- Microsoft wants to bring the Xbox Game Pass service to the widest possible range of players
- It could reportedly offer a free option in developing countries
- Players would earn money to play by watching ads
This year, Microsoft made a change in its game subscriptions – it increased the price of the top variant of Game Pass Ultimate and included in the offer a cheaper level of Game Pass Core, which provides access to dozens of games for a price of 149 crowns per month. The Redmonds are now considering an even more affordable option that will not be paid for with money, but with time.
Game Pass completely free*
The idea of introducing a free variant of the Xbox Game Pass service was discussed by the CFO of Microsoft’s gaming division Tim Stuart himself at the Wells Fargo TMT Summit in connection with playing in developing markets such as Africa, India or Southeast Asia. In these markets, it’s not common for households to buy game consoles and subscribe to access their game libraries, so Microsoft is thinking about how to deliver that experience to them without breaking the bank.
Stuart said there are many young people in Africa who own a smartphone or other mobile device, but whose income is not high enough to purchase access to the Game Pass library. For this reason, Redmond is considering a new business model that could attract up to 3 million new players to its gaming network. The principle of its operation is supposed to be simple – you would “pay” for streaming games by watching ads. In the interview, Stuart mentioned a model of two hours of gameplay for watching a half-minute ad, but he will probably choose stricter conditions in the final.
This is indicated by the code of the operating system of the Xbox consoles, in which the developer Title_OS found snippets mentioning free access to the Game Pass library for a period divided into 15-minute blocks – presumably this is how Redmond calculates a quarter of an hour of gameplay per viewed ad. Microsoft apparently plans to launch this function next year, but the question is whether it will be launched globally or will be limited only to the mentioned developing markets.
Microsoft makes no secret of the fact that it would like to get the Game Pass service to the widest possible range of devices – next year it will most likely succeed with the Apple platforms iOS and iPadOS, as Apple must, in accordance with the European Act on Digital Markets, open these systems more to competing applications and services.
Author of the article
Jakub Karásek
A fan of mobile technology, convertibles and wireless charging, a fan of hard music and a lover of fast driving in go-karts, bikes and skis. Opponent of FUP, slow internet and overgrown smartphones.
2023-12-14 15:30:00
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