[Grisham]

Former Xbox executive Ed Fries has reacted to Xbox Game Pass, saying what Microsoft is doing with the subscription service makes him feel "nervous" about its potential impact to negatively impact the gaming landscape in general.

He told Xbox Expansion Pass because he sees Game Pass as being similar to Spotify, and not necessarily in a good way. "The one thing that they're doing that makes me nervous is Game Pass," Fries said, as reported by VGC. "Game Pass scares me because there's a somewhat analogous thing called Spotify that was created for the music business."

Fries said Spotify "destroyed" the music business--which not all experts agree with--saying Spotify changed listener habits such that people don't buy music anymore.

"People don't buy songs on iPhone for example, because why would you? They're all on your subscription service app. Apple's said they're going to take away buying songs because no one's buying them any more," Fries said. "So we have to be careful we don't create the same system in the game business. These markets are more fragile than people realize. I saw the games industry destroy itself in the early '80s. I saw the educational software business destroy itself in the mid-'90s… they literally destroyed a multi-billion dollar market in a few years."

As a consumer, Fries said he loves the concept of subscription services like Game Pass and Spotify. "It's a great deal as a customer. But it isn't necessarily great for the industry," Fries said.
Tim Ingham of MusicBizWorldwide believes it was piracy, not Spotify, that is responsible for negatively impacting music sales. "Spotify, and the cloud-based technology on which it relies, actually gave music fans a more convenient, legal, and monetized alternative to piracy," Ingham told VGC.

Former Xbox Exec Ed Fries Is Worried About Game Pass, Here's Why

Fries says Game Pass might negatively impact game sales in a way that he believes Spotify ate into music business sales.

www.gamespot.com

 

[lock2k]

Good, let the industry burn.

 

[Optimus]

There can be valid points made by both Fries and Ingham. In fact, one could argue that the internet, itself, has radically disrupted both industries. There was a time when we got music delivered by the album, and the albums themselves were a sort of work of art with whole songs whose purpose was to change pace with the other songs on the album. Some albums strung together songs that would tell a sort of story, etc. The first and most immediate impact of the internet was people sharing/pirating the most popular tracks. Getting a whole album could sometimes be difficult due to limited sharing. Eventually, music began to be made for the internet audiences and less focus began to be given to albums because who wants to pay for shitty songs? I feel like the internet came along and has had similar impacts on gaming. It started out with just pirating video games before it eventually moved to online-coop and such. At one time, there was a mission in the gaming industry to craft credible fun AI opponents until the day arrived when it became all about arenas and playing online with friends -- suddenly, playing alone became an outlier and investing in great game AI became a waste of money... Now, there's more emphasis on designing games based on template and no interest in creating truly revolutionary single player games.

 

[Arkam]

Good, let the industry burn.

And from the ashes we will rebuild!

But on a side note, can it be a low burn so I can stay employed during?

 

[Kadayi]

Unless I'm missing something Game Pass is wholly subscription-based, whereas Spotify is Subscribers get benefits, no? No wonder this guy is a former executive if he doesn't understand the difference?

 

[Night Sky]

The problem with gamepass is that there's no exit strategy. Microsoft can't just stop gamepass or lower the quality. They've backed themselves in to a corner, pushing an idea less popular than VR, while saying no one wants VR


Big brain Microsoft

 

[teezzy]

Oh hush @bonk

U love gamepass

 

[Mickmrly]

The problem with gamepass is that there's no exit strategy. Microsoft can't just stop gamepass or lower the quality. They've backed themselves in to a corner, pushing an idea less popular than VR, while saying no one wants VR


Big brain Microsoft

They could lower the quality, as marvel movies and modern AAA titles have shown (even the 343 segment of the Halo franchise TBH). How long people will continue to pay for such services is the real question.

 

[DonDonDonPata]

bruh doesn't Ed Fries realize how much money you can save with GamePass™?

 

[teezzy]

Ed Fries?!

I prefer French Fries!!!

 

[Arkam]

Ed Fries?!

I prefer French Fries!!!

Ed Fries whatever you want.

 

[HeresJohnny]

It was a move borne not of inspiration, but desperation. I see nothing good coming from it.

 

[Grinchy]

Nah, I'm sure spending $100B buying random companies won't result in them raising the $180/yr price tag any time soon! We certainly won't see $20/month as soon as they think they can swindle enough automatic renewals to cover for the loss of any subs who aren't ok with the price increase.

And they will still totally spend up to $200M on single AAA games and throw them up on the service for people to get for a low one month price that they cancel after beating it. That will happen forever and Microsoft will enjoy losing tons of money because they do this for you, the consumer! They don't do it for profits.

It's not like we're just in the phase where those expensive games were already in development at the companies that were scooped up so there's no backing out now. The budget and level of quality won't hit all-time lows when this phase ends and Microsoft wants to start hitting profits on these massive investments. Don''t you guys worry, this is always going to be the go-to for amazing Pro-Consumer Value!

 

[Mickmrly]

Nah, I'm sure spending $100B buying random companies won't result in them raising the $180/yr price tag any time soon! We certainly won't see $20/month as soon as they think they can swindle enough automatic renewals to cover for the loss of any subs who aren't ok with the price increase.

And they will still totally spend up to $200M on single AAA games and throw them up on the service for people to get for a low one month price that they cancel after beating it. That will happen forever and Microsoft will enjoy losing tons of money because they do this for you, the consumer! They don't do it for profits.

It's not like we're just in the phase where those expensive games were already in development at the companies that were scooped up so there's no backing out now. The budget and level of quality won't hit all-time lows when this phase ends and Microsoft wants to start hitting profits on these massive investments. Don''t you guys worry, this is always going to be the go-to for amazing Pro-Consumer Value!

Best to take it while it lasts though, much like petrol when it was a pittance in early 2020. Whoever stored all that petrol in their basement is laughing now.