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[Draugoth]

---

PlayStation Plus has been around for a while. Over 13 years, to be exact. In all this time, the popular subscription service has gained over 47.7 million users. On the other hand, Xbox Game Pass made its way into the industry back in 2017, and as of April 2022, 21.9 million were for Game Pass (excluding PC). These numbers have been speculated according to GamesIndustry.

According to new estimates from the company Omdia, known for its market analysis, PlayStation Plus currently has more subscribers than Xbox Game Pass:

We believe that almost half of Xbox Game Pass subscribers will be on the Ultimate tier by the end of 2023This is in stark contrast to PS Plus, where we estimate around two-thirds will be on the cheapest tier, Essential."

Furthermore, Omdia's George Jijiashvili comments that the role of subscriptions as a primary business model for a gaming platform is yet to be proven.

 

[Skifi28]

 

[LectureMaster]

PS plus subscriber numbers are probably gonna drop given the price rise and inconsistence of quality.

 

[Same ol G]

Omdia: Game Pass Currently at 41.7m Subs - Half on Ultimate Tier by end of 2023

Omdia = independent analysis firm based out of London. Most analysts agree that Xbox Game Pass will be impacted the most by Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard, thanks to the expected injection of its back catalogue and future releases. Omdia notes that PlayStation Plus is actually ahead...

www.neogaf.com

Who to believe

 

[tmlDan]

PS plus subscriber numbers are probably gonna drop given the price rise and inconsistence of quality.

Since the increase quality has been consistently good imo

We'll see how it goes moving forward

 

[Eliciel]

It actually would make sense...however, I believe the trend who is gaining more traction on this "model" is a different one.
In essence, MS is on a trajectory to be the leading entitiy for this type and also follows that path natively on the developmental mentality, Sony actually isn't...Their games have been stated to be impossible to be put into a pass model or the quality would have to go down.

The $1mln question is: Does that has anything to do with the departure of Jim and is Sony starting to understand that they are about to be getting into trouble if they don't change fundamental things. Specifically after MS locked down Activision Blizzard?

 

[kebaldo]

PS plus subscriber numbers are probably gonna drop given the price rise and inconsistence of quality.

No one is subscribing to these platforms for quality lol It's the modern digital fast food

 

[lh032]

PS plus subscriber numbers are probably gonna drop given the price rise and inconsistence of quality.

 

[Three]

Playstation plus more than likely has more subs than gamepass but they have both combined essential and core into it. I would say on average gamepass subscribers are paying more but in terms of overall revenue it would be close I imagine.

 

[adamsapple]

Omdia: Game Pass Currently at 41.7m Subs - Half on Ultimate Tier by end of 2023

Omdia = independent analysis firm based out of London. Most analysts agree that Xbox Game Pass will be impacted the most by Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard, thanks to the expected injection of its back catalogue and future releases. Omdia notes that PlayStation Plus is actually ahead...

www.neogaf.com

Who to believe

They're both saying the same thing.

It's via the same Omdia statement .

 

[Ozzy Onya A2Z]

Omdia: Game Pass Currently at 41.7m Subs - Half on Ultimate Tier by end of 2023

Omdia = independent analysis firm based out of London. Most analysts agree that Xbox Game Pass will be impacted the most by Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard, thanks to the expected injection of its back catalogue and future releases. Omdia notes that PlayStation Plus is actually ahead...

www.neogaf.com

Who to believe

You could have included the interesting bit -

"We estimate that nearly half of Xbox Game Pass subscribers will be on the Ultimate tier at the end of 2023," says Jijiashvili. "This is in stark contrast to PS Plus, which we estimate around two-thirds will be on the cheapest Essential tier."

As Sony's leverage in the marketplace declines to lock out Xbox from titles/publishers/devs and Game Pass keeps ramping up advertising/output we're going to see this skew even further. Sony's lack of aggressive pricing policies, platform releases, poor ports, indie support and generally titles based on GaaS lacking etc are going to further widen this gap sustainably. Game Pass has a unified system across devices, platforms, ecosystem, release targets, support, community, security etc. Sony are well behind here and it's going to get worse for PS+ attractiveness by comparison to GP. Hopefully it spurs Sony into more PC releases and a unified system, I doubt they'll do it though (Sony's tech is vastly "less" compatible to day one release parity, even without the business tactics).

 

[Mitsurugi Reiji]

How is this a like to like comparison?

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

See?. Mental disorder inducing.

There is a reason we have seen some epic mental breakdowns over the years. Add Twatter to the mix....it has to be a very miserable for the mental health of some individuals.

 

[Mownoc]

How is this a like to like comparison?

Xbox Live Gold is now Gamepass Core and is included in the comparisons.

 

[Iced Arcade]

Wasn't this already posted?

