Head Of Xbox Shuts Down Idea Of Game Pass Coming To Other Platforms (Again)

I do NOT want any form of cloud based game streaming.

They port the game to run natively or no games. Other than pandemic time I use my switch in way too many situation where I don't have an internet connection or a really flacky one. Also not everyone one have super duper high speed low latency internet connections. There are still people in the world with 128k ADSL connections.

@Godzil This is Game Pass. Not XCloud.

well would be fun to have xcloud on switch. Nintendo would never allow it. They don't even allow netflix or Disney

Oh and the "closed platform" Phil is talking about is iOS (iPhone/iPad) not other video gaming consoles.

And it is interesting that they don't consider the Xbox as being a closed platform

@dimi Well yes it is:

https://support.xbox.com/en-US/help/subscriptions-billing/manage-subscriptions/xbox-game-pass-mobile-intro

GamePass on other platform that XBox/PC is cloud/streaming

I have ZERO interest with Game Pass idea.
No cloud / streaming games for me.
Just keep being traditional with physical media. #letsgophysical 🤟

@dimi That's false cause Netflix and Disney had nothing to do with gamings but stuffs like Contact, Hitman 3, Guardians of the Galaxy, Resident Evil 7 Cloud, Phantasy Star Online 2 Cloud, and A Plague Tale: Innocence are all official cloud based games on the Switch. Not good cloud based experience but they are certainly legit cloud offerings for Switch atm.

“Head of Xbox shuts down idea of game pass, etc”

“...because other closed platforms do not want it.”

Who is shutting what down? Aren’t the closed platforms the one shooting down the idea?

@Anti-Matter Agreed! Let’s go physical!!

@moodycat A quid would get ya 10 that if SONY had a Playpass and tried putting it on XBox, Mr Spencer would just be as quiet.

I said this at the start. If you ever saw the film Jean de Flourette, a city guy inherits some land that a greedy farmer wants. So he builds a dam up stream that causes a drought and the city guy struggles to earn a living.

If you are struggling with the analogy, the water in this case is games. Why would you let someone build a dam in your closed system?

It's a shame the conversations had about making it work got omitted from the Epic / Apple court case (as they weren't relevant) I would have loved to have read the pitch.

I do like Phil Spencer. He's a good guy and seems genuine. He knows why closed systems don't want gamepass. And I'm sure he would love to make it happen (because make no mistake XBox would be the out and out winner with that one!), but man...it's like fitting a square block in a triangluar hole.

@moodycat Probably a behind the scenes thing at board meetings and such. Stuff like that doesn’t always reach the public, not firsthand, anyway.

@BloodNinja
Yay !
Let's go Physical, Physical ! 😆 (Olivia Newton John)

@Godzil Game Pass isn't just cloud gaming. The xCloud thing to my knowledge is only a benefit for the higher tier subscriptions. Otherwise you can just subscribe to Game Pass and download the games you want

The big take from this is Microsoft are still looking at how they can get their games on other platforms like Switch. It hasn't been sitting on Phil's shelf gathering dust it seems. I'm sure I read somewhere that there is some sort of announcement planned in the Fall. Maybe a Gamepass lite featuring first party XBox games or something. Or Masterchief in Smash. Who knows. Hope it's exciting

Makes sense. Microsoft are clearly expanding their horizons in regards to putting Xbox on as many devices as possible but they're never going to straight up slap their content onto competing platforms since it would lessen the general desire from a consumer standpoint for an Xbox console

well if it comes for switch i hope if it gets some for nintendo in return

@Anti-Matter LOL Good one sir

@GrailUK Phil already said the Switch on his shelf was purely because it was actually a gift from Nintendo alumni. It had nothing to do with any sort of teasing according to him.

@TheFrenchiestFry Then at the very least, it's nice to see them have such a healthy relationship.

@Godzil I do NOT want any form of cloud based game streaming.
Cloud benefits no one only those selling you the game. Your tied to your home internet regardless you have no choice here of how you game. As others mentioned Cloud ties your hand and money with Physical you choose how you play and what you buy and sell. Cloud give all the power to the company/hosts not the gamer. Plus when the cloud charges you 59.99$ for Cloud game when you can get the same Physical at 59.99$ - I do wonder whom is the smarter gamer and whom got gamed.

Microsoft will put Gamepass soon on SMart TVs, and with that, they'll slowly quit the home console business, and right after that, we'll see Gamepass on the next Nintendo console.

