Xbox Game Pass can slash a game’s sales on the Xbox platform by as much as 80%, industry veteran Christopher Dring revealed at the recent InstalBase forum.
Dring also believes the subscription service indirectly fuels sales on other platforms by expanding the player base.
Dring, a seasoned gaming media journalist with a specialization in the business of video games, formerly led GamesIndustry.biz and served as an editor at MCV. He also contributed to games like “Mario + Rabbids” at Ubisoft, giving him a well rounded experience in the gaming industry.
Dring stated that while mainstream titles might see a less severe sales impact, joining Xbox Game Pass generally reduces expected Xbox platform sales. The performance of titles like “Hellblade 2,” “Indiana Jones,” and “Starfield” on Xbox somewhat corroborates his statement.
While an 80% drop in Xbox sales sounds dramatic, Dring pointed out that Game Pass can actually increase the number of players for multi-platform games, which leads to a surge in sales on other platforms such as PlayStation.
Game Pass introduces games to players who might otherwise avoid a particular genre, effectively growing new audiences. For example, the service could encourage players who usually play “Call of Duty” to explore other games they wouldn’t have otherwise discovered.
The service boasts 34 million subscribers as of last February. Although the growth has slowed recently, adding “Call of Duty: Black Ops 6” brought a significant influx of new players to the ecosystem.
Dring also believes that Game Pass has created a more challenging environment for independent Xbox games that aren’t part of the service, raising the competitive threshold.
