Phil Spencer Talked Gears 5 and Game Pass at XO19
During a recent interview at Xbox’s XO19, Phil Spencer confirmed that Gears 5 has already outsold its prequel: Gears of War 4. With no official numbers, he casually mentions it sold better than Gears of War 4 and the company feels good about it. The company also feels good about Game Pass subscriptions as a key focus of XO19 was Game Pass and Spencer expressed how essential a diverse catalog is for the service. Gears 5 saw such successful sales despite also being included in the Game Pass subscription, showing doubters that it doesn’t stifle a games success.
“Gears 5 sold well for us. It sold better than Gears 4. And we feel good about it. If people want to make the choice of buying Gears, that’s an option we want to give them. I’m not trying to funnel everybody who wants to play Gears into the subscription,” said Phil Spencer. “Hey, how do I judge if Gears 5 has been a success? What I will say is we’re incredibly happy with Gears 5. It did review well. It has a tonne of players. We’re taking feedback on certain things.”
“As Game Pass continues to grow, I don’t want us to think that every game has to reach every subscriber. Because the subscriber base is already too big for that,” said Phil Spencer, further elaborating the future of Game Pass. “I really want to foster diversity, not every game trying to reach every player from now until the end of time, which so many games I see that are pure retail today, their model is, here’s how I bring people in and here’s how I keep them playing forever and ever. That’s great for some games, but I don’t want every game to be that kind of game, because it’s just not true that the creative lends itself to every game being that game.”
We really enjoyed Gears 5 and aren’t surprised that it sold well but did you give it a try or did you stick with Gears of War 4? Are you anticipating any of the upcoming Game Pass titles teased at XO19 or did you skip Xbox this gen? Let us know in the comments below!
Source: Eurogamer