@Godzil I think he’s referring to all “closed” platforms as well as iOS, for example PlayStation network and Nintendo…

It’s hardly surprising they don’t want it either as it would cannibalise the platforms own sales while improving Microsoft’s. Nintendo, Apple, Sony etc have their own business models and aren’t in the game of being there to benefit Microsoft - one of their traditional competitors lol

@SwitchForce
Xbox streaming has 2 aspects:
1) One you can stream your games from your own console
2) You can stream games from cloud servers and they continue from where you left off (suing the cloud saves). This is included for free in the Game Pass subscription fee and all the games are also included to play locally.The only downside is that games rotate out occasionally.

I use it at times to play an Xbox game while waiting in a line for example.

Cloud gaming is the future. What’s so great about physical games. Cloud games run even better

I think Phil Spencer's also ruled out porting individual games (e.g. Halo) to other platforms as well:
"people usually ask me about releasing one individual game or another. And what I say is I want the full Xbox experience ..."
Which is a shame, I was kinda hoping for at least original Halo trilogy to make it over to the Switch.

Anybody who uses words like "Frontline game purchase" is immediately on my hate list. Even Reggie wasn't quite as Willie Loman as that.

@CheekyZelda
With Physical games, you really owned the games, you can share to other peoples, the games can be bought from yard sale with cheaper price and also you can sell the physical games to other peoples.
Streaming games is the worst idea ever.
I refuse to embrace them.
I'm totally against streaming games.
The future is still physical games, not the streaming games.

From the business point of view... both sides got a good reason to be the way they are about this?

Only an insane businessman would refuse to release Rare Replay on Switch- because mainly Nintendo fans grew up with them, not Xbox fans, so just this one compilation would sell thousands of percent more on Switch than Xbox, plus Switch oversold Xbox one consoles double in half the time. Rare games on Xbox is almost like offering Windows to Apple, it’s a product far more demanded on Nintendo that it would ever be on Xbox.

I am sure it is more a case of Nintendo and Sony not wanting gamepass on their platforms, Microsoft would love it if every system had gamepass but there is likely little incentive for Nintendo and Sony to want it, especially when Sony already has their own alternative and Nintendo has the Nintendo Switch Online games.

Not interested in game pass anyway. This was just another one of those stupid rumors that went nowhere. Like most game rumors. The rumor industry here is like a room full of old ladies at a bingo hall.

He's lying, it's going to happen later this year. My uncle works for Nintendo, and 4chan said so.

Both Sony and Nintendo are too closed minded to see that this is actually good for "gamers" and their users overall. It adds value to the device and creates a bridge where everyone plays together. Bloomin Dreamcast advert vibes

Available on Valves Steam deck. 😂

Honestly, I don't think the full version of GP makes sense on Switch if you're MS. Yes, they want more subscribers, but Xbox is still something they want to sell. No matter how hard we try to say they don't care about Xbox sales, MS absolutely does. Why else would they keep making it?

I think the only way Nintendo would agree to it is if the Switch version of GamePass has Xbox exclusives only.

And it would have to be cloud-based from a technical standpoint anyway: digital versions wouldn't run on the Switch due to it being completely different (and underpowered) hardware.

@Anti-Matter Gamepass isn’t just streaming. Obviously on something like a Switch it would be, but on the whole you just download games and play like buying a digital game. I’ve saved so much money by not having to pay £50-60 for a game.

It seems a lot of people here are confused as to what gamepass actually is. Gamepass is not cloud streaming. You actually download the game directly to your system just like you would for any other digital purchase. While I agree that physical games are great, many games such as indies don’t receive physical releases and gamepass is great for downloading all those games at relatively little cost.

Why should Sony and Nintendo allow Game Pass on their consoles when they could eventually create their Game Pass?

@Hughesy
I want all my games in legit physical, not by digital format nor streaming.
I choose to spent $50 for a single game in legit physical rather than spent $60 for thousand games in digital format from Game Pass.
I am a dinosaur, still keep maintaining traditional way to play video games.

@Johnnel if the game pass was avalaible on the Switch I guess many AAA games could only be streamer, though...

@TSR3 Yeah I can't see Xbox's big hitters going multiplatform. Halo, Gears and Forza are like the big three in terms of games they actually want people to buy Xboxes for

@Hughesy @BloodNinja @Anti-Matter I get what you all mean, I enjoy physical gaming as well. But Game Pass is literally the only reason why I have an Xbox lol. I don't really care about collecting Xbox games compared to PlayStation or Nintendo games, and Game Pass is a nice way to save money.

