Microsoft has a very interesting strategy where they have demonstrated several times that if they can’t compete on the hardware space, they will compete in the software space. Take or example mobile, where the company’s mobile efforts have been less than successful. However Microsoft instead decided to try and bring as many software and services to competing platforms.Could Microsoft be thinking of adopting something similar when it comes to gaming? Speaking to GeekWire, Microsoft exec Phil Spencer reiterated the company’s plans to bring its Xbox Game Pass service to all platforms. “We want to bring Game Pass to any device that somebody wants to play on. Not just because it’s our business, but really because the business model allows for people to consume and find games that they wouldn’t have played in any other space.”
What’s interesting about this recent comment is that according to the latest rumors, Microsoft could be looking to bring its Xbox Game Pass service to the Nintendo Switch, where gamers could stream games using the xCloud gaming platform to play games that are part of Xbox Game Pass. This would include titles that were previously exclusive to Microsoft, such as Cuphead and Ori and the Blind Forest.
Spencer also doesn’t seem too worried that such a move would cause gamers to skip on buying the Xbox console. “That is not where you make money. The business inside of games is really selling games, and selling access to games and content in means like that is the fundamental business. So if you open it up, the more often people can play, the more they’re enjoying the art form. It increases the size of the business.”
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