Playstation Now Is More Popular Than EA Access and Xbox Game Pass Combined
SuperData has just released a new report regarding all things in the world of video game subscription and it shows PlayStation Now is reigning supreme over not only the Xbox Game Pass but EA Access as well. And it’s not by a small margin either!
According to the report from SuperData, a well known digital video game market research company, together the three major publishers, EA, Microsoft, and Sony generated a total of $273 million, making up for 6% of all non-free-to-play console and PC revenue. PlayStation Now is completely dominating its rivals raking in $143 million for the third quarter of the year alone. This equates to 52% of all subscription based revenue, inclusive of EA and Microsoft services as well. You can check out the breakdown of profits below.
Like with music, TV, and movies, people are slowly beginning to move over to subscription and streaming services for video gaming as well, opting to stream games rather than purchase them outright. Carter Rogers, principal analyst at SuperData commented on this, “The game subscription market heated up immensely in 2018 as game makers sought sources of consistent, recurring revenue. To increase the appeal of their own subscription offerings, publishers are now offering brand-new titles to paying members.” Despite the other forms of media however, add-on content can also be bought for gaming subscriptions and as SuperData discovered gamers are more likely to do so. According to the data, subscribers spend $25 a month on in-game content on average compared to non-subscribers who spend $10 a month on average. Despite these subscriptions, users tend to spend $57 a month on full game purchases, compared to the $39 average per month of non-subscribers.
It’s worth noting that part of the huge difference between PlayStation Now and Xbox Game Pass revenue specifically probably has to do with the difference in the amount of PS4s purchased compared to Xbox Ones. Current estimates suggest that the difference is two to one.