But yeah game streaming kinda stinks lol, and it sucks when a game leaves Game Pass, so you guys have some good points.

@HotGoomba
I was in different situation about collecting OG XBOX games.
The OG XBOX games i collected are mostly the games that will never get Backward Compatible for XBOX 360 , XBOX ONE and Series X (DDR Ultramix 1 - 4, Carmen Sandiego, Spongebob games, etc). Game Pass didn't even have Dance Dance Revolution games and thus I have to get OG XBOX machine to play my purchased OG XBOX games (still 4 OG XBOX games i have so far).
BTW, I still haven't bought OG XBOX machine yet but I think I have a chance to get at the end of year 2021.

@CheekyZelda What’s so great? I can still play my old games, without wasting money on a cloud service that will get shutdown in time and without constantly having to buy the latest game.

@CheekyZelda I'm a big fan of xcloud and somewhat psnow, though the 720p gets old. I use it all the time. But I wouldn't say cloud runs better. Higher visuals than switch, not as high as a local game (no 4k yet), there's naturally going to be network hiccups and stutters, inherent input lag etc. Physics prevents it from running equally well at local hardware. I love it, but as a suppliment to a local library, so I can keep my saves synced between convenient streaming and better performing local play. It's amazing it works so well, but I can't see it as a total replacement, just a supplement, got local consoles for more dedicated gamers. For casual occasional gamers? Sure, turn in a smart tv and there's Forza. It'll be good as consoles for the wider market. But on the flip side is less portable than switch since you're at the mercy of local cell towers. So streaming replaces PlayStations more easily than switches and steam decks.

@arenred I mean, you don’t really own much of it now. Say you buy a cart and immediately have to download an update when you put it in the console so it will work properly. Those updates aren’t going to stick around any longer than the digital download.

Game Pass on the Switch feels a little more complicated, after giving it some thought. XCloud would be needed because the Switch's hardware can't handle some of the games, but more importantly, the controls would either need to be adjusted for the Switch controllers or players would need to remap buttons somewhere.

@nessisonett
To be fair, a theoretical Game Pass on the Switch would HAVE to utilize XCloud given some of the games require more powerful hardware.

@arenred Just an old switch model or an old switch model without the new firmware updates?

@arenred “Under a certain firmware”

@Anti-Matter Interesting. You bring up a really good point.

I got a Series S last month purely for Gamepass and its been brilliant, currently have Gears 4, Crackdown 3 and Flight Sim on the go and i love it.

Having more options to play on a console is always bad. For the console´s manufacturer, mostly.

@Anti-Matter The present has already left behind physical games and embraced digital downloaded (not streamed) games.

Three cheers for platform exclusivity! Hip hip ..! ...
...
.
Anyone?

@arenred You know why I’m quoting you. This specific situation you have set up for how one could still get updates once an item is delisted is reliant on a lot of things, therefore meaningless to the average physical buyer.

There's already a browser (although somewhat fiddly to access) so as soon as Xcloud becomes fully available via the Web then gamepass will be accessible on Switch anyway.
They might as well just allow the app and charge Microsoft a % license fee.

"I dislike cloud gaming because I play offline a lot, don't bring xCloud to the Switch"

I don't know, what happened to having OPTIONS? Jesus Christ, fanboy tunnel vision at its finest. Ever thought we might have people who actually care about it?

Also, people who dislike Game Pass without trying it first have no idea what they are talking about or what they are missing. I just bought the Series S, and Game Pass has such insane value in AAA titles for its low monthly subscription, it's actually making me second guess paying Nintendo's obscene game prices that never go down. And that's in spite of "Nintendo's seal of quality". Even PlayStation's CEO is rightly worried about the effects of Game Pass on the market, not sure why ya'll acting like it's a bad thing.

The only way I could see Nintendo ever allowing GamePass on Switch would be if it featured Xbox exclusive content only (why let someone stream DQXI S on GamePass Switch when they could charge them on the eShop for the actual Switch version?). Even then they’d surely be expecting some fee from Microsoft to make it worth their while. As cool as it would be (I would absolutely love to get access to Rare Replay on Switch- even if it were cloud based) I just can’t see it happening.

@Serge_G I adore GamePass, but I do wonder how long it can last before the bubble bursts. It’s amazing right now, but there’s a lot of factors that could make it very damaging to the industry as we know it in the future if it (and similar services) gain serious traction. As it stands right now though it is incredible.

@arenred You seem mad online. Seems like you see the point I’m making.

It's all about money. What exactly would Sony and Nintendo gain from having MS's Gamepass service on their platforms?

