Phil Spencer Refutes Future Possibility Of Titles Exclusive To Game Pass

Microsoft has been openly pushing to promote and mainstream their subscription gaming service over the last few years. This prompted a kind of fear among the gamers that they might be heading into a future where buying a subscription would be a forced choice. But this was categorically denied by Phil Spencer, the CEO of Microsoft Gaming.

Phil was asked the question in an interview with a Japanese gaming news website Game Watch during his ongoing tour of Japan. He is there to attend the Tokyo Game Show and meet with various Japanese game creators, including Hideo Kojima. The pressing question came much later in the interview and Phil Spencer was very comprehensive in his answer.

He said the aim of the Xbox Game Pass is to give players a choice, not take it. He said he wants the Xbox community to grow, be it on PC or any other Xbox console. He told the interviewer,

No. That’s not it. What we want to offer is choice. Xbox isn’t just about Xbox Game Pass. The real success of Xbox is that more people play Xbox, whether it’s on Xbox consoles, on PC, in the cloud, or on other consoles. We want to grow the community that plays Xbox. I have no intention of doing anything that would hinder that.”

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A few months ago there were rumours of a major price hike in the monthly subscription of the Game Pass, which ultimately turned out to be $1 for the standard subscription and $2 for the Game Pass Ultimate. Even though the increase was insignificant, the worries of the fans have persisted. When pressed about this by the interviewer Phil said it was inevitable that the prices would increase.

Although the main premise is to provide more value, the price is I think it is inevitable that it will rise in the future. We recently raised our prices once, but the decision was made after careful consideration. We believe it is important to provide services that are recognized as being of sufficient value even if prices are increased.”

Phil Spencer has been looking to boost and promote Xbox’s footprint in the Japanese market that is dominated by the likes of PlayStation and Nintendo. When asked whether he sees any difference between the Japanese and Western gaming communities, he said the Japanese community seems to “have a very high level of commitment.”

Although Xbox is small as a game console, it has a strong community, and I feel that they work together to maintain a high-quality community.”