Microsoft tempts its customers: in a market survey, the hypothesis of an Xbox Game Pass light appears with advertising but with a hyper-competitive price.
Microsoft’s Game Pass could soon have a ‘light’ subscription: cheaper, with fewer video games and with the hated advertisements. A formula already tested by Disney + (the debut these days in the USA) and by Netflix. Moreover, the technological platform used by Netflix to show the commercials was designed by Microsoft, which is a partner in the project.
Microsoft, however, seems to have learned from the missteps of the aforementioned companies. The plans with advertising offered by Netflix and Disney+ have left much to be desired, because apart from one inconvenience (ie the commercials) they have not been able to offer truly competitive prices. With Netflix you save just €2 and you have to put up with an excessive number of limitations, while Disney+ advertising doesn’t even introduce a real economic advantage compared to the current situation (Disney has limited itself to increasing the cost of the subscription without advertising).
In contrast, the ‘light’ Microsoft Game Pass could cost as little as €2.99. A negligible cost that would still allow access to a huge catalog of video games for Xbox and PC systems.
The news does not come from a rumor, but from a market survey commissioned by Microsoft, which asked some randomly selected customers to express their opinion on a possible economic subscription to the Game Pass. In addition to the ads, the €2.99 Game Pass would not even include the release of first-party games (exclusives like Halo and Forza Horizon) on Day 1.
Clearly, this is only a market survey and we don’t know if Microsoft’s proposal will be followed up and if, if so, the highly competitive price mentioned in the survey will be maintained.
Meanwhile, Netflix’s subscription with advertising is a resounding disaster: it seems that the giant has not reached the subscriber targets communicated to advertisers, which is why it could be forced to repay part of the advertising investments received.