@dani3po
I will not follow those peoples.
I will stay on traditional way to play video games with physical media.

@dani3po I can still walk into a store and buy physical media for any console, easily find DVDs, and even CDs, are you sure about that?

Game Pass= the rebranding of Microsoft’s original Xbone DRM vision where they’d have total control of what people can play using the power of the almighty cloud.

@GrailUK He basically said they don't want to release games on platforms that don't support Game Pass, that Microsoft games (Xbox + Bethesda) will only be released on platforms with Game Pass, and they would lovo to put Game Pass on Switch/PS5 but Nintendo /Sony dont n want it.

@TSR3 Do u expect the original Zelda on Xbox/PS5? If no, then ur logic don't makes any sense, why would they release the Xbox brand symbol on a console without Game Pass?

Just 'cause they release an Indie studio from the exclusive contract? (Cuphead)

Because an indie studio find a loophole in the exclusivity deal? ("New" Super Luckys Tale)

Or because a third-party indie studio ask them to authorize the release of IP that Microsoft only owns publishing rights on another console? (Ori IP owned by Moon Studios é publishing rights by Microsoft)

@Znake Brand association (Rare = Xbox) and brand recognition, r worth more than money, kepping the game as exclusive et Nintendo fans know thst if a new reboot/Remake is made it will be exclusive, thst is free marketing. That is why a lot of Nintendo fans r hyped about The Initiative, they a rebooting a Rare IP

@MaikonCSGarcia Exactly, but he makes it sound like Nintendo and SONY are in someway not playing ball, instead of being sensible lol.

Nintendo never says no outright, instead they give an elaboration of their plans...in otherwords, no.

Well Gamepass/xcloud on computing platforms is on good for Microsoft would only be good for Microsoft and the consumers. Not so much for Nintendo and Sony who would miss on Software sells if they allowed if. As much as I would like to play my Xbox games on my Switch, I just don’t see why Nintendo would be compelled to make it happen

In other words... "They don't want our profit jeopardizing their platforms' revenue."
I mean, guys, let's be honest, would that make any sense? Like one thing is expecting nintendo or aony to have a similar service, but asking them to open their legs to Microsoft and allowing people to free of charge access game pass in their platforms, that's weird. That's the same as asking why Microsoft doesn't have steam in xbox, it is technically custom windows PC.

@FargusPelagius You do realize Nintendo and Sony were winning in the gaming console wars gen after gen all this time. Why would they need Microsoft's failure?

Microsoft know the series s/x is the last gen console for them. Game Pass is a juggernaut and it's gonna be very hard to argue against a subscription model beyond 2023/4.

@tatchy yup then everybody is going to cry about no physical release and game preservation. But then few seconds later hit that extend button for their game subscription.

“ There's a ton of open platforms out there for us to grow in: the web, PC, and mobile.”
Okay that’s three where are the rest?

Of course closed platforms don’t want access to rival service running on their machinery that they don’t get money for. Microsoft is running a firesale on it’s content that the majority of people haven’t wanted for the past 3 generations of it’s loss leader consoles as a race to the bottom. If Microsoft had been getting a worthy return in the first place it wouldn’t have copied the Netflix model in the first place.

I also question if the Steamdeck’s business model of producing a console for little, no, or negative profit that people can delete it’s operating system and bypass Steam entirely to play XB gamepass is a sensible one?

No worries, I'll just put it on my Steam Deck. Far superior system anyways. My Switch will be almost retired in less than 6 months after I get mine.

It's always the big wigs stopping the party from happening.

@MaikonCSGarcia Are you trolling me?! I wrote I was 'kinda hoping' for Halo to make it over. No logical analysis there, just forlorn feelings
The logical/analytical part of my comment was just noting Phil's doubling down Game Pass or nothing. He's said this before, but this quote explicitely included 'individual games'. So that's the best fact on the ground for now, no more need to speculate or second guess (it was fun while it lasted )

Just release the rare games on the eshop.

@Specter_of-the_OLED Because it's a good idea and good for gamers not sure you realise PC gaming is bigger than console market for the last decade.

Funny when a closed platform says something like that about other closed platforms. I don’t want game pass on the Nintendo Switch. Microsoft is destroying the gaming industry by promoting a service that is never going to be profitable only creates losses. It’s purely built to bleed out the competition and take control over the whole gaming industry.

@Anti-Matter I’ll go physical with you too!

