Looks like Game Pass won’t be heading to other consoles any time soon
After a presentation held during a Wells Fargo event last month, Xbox seemed to be working towards bringing their subscription services and first-party experiences to other platforms, though this no longer appears to be the case.
CEO of Microsoft Gaming, Phil Spencer, has recently shut down the idea that Game Pass could be making its way to competitor consoles in the near future in an interview with Windows Central.
Game Pass doesn’t seem to be on its way to Nintendo or Sony consoles
During a presentation at a Wells Fargo TMT Summit last month, Xbox’s chief financial officer Tim Stuart said: "Not announcing anything broadly here, but our mission is to bring our first-party experiences [and] our subscription services to every screen that can play games.
“That means smart TVs, that means mobile devices, that means what we would have thought of as competitors in the past like PlayStation and Nintendo."
Unfortunately, this no longer seems to be the case, as Phil Spencer has since made it clear that nothing is in the works at the moment.
Spencer told Windows Central: "I'll start by saying we have no plans to bring Game Pass to PlayStation or Nintendo.
"It's not in our plans. But I think you hit on the right point of 'what it means to own an Xbox.' “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."
Game Pass has been one of the most alluring features of the Xbox, and Spencer has been clear that Microsoft intends to continue to grow the service.
"It's an important part of the Xbox console identity and I think it will continue to be that,” Spencer said. “And we will continue to look at future ways for us to innovate across our game portfolio and our platform."
So it appears that Xbox will not be bringing Game Pass to any competitor consoles as it stands, but that does not mean it will never happen.
Competitors may not be keen to have Game Pass on their consoles
Phil Spencer’s recent statement suggests that there is nothing in the works at the moment, however that doesn’t mean Xbox wouldn’t like there to be.
Tom Warren, the senior editor at The Verge, wrote on Twitter: “Microsoft has long been clear it wants to bring Xbox Cloud Gaming to billions of people, regardless of platform / screen / etc.
“I think Spencer is simply admitting that those platform holders don’t want to undermine their own efforts right now, nothing more. If Sony and Nintendo would allow an Xbox app to stream games to their devices, Microsoft’s “plans” would surely change. Spencer also previously said “The other competitive platforms really aren't interested in having a full Xbox experience on their hardware.”
“Tim Stuart’s comments are more revealing here than Spencer saying there are no plans… yet.”
Whether or not we see Game Pass creeping onto competitor consoles in the distant future, it is far more likely dependent on the decisions of Nintendo, Sony and any other potential platform than it is up to Microsoft.
