Microsoft has shared its plans regarding bringing the Call of Duty series to Xbox Game Pass, and has shared some interesting insight on the console market.
Speaking during an interview with Game File, Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer stated that the company isn’t doing a good enough job of finding new players. Using consoles as an example, he said that there are around 200 million global households that will play console games, and that number hasn’t really changed in the last 5 or 6 years.
According to Spencer, Xbox has raised the price of games, The company went through the pandemic, and found ways of getting more money per player. He said that at some point one reaches a certain peak, and that it can go to some places that are manipulative that he’s not a big fan of, likely referring to shady microtransactions practices. As per him, the solution is to find new customers, and those can be found through new ways of delivering games to players who can’t play those games today, whether that’s due to their device, due to access, or due to the price point of games.
On the subject of bringing the Call of Duty series to Xbox Game Pass, Spencer mentioned that Microsoft’s intent is to have the full portfolio of games from ZeniMax, Activision Blizzard and Xbox Game Studios day one on its premium subscription service, and that the company is currently doing the back-end work to make those games come to PC and console simultaneously. This suggests that subscribers will have to wait a while longer for these plans to come to fruition.
Regarding physical media, Spencer stated that consoles have become the last consumer electronic device that have disc drives. According to him, this is a real issue, in terms of the number of manufacturers that are actually building drives and the cost associated with them. He mentioned that, as there are fewer suppliers and fewer buyers, the cost of the drive ends up having an impact. However, he remained firm that the company’s strategy does not hinge on the player base moving to an all-digital future, and getting rid of physical media is not a strategic thing for Xbox.