I don’t want a streaming future:/:/:/:/

@MaikonCSGarcia I disagree-l in this particular case. Rare is more associated with Nintendo anyways, and new generations of gamers do not care for these clunky old 1st Gen 3D games, mostly players who grew up with them want to play those. So I think Microsoft would do better just to allow Nintendo do to sell those on Switch and just make profit-even partial. Switch might have cca90 mil consoles out there VS Xbox 45mil…. I don’t think majority of Xbox gamers even know Rare games. How big percentage of Nintendo fans know rare?! Most! So let’s say 5% of Xbox fans buy those (out of 45mil) vs 30-60% of 90mil buy those. We may of course assume sales, but on switch they can still sell something, Xbox as a console doesn’t do well-thats why they started selling some MS games on switch. MS will be most likely forced to become developer only, provider of services and develop games-and will eventually pull out of the console wars. I am not speaking about renting out all games-just in case of Rare Replay- it would make more sense! Selling consoles is anyway not a priority-it is to sell software and pc market is quite big-just pc gamers tend more to just download roms for free. I don’t see any reason why MS wouldn’t want to sell RR on switch- it would be plain ignorance and foolishness.

TL;DR Nintendo and Sony declining Xbox Game Pass on their game systems.

By the way most people talk on here you would think no one has a good internet connection. For me I only collect physical games that I absolutely love. I use game pass to play everything else. Save money, Beat it then done. Remember you cant take your physical games to the grave with you. And no one on their death bed wished they spent more time collecting physical video games.....unless its sealed copies of super mario 1

@Znake Oh, they r prioritizing software over hardware, but they don't care about sales, the only Xbox-owned IP that is on the Switch is Minecraft (Ori belongs to Moon Studios, Microsoft only owns the publishing rights), they care about the ecosystem, your subscriptions, your xbox live data, that is why the games r not on Switch.

They have already said they would port games to other platforms IF the platform accepts Game Pass, Rare legacy is something that u want, and u could have access through Xbox Cloud or on ur Switch if Nintendo does what they want.

They don't care about console sales, or games individual sales, just about making Game Pass standard and profitable, the easy way is locking content on the service and forcing other platforms to do what they want.

"people usually ask me about releasing one individual game or another. And what I say is I want the full Xbox experience to be something that we deliver"

"I can see why the disruption of Game Pass is not something that they want RIGHT NOW"

Meaning, they will want it later. Now u just need to remember that Satya Nadella said that they will buy more big studios, and that keeping content exclusive to the subscription is really important.

Rare and it's legacy r not important, they r just part of a larger plan, and every time they release a cross-platform platform game the whole Nintendo community scream "Halo/Gears/Forza is coming soon" horrible for marketing, only put pressure in the Xbox studios/PR/community, nothing on Nintendo what they want is you asking for Game Pass on Switch, not games.

U can think otherwise, but people like you are fueling the rumors of Rare Replay on Switch for 6 years and so far nothing.

@MaikonCSGarcia you are totally right, you it seems you misunderstood what I meant. I never fuel stupid rumors. My claims only stated, that Microsoft could make more money if they placed it on Nintendo eshop instead of having it on gamepass. With the flow of time, the generation who grew up with Rare games will eventually stop caring and just from sales perspective it would make sense more to sell where the audience is. My points were purely analyzing business approach to selling rare collection and who how the two sides could benefit, nothing else. Otherwise you mentioned valid point and I can’t disagree on anything you said.

@Znake Nintendo and Microsoft dont seem to agree with you, see what BK's announcement on a subscription service has done to the Nintendo community.

@MaikonCSGarcia this is not about what we believe but effective numbers. Look at the fan bases, and look at the Switch and Xbox sales! Simple math

@Znake Again exclusives sell consoles/subscriptions, that's why Microsoft made The Elder Scrolls and Starfield Xbox exclusives (these Will sell way more then any Rare game)

@MaikonCSGarcia you totally missed my point. I was not comparing any subscription services. I was comparing rare fan bases, which originated on N64- meaning most people who know these games started with Nintendo. Most Xbox players don’t even know Rare games-meaning…Rare games would definitely sell better on Nintendo platform than Xbox- that’s simple logic- and plus- Xbox sold around 40mil consoles in 7-8years/ Nintendo sold 85-90mil consoles in 4 years- even while covering fewer global markets( it entered China and Brazil recently, so it has even more potential. So this should make it quite clear why Microsoft lets Nintendo use some of their IP’s- because they sell better on Nintendo, and Nintendo has more than double the users today, so it’s quite simple to see what’s happening if you know the market.