 

[Gamerguy84]

I would estimate gamepass subs will increase due to how many cans of mountain dew are sold per day.

 

[DaleinCalgary]

Playstation has more users.

so.....

 

[Mitsurugi Reiji]

Xbox Live Gold is now Gamepass Core and is included in the comparisons.

Interesting. Got it. Playstation consoles beat Xbox 2:1 so i guess these numbers are expected.

 

[HeisenbergFX4]

Interesting. Got it. Playstation consoles beat Xbox 2:1 so i guess these numbers are expected.

Yeah not sure why this would actually surprise anyone

 

[adamsapple]

Interesting. Got it. Playstation consoles beat Xbox 2:1 so i guess these numbers are expected.

Draugoth 's copy pasted from some weird source without a link and only one line of info. The original source of the info was already posted elsewhere.

Omdia: Game Pass Currently at 41.7m Subs - Half on Ultimate Tier by end of 2023

Omdia = independent analysis firm based out of London. Most analysts agree that Xbox Game Pass will be impacted the most by Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard, thanks to the expected injection of its back catalogue and future releases. Omdia notes that PlayStation Plus is actually ahead...

www.neogaf.com

Omdia notes that PlayStation Plus is actually ahead with an estimated 50.1 million subscribers in 2023, compared to 41.7 million on Xbox (if you factor in users on Game Pass Core, formerly Xbox Live Gold). But it adds that Xbox Game Pass is ahead of PS Plus in regards to the tier mix and pricing structure.

"We estimate that nearly half of Xbox Game Pass subscribers will be on the Ultimate tier at the end of 2023," says Jijiashvili. "This is in stark contrast to PS Plus, which we estimate around two-thirds will be on the cheapest Essential tier."

TL;DR
PS+ 50.1m
Game Pass 41.7m
Half of GP are on Ultimate tier

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

Yeah not sure why this would actually surprise anyone

Game Pass is available on PC, and Microsoft has made a significant effort to position it as a central focus of their Xbox marketing strategy.

If this is true, is another sign that there is no really a "Netflix size market" for sub services like these.

 

[GHG]

If this is true, is another sign that there is no really a "Netflix size market" for sub services like these.

But maybe there is, on mobile.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

But maybe there is, on mobile.

and Samsung TVs

 

[Raonak]

Clearly we're starting to reach the saturation point of these services. I wonder how much realistic growth MS expect to come out of the activision games.


Playstation barely even advertises the extra/premium, quite impressive that even a third of the PS+ subscribers are on the higher tiers.

 

[Mitsurugi Reiji]

Draugoth 's copy pasted from some weird source without a link and only one line of info. The original source of the info was already posted elsewhere.

Omdia: Game Pass Currently at 41.7m Subs - Half on Ultimate Tier by end of 2023

Omdia = independent analysis firm based out of London. Most analysts agree that Xbox Game Pass will be impacted the most by Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard, thanks to the expected injection of its back catalogue and future releases. Omdia notes that PlayStation Plus is actually ahead...

www.neogaf.com

TL;DR
PS+ 50.1m
Game Pass 41.7m
Half of GP are on Ultimate tier

Cool. Thts good information. PS+ might go down by 1 if there is no good deal this winter lol.

 

[Draugoth]

Draugoth 's copy pasted from some weird source without a link and only one line of info. The original source of the info was already posted elsewhere.

Omdia: Game Pass Currently at 41.7m Subs - Half on Ultimate Tier by end of 2023

Omdia = independent analysis firm based out of London. Most analysts agree that Xbox Game Pass will be impacted the most by Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard, thanks to the expected injection of its back catalogue and future releases. Omdia notes that PlayStation Plus is actually ahead...

www.neogaf.com

TL;DR
PS+ 50.1m
Game Pass 41.7m
Half of GP are on Ultimate tier

Already asked the mods to lock this.

Dont worry.

 

[Gameplay Gods Bless]

---

PlayStation Plus has been around for a while. Over 13 years, to be exact. In all this time, the popular subscription service has gained over 47.7 million users. On the other hand, Xbox Game Pass made its way into the industry back in 2017, and as of April 2022, 21.9 million were for Game Pass (excluding PC). These numbers have been speculated according to GamesIndustry.

According to new estimates from the company Omdia, known for its market analysis, PlayStation Plus currently has more subscribers than Xbox Game Pass:



Furthermore, Omdia's George Jijiashvili comments that the role of subscriptions as a primary business model for a gaming platform is yet to be proven.

This has always been the case. PS+ has always had more subs than Gamepass + Xbox live gold and now that live is gamepass core the same is the case. It's just a numbers game PS has a massively larger install base.

