A former Sony employee deems Xbox's subscription strategy as dangerous
, by Thibaut
Microsoft is betting almost everything on Game Pass for the future of its gaming division. A double-edged strategy that could prove to be not that safe, at least according to a former member of PlayStation.
Shuhei Yoshida, who was in charge of PlayStation studios and then indie games for Sony, opened up on the subject in an interview with Game Developer. He was quick to describe Microsoft's approach as “dangerous".
"If the only way for people to play games is through subscriptions that's really dangerous, because what [type] of games can be created will be dictated by the owner of the subscription services. That's really, really risky because there always must always be fresh new ideas tried by small developers that create the next wave of development. But if the big companies dictate what games can be created, I don't think that will advance the industry."
"I believe the way Sony approached [subscriptions] is healthier. You know, not to overpromise and to allow people to spend money to buy the new games. After a couple of years there won't be many people willing to buy those games at that initial price, so they'll be added to the subscription service and there'll be more people to try [those products] in time for the next game in the franchise to come out."
Source: gamedeveloper.com