Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer has spoken up to say the company has “no plans” to bring Xbox Game Pass to PlayStation or Nintendo. This comes just days after Xbox CFO Tim Stuart said Microsoft’s mission is to bring Xbox Game Pass to every screen that can play games, including PlayStation and Nintendo.
What seems to be at odds here is the distinction between a “plan” and a “mission.” Microsoft could very well have a “mission” to expand Game Pass to every screen imaginable, but a “plan” suggests it’s something Microsoft is actively working on. And as Spencer says, there is no current plan to bring Game Pass to competing platforms.
“I’ll start by saying we have no plans to bring Game Pass to PlayStation or Nintendo. It’s not in our plans,” Spencer told Windows Central. “The thing I want to be focused on is how do we continue to innovate for people who’ve made the commitment to our hardware platform? And how do we continue to make sure that they feel great about their investment in what we’ve built.”
Spencer went on to say that he expects Game Pass to continue to grow, adding that it’s an “important part of the Xbox console identity,” but it also has a role to play on PC and the cloud.
“We will continue to look at future ways for us to innovate across our game portfolio and our platform,” Spencer said.
Spencer has been saying for years that he wants to bring Game Pass to more platforms. In 2018, Spencer said Microsoft’s “longer-term view” was to bring Game Pass to “every device.” Note that back then as well, Spencer did not use the word “plan” but instead something vaguer.
In any event, Game Pass is a paradigm shift for Xbox. Every game that Microsoft itself makes comes to Game Pass on day one, and that includes big new releases like Starfield and possibly Call of Duty in 2024 following Microsoft’s buyout of Activision Blizzard. A Game Pass Ultimate membership also grants access to cloud streaming, which means you can play Starfield on your phone (whether or not that’s a good experience is another question).
By Microsoft’s latest count, Game Pass had 25 million subsribers, but Stuart said this week that the number has grown. In September, all Xbox Live Gold members were automatically converted to Game Pass Core, and this no doubt led to a big growth in subscribers.
The Game Pass catalog adds a dozen titles in the first half of December, while Core subscribers are getting new games as well.
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