 

[Gameplay Gods Bless]

You could have included the interesting bit -



As Sony's leverage in the marketplace declines to lock out Xbox from titles/publishers/devs and Game Pass keeps ramping up advertising/output we're going to see this skew even further. Sony's lack of aggressive pricing policies, platform releases, poor ports, indie support and generally titles based on GaaS lacking etc are going to further widen this gap sustainably. Game Pass has a unified system across devices, platforms, ecosystem, release targets, support, community, security etc. Sony are well behind here and it's going to get worse for PS+ attractiveness by comparison to GP. Hopefully it spurs Sony into more PC releases and a unified system, I doubt they'll do it though (Sony's tech is vastly "less" compatible to day one release parity, even without the business tactics).

I think Sony can still secure a market share victory by ignoring gamepass. The problem is that victory will win them the console market, should MS find success on PC (they technically are both with gamepass and game sales see Starfield sales) and mobile (ABKs Candy Crush, Hearthstone, Diablo Immortal and COD mobile will help them there) then Sony will find itself fighting an uphill battle should Gamepass contribute to MS success in those platforms.

 

[DinoD]

1990-2020 Console Wars
2020-???? Subscription and Engagement Wars

War never changes.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

Of course it does.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

This has always been the case. PS+ has always had more subs than Gamepass + Xbox live gold and now that live is gamepass core the same is the case. It's just a numbers game PS has a massively larger install base.

No it doesn't.
GP is available on far more devices.

 

[marjo]

No it doesn't.
GP is available on far more devices.

Everyone on a Sony or Microsoft console needs to pay for multiplayer, that's not the case for PC.
If you want to include the PC, we should ignore 'Game Pass Core' and 'PS Plus essential' numbers. In that case, I'm willing to bet that there are considerably more 'non core' Game pass subscribers than 'non essential PS Plus ones.

 

[nosoynadie22]

Does Sony care about the success of PS extra/premium? I think that this service was only created to silence criticism for the lack of a response to Microsoft's gamepass, but I don't think they are willing to give everything for this service in the same way as Microsoft. I think that as long as they can make profits by increasing the number of users little by little will be happy

 

[mckmas8808]

You could have included the interesting bit -



As Sony's leverage in the marketplace declines to lock out Xbox from titles/publishers/devs and Game Pass keeps ramping up advertising/output we're going to see this skew even further. Sony's lack of aggressive pricing policies, platform releases, poor ports, indie support and generally titles based on GaaS lacking etc are going to further widen this gap sustainably. Game Pass has a unified system across devices, platforms, ecosystem, release targets, support, community, security etc. Sony are well behind here and it's going to get worse for PS+ attractiveness by comparison to GP. Hopefully it spurs Sony into more PC releases and a unified system, I doubt they'll do it though (Sony's tech is vastly "less" compatible to day one release parity, even without the business tactics).

The bolded would be the STUPIDEST thing Sony could ever do. EVER! MS isn't even doing the console+PC day one thing that well.

 

[Aaron Olive]

Water is wet

But seriously this is obviously so due to Sony having more consoles sold than Microsoft does and I'm not even subbed to PS+ greedy Mf's.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

I would hope so that PS with double the fanbase adding up all PS+ tiers would have more subs than Xbox's GP only tier.

A better comparison would be breaking down PS+ tiers and Gold/GP tiers and adjusting for console base difference where PS is double.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

I would hope so that PS with double the fanbase adding up all PS+ tiers would have more subs than Xbox's GP only tier.

A better comparison would be breaking down PS+ tiers and Gold/GP tiers and adjusting for console base difference where PS is double.

GP is available on more devices.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

Everyone on a Sony or Microsoft console needs to pay for multiplayer, that's not the case for PC.
If you want to include the PC, we should ignore 'Game Pass Core' and 'PS Plus essential' numbers. In that case, I'm willing to bet that there are considerably more 'non core' Game pass subscribers than 'non essential PS Plus ones.

So that doesn't change want he said from being incorrect.
GP is available to more devices by a huge mile.

 

[K' Dash]

I have both services. I'm not renewing PS+ when it ends next February, the other one I keep for the kids, they have a Series S to play their Fortnite and GP stuff. If not for them I would've cancelled that one too.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

GP is available on more devices.

And if you read the OP, PS+ is mostly skewed to the bottom essentials tier, while Xbox gamers have a higher skew to GP. Despite PS having double the user base (the OP numbers excluded PC Game Pass), it shows the typical PS gamer thinks only Essentials is worth it. I dont blame them. Sony's higher tiers are lousy. And the recent 33% price hike quietly done over Labour Day weekend makes it worse unless PS gamers value those 100 free movies included like Blue Thunder and Run Lola Run.

 

[L*][*N*K]

PlayStation is at the very least 3 times more successful than Xbox so this makes total sense

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

I have both services. I'm not renewing PS+ when it ends next February, the other one I keep for the kids, they have a Series S to play their Fortnite and GP stuff. If not for them I would've cancelled that one too.

