Portal GamesIndustry.biz noticed that the preliminary report of the British Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which is investigating the deal between Microsoft and Activision Blizzard, contains an admission of the American platform owner about how the addition to Game Pass actually affects game sales.
Image Source: IGN
As noted in the report of the British regulator, internal analysis of Microsoft itself shows an N-percentage (a specific value is intentionally hidden from prying eyes) decline in sales of games added to Game Pass, but only 12 months after they appeared in the catalog.
The CMA document also mentions Activision Blizzard’s attitude towards the issue. The publisher believes that adding to the game subscription services on any platform «seriously hurts B2P sales (bought and play — approx.), especially in the case of newer releases».
Major Game Pass releases in 2023 (image source: Xbox)
It is noteworthy that in November 2018, the then future CEO of Microsoft Gaming, Phil Spencer, using Forza Horizon 4 as an example, told the LevelUp portal about how the appearance in Game Pass stimulates sales of games, and does not undermine them.
Game Pass gives its subscribers on PC, Xbox consoles and Xbox Cloud Gaming (not available in Russia) access to a wide range of games, including blockbusters from Microsoft on the day of their release, for a fixed fee. In January 2022, the number of subscribers of the service exceeded 25 million.
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