Gaming subscriptions aren’t becoming as dominant as Netflix and Spotify

In the music and TV industries, subscription services such as Netflix and Spotify are now the dominant distribution channel. But is it a preview of the future of the video game industry? Sony’s Jim Ryan disagrees.

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along with the Announcing the three-tiered PlayStation Plus program interviews with PlayStation boss Jim Ryan were released today. About his statements on the preliminary Waiving the Game Pass model we already reported. He also gave an assessment of whether game subscriptions could one day take on the status of Spotify and Netflix.

There is already a promising attempt to link the distribution of video games to a subscription. With over 25 million subscribers, the impact of the Xbox Game Pass subscription model is already significant. However, Jim Ryan is not convinced that Game Pass will ever develop into a dominant model, as we know it from comparable music and TV offerings.

“The subscription has certainly grown in importance in recent years,” so Ryan. “Our PlayStation Plus subscribers have grown from zero in 2010 to 48 million now. And we assume that the number of subscribers to our services will continue to grow.”

No march through like Spotify and Netflix

But the whole thing is not comparable to film and television: “The medium of gaming is so different from music and linear entertainment that I don’t think we will experience the kind of growth that we have with Spotify and Netflix.”

Ryan thinks players will continue to flock to live-service games like Fortnite and Call of Duty Warzone. And at this point, Sony would like to strengthen its own offer, not least of which is the $3.6 billion purchase of Destiny makers from Bungie clarified.

“Some of the live service games that are proving very successful these days, and I’m not limiting this comment to consoles, are in fact subscription services per se,” the PlayStation chief said. “And they’re very tailored to the needs of gamers who love a game that they spend hours and hours playing month after month.”

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Other companies also seem to be jumping on this bandwagon. Rockstar Games announced in the past week “GTA5+” at. It is a subscription model that lets players pay monthly. And according to recent rumours Call of Duty 2.0 goes in the same direction.

More news about Playstation Plus, Sony, Xbox Game Pass.

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