How Microsoft is creating the video game Netflix -

geeko

Since the Atari 2600, the video game business has not seen a big transformation.

Of course, there was the dematerialized, but ultimately, it is only an alternative to sales of records and cartridges in stores, nothing that has completely transformed the activity of publishers, if not possible - to be for small studios which were able to put on the rails much smaller projects.

Cloud gaming as touted by Google with Stadia had the potential to revolutionize the industry.

Paradoxically, Google has not thought of rethinking the economic model, content to offer games for sale.

Then came the GamePass, a new subscription service that gives users access to a large library of games.

The subscriber does not own the game, he rents access to more than a hundred titles from the Xbox catalog.

The GamePass, an unbeatable offer

The service debuted on Xbox but is now also available on PC and Android smartphones.

It should logically have landed on iOS but Apple blocks its deployment on the pretext that the Microsoft application does not respect the conditions of use of the App Store.

What makes Microsoft's platform great?

First of all, because you don't need an Xbox to play the many games in the GamePass catalog.

You subscribe to the subscription plan for 12.99 euros, and as long as you have a compatible machine (Xbox, PC and Android 8.0 smartphones and more), as well as an Xbox controller, you can start playing.

Microsoft is eliminating the need for a game console.

Gamepass titles run on servers on the other side of the planet and are streamed, like programs on Netflix, on your smartphone.

That's why a $ 300 Android device is capable of running an extremely resource-intensive game, which would normally require a game console or gamer PC over $ 1,300.

The magic of the cloud.

But where Microsoft strikes very hard compared to Stadia is that the American giant couples cloud-gaming with a subscription offer.

Just like Netflix, where Stadia forces users to buy games in the cloud at the full price (sometimes up to 60 euros!), With all the risks that this entails (permanently losing access to their game if the platform is closed form is worn).

If in the past you had to spend several hundred euros for a console and games, today it only takes 12.99 euros to find happiness.

In the catalog of games of the Gamepass, we find the main exclusives of the Microsoft console, from the venerable

Halo

to

Forza Horizon 4

via

Gears 5

or

Battletoads

.

Microsoft has acquired about fifteen development studios to supply its service with new products.

This summer alone, players were able to discover

Tell Me Why

, an interactive adventure game developed by the French studio Dontnod, a reboot of the action game

Battletoads

de Rare, the tactical RPG

Wasteland 3

or even

Grounded

, a game of multiplayer survival in the world of the infinitely small.

Besides the "first-party" games, there are many small independent productions from around the world, big games from third-party publishers (

Batman

,

Final Fantasy

,

Metro

,

Tekken

,

Mortal Kombat

or even

Naruto

), and even titles from previous generations of Xbox (

Ninja Gaiden 2, Banjo Kazooie, Fable 3, Viva Pinata

or the complete

Gears of War

).

From the end of the year, Microsoft will add access to almost all the games in the repertoire of Electronic Arts, one of the largest publishers in the world, father of the

Battlefield

,

Need for Speed

and

FIFA

franchises

.

All without increasing its prices.

In terms of price / quality ratio, the offer is simply unbeatable.

Especially since the games in the catalog are regularly renewed since every month, Microsoft withdraws titles from the catalog and replaces them with new ones.

It's exactly the same principle as Netflix.

Over 10 million subscribers

With all this, you no longer need to buy your games, unless you want to keep them after trying them.

No need to buy a game console either, unless you get hooked there too.

And it seems to be working pretty well.

Because if it appears, Microsoft's business model does not seem profitable, the feedback from the developers is rather good.

The creators of the game

Descenders

claim to have seen the sales of their game triple as soon as it entered the Gamepass, due to the visibility it was given but also the passion of the players.

If big publishers like Electronic Arts come knocking on the door, it's also because they believe in the project.

After all, Microsoft has already managed to rally more than 10 million paying subscribers to its platform.

And it's only just getting started as Microsoft is thinking big for GamePass.

He recently signed an agreement with Samsung.

Buyers of certain smartphone models will have free access to GamePass for several months.

The goal is simple: to make GamePass the new essential service, the Netflix of gaming.

And when you take a look at console and game sales around the world, you think the potential is huge.

In 2019, the video game market grossed over $ 152 billion globally.

The

Pokémon

games alone

have grossed over $ 17 billion for Nintendo since the franchise launched.

For comparison, the

Avengers

weigh in at $ 2.79 billion in the movie theater market.

In the sector, Microsoft continues to generate huge revenues despite being dead last in console sales.

In 2018, its revenues climbed to more than $ 10 billion in gaming.

And with the GamePass, it has the potential to blow them up in the next few years.

Because GamePass is not only a weapon against its competitors Sony and Nintendo, the platform is also available on mobiles - a sector which today represents more than 30% of the industry's revenues.

So, of course, there is still a long way to go before GamePass passes the 100 million subscribers mark, but the deployment of the platform on Android is an important step in its development and in more than one way a turning point in the process. history of video games.

No more no less.

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