Online multiplayer is all I pay for(F rental services) but that should be free.

 

[Gameplay Gods Bless]

No it doesn't.
GP is available on far more devices.

It's not the same because gamepass and PS+ block players from online gaming in their consoles but for PC you don't need Gamepass core or PS+ for online same with mobile. The biggest motivator to get ps+ is online gaming. PS+ also blocks cloud saves unless you sub which gamepass does not and PC/Mobile don't either. These blocks artificially boost subs by necessity.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

It's not the same because gamepass and PS+ block players from online gaming in their consoles but for PC you don't need Gamepass core or PS+ for online same with mobile. The biggest motivator to get ps+ is online gaming. PS+ also blocks cloud saves unless you sub which gamepass does not and PC/Mobile don't either. These blocks artificially boost subs by necessity.

Nothing artificial about subs.
You either sub or you don't...whether it be for online,game rentals or cloud saves.

 

[Gojiira]

So a subscription service available on just PS4/5 has much more users than Game Pass which is available across multiple Xbox’s entire line of (4?) consoles,PC and Mobile…Yeah Xbox sure is impressive….
I find it funny when people shit on any Tier above Essential though, Extra is great value on its own, the PS4/5 catalog has had plenty of great games added consistently. Its not like every month is stellar sure, but the same goes for Game Pass.

 

[MarkMe2525]

Game Pass is available on PC, and Microsoft has made a significant effort to position it as a central focus of their Xbox marketing strategy.

If this is true, is another sign that there is no really a "Netflix size market" for sub services like these.

Not really, it just shows were they are now. I'm skeptical of gamepass's growth potential as well, but you are missusing this information if you are using this snapshot as any indicator of potential future market size. Now if they are around this number a few years from now, you can start to make some informed assumptions.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

So a subscription service available on just PS4/5 has much more users than Game Pass which is available across multiple Xbox’s entire line of (4?) consoles,PC and Mobile…Yeah Xbox sure is impressive….
I find it funny when people shit on any Tier above Essential though, Extra is great value on its own, the PS4/5 catalog has had plenty of great games added consistently. Its not like every month is stellar sure, but the same goes for Game Pass.

And PS premium tier is on PC too and has been for ages.

It's not surprising PS's higher tiers have bad sub counts. it's been like that since day one, since the games arent great and anyone wanting to do PS3 games or PC access are archaic stream only. It's like this is 2010 and that OnLive service launched. PS Now launched in 2014 (years ahead of GP), but scuttled when Sony relaunched their sub plans with 3 tiers. In 2021 the last count of PS Now was around 3M after 7 years. Thats it. And it had PC access and even accessible in Bravia TVs where you didn't even need a console.

 

[Freelance Yakuza]

We believe that almost half of Xbox Game Pass subscribers will be on the Ultimate tier by the end of 2023This is in stark contrast to PS Plus, where we estimate around two-thirds will be on the cheapest tier, Essential."

So its 50% vs 34%

 

[Mr.Phoenix]

As Sony's leverage in the marketplace declines to lock out Xbox from titles/publishers/devs and Game Pass keeps ramping up advertising/output we're going to see this skew even further. Sony's lack of aggressive pricing policies, platform releases, poor ports, indie support and generally titles based on GaaS lacking etc are going to further widen this gap sustainably. Game Pass has a unified system across devices, platforms, ecosystem, release targets, support, community, security etc. Sony are well behind here and it's going to get worse for PS+ attractiveness by comparison to GP. Hopefully it spurs Sony into more PC releases and a unified system, I doubt they'll do it though (Sony's tech is vastly "less" compatible to day one release parity, even without the business tactics).

Ooooohhh... this is that type of thread.

So, Sony has ~48M subs. And 1/3rd of that (16M) is on a tier higher than the 2/3rd on the lowest tier (32M).

Now GP at 41M (including PC), and half of that is gonna be on ultimate (20M), leaving the other half on something not ultimate (20M).

What's wrong with this picture?

Ooooohhhh... I get it, thats why you devised the apocalyptic demise of Sony because I am sure you noticed that your math wasn't mathing.

Anyways, dont count your chickens yet, wait until Xbox actually has a proper win on the board. Then you can start talking about what is best and who is ahead.

 

[Gameplay Gods Bless]

Nothing artificial about subs.
You either sub or you don't...whether it be for online,game rentals or cloud

It is artificial, the only place that charges you to use the internet you already paid for is consoles and that's because Microsoft pioneered forcing people to pay for online and Sony followed suit. Microsoft also tried to force people to pay for online on PC for years and PC gamers laughed them off the platform.

You get what you let them get away with.