Xbox Head Answers Important Questions in a Recent Interview
Xbox Phil Spencer has always been sure to express his opinion on various subjects in the gaming industry, internally or externally. And he was not afraid to do so during an interview during GDC 2022.
Speaking with Sarah Bond, Spencer spoke about one of the more popular questions he gets from developers when it comes to Xbox. While he clarified that while there are developers who do want their games on the Xbox Games Pass, it still needs to be a delicate balance, as no one size fits all. The fact is, according to Spencer, is that retail sales are still very important to Xbox and to developers.
This is not to be negative about the Games Pass. The fact is, Xbox Game Pass has been a runaway success. It currently has over 25 million subscriptions, with no signs of slowing down any time soon. But, even with the Game Passes popularity, the game developers have the final say on whether they go onto the Xbox Game Pass or not. And profit from retail sales is important to Xbox too.
“I also want to make clear to people that are out there that for us at Xbox, there’s not one business model that we think is going to win,” Spencer stated.“I often get asked by developers, ‘if I’m not in the subscription am I just not viable on Xbox anymore?’ and it’s absolutely not true. Like we look at retail of people selling games, buying games, it’s an important part of our P&L [profit and loss statement], you know that. And it’s something that we invest resources in to enable our developers to do great work there.”
If you would like to watch the full interview, you can watch the twenty-minute interview on Youtube, or you can watch the video linked below.