Recently Phil Spencer outed some widely misconstrued opinions surrounding single player narrative driven games on consoles and PC. He lamented the fact that currently multiplayer or hybrid experiences have grabbed such a large chunk of the market that single player experiences have fallen by the wayside, with some very rare exceptions.
Phil Spencer then went on to say that what he feels would be the best way forward for game developers was a subscription style service much like Netflix that would give developers the security to take risks, giving the subscribers some rather unique and interesting experiences. These would not be possible if not for a massive backing from a large publisher, or some console exclusive deals in place.
For the most part, I agree with what Phil Spencer is saying. In the TV space, we have seen consumers opt more and more for subscription services to get access to TV and Movies, and game streaming becoming ever more popular. Game streaming has become so popular that it can affect game sales quite dramatically, as seen with games like Minecraft and other small indie games that have become massive sales successes thanks to that phenomenon.
So as we move further into this disconnected world from the traditional media and ‘sales’ model for games—note that digital distribution for games have eclipsed physical sales overall—it would become reasonable to assume that a subscription for games would be popular. EA Access has proven this point, giving gamers access to games that may have fallen out of favor with gamers and now can be monetised indefinitely by charging a subscription to access them.
But this is where the subscription model can come in handy reviving the ailing single player only gaming experience. If you would take the current HBO and Netflix models, you would see that these companies have been able to drum up sales of their subscriptions by offering high quality—and not some high quality—shows and series, of which have become cultural phenomena like where you could learn a fictional language part time at your local university. Microsoft and their Game Pass model could use this route to draw in subscriptions by offering unique gaming experiences that would have otherwise be too risky for developers to take on.
In turn, these could then draw in more subscribers to the service, and this money would then be pushed towards even more single-player content.
Now, obviously, there would be AAA single-player content outside of this subscription model pushed out by other developers like Activision and Bethesda. But for the majority of developers who might have a great idea, but can’t risk such a large investment—see Scalebound—Microsoft could step in and offer them the safety of a definite paycheck, without having to risk their game selling a mere 5000 copies, like so many games out right now.
For one, Microsoft could revive several Microsoft exclusive IP’s right now with the Xbox Game Pass and pretty much guarantee a greater chance of becoming successes than sending them out into the world as physical releases, then having to close the studio like Sony and Microsoft have done several times this generation because the games they developed were failures or were too risky to release. Games like Sea of Thieves, which is also quite a risky project in itself for RARE could be a Game Pass exclusive and drum up support and build a player base without that hefty $60 buy in which could push away several thousands of potential buyers.
This move to subscription models for specific games and older gaming titles that might have started faltering in the sales department should be embraced by all gamers. This will only increase potential investment by studios and console developers, and if successful will drive unique gaming experiences, and push developers to take more risks, and really let their creativity flow. Games like a potential Quantum Break 2 and others would benefit greatly from this freedom if they ever came into existence.
Dreyer was a regular ICXM contributor between 2016–2017, publishing 139 articles across opinion pieces, game reviews, Windows and PC, and Xbox news. Their work focused on hands-on reviews, platform commentary, and breaking-news reporting during the Xbox One X launch year and Microsoft’s wider Play Anywhere / UWP gaming initiative. They post on X as @dreyer_smit.