained Sony decided against offering new first-party games as part of the PlayStation Plus subscription because it simply wouldn't bring in enough cash to fund the growing number of PlayStation Studios. Ultimately, Sony believes it would lower the quality of games and that there's nothing wrong with the existing model of making and selling games.

During an interview with Axios(Opens in a new window) in April 2021, Xbox boss Phil Spencer claimed "Game Pass is very, very sustainable right now as it sits. And it continues to grow." Without hard figures, though, it's hard to tell how sustainable, profitable, or unprofitable Game Pass really is for Microsoft. Back in February, Microsoft admitted Game Pass lowers Xbox game sales, then it killed the $1 Xbox Game Pass Ultimate offer in March.

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