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Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Omdia = independent analysis firm based out of London.
Midia Research's senior games analyst Karol Severin:
Mike Rose, founder and director of publisher No More Robots:
www.gamesindustry.biz
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 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."
Midia Research's senior games analyst Karol Severin:
He adds that subscriptions' role as the primary business model for a games platform remains unproven. While it offers a cost-effective experience for the user, it raises difficult financial questions when it comes to sustaining blockbuster games development.
Severin adds: "The acquisition will undoubtedly have a positive impact on Game Pass subscriptions, and with it publishers becoming more dependent on the Xbox ecosystem. One effect is their negotiating power will weaken in the process. Another effect is that as gamers increasingly pick up games subscriptions, they will likely buy fewer individual high price point games going forward."
Mike Rose, founder and director of publisher No More Robots:
Rose adds: "As Microsoft has said, Game Pass numbers have slowed and it’s started to hit what seems to be some kind of limit in terms of the number of people who are willing to subscribe. But if the latest Call of Duty lands on Game Pass, isn’t that just going to be too big to say no to? Are millions of people going to continue to pay $70 for CoD when they could go with Game Pass?
"Obviously from my perspective as someone with games on Game Pass, I hope they choose Game Pass — that’ll mean more players for my games on the service, potentially bigger Game Pass deals to go with the bigger subscriber numbers… definitely an outcome I’d be open to."
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So, Microsoft now owns Activision Blizzard. How will this affect the rest of the industry?
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