Xbox Game Pass Originally Intended For Rental Services For Games

There is no question that Microsoft’s gaming service not only has a good reputation but is extremely successful. Microsoft has now revealed that the original idea was different: The Xbox Game Pass should offer games to borrow.

Today, the Xbox is celebrating its 20th anniversary and the first console from Microsoft now has three successors: Xbox 360, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X / S . But of course that’s not all in the Redmond Group’s gaming ecosystem, because the Xbox Game Pass has become an essential pillar of Microsoft’s games business.

But the Xbox Game Pass as we know it today was originally something else, namely a rental service for video games: Sarah Bond, Corporate Vice President at Microsoft, said in an interview with GQ magazine that the Game Pass, developed under the code name Arches, was the result of a change in-game usage: “In the past, around 75 percent of the revenue of a game was generated in the first two months after its release … today it is spread over two years. “

Strong Refusal In The Beginning

When the concept of Game Pass was in its current form, the first thing to do was convince the publishers. But they initially categorically rejected Game Pass because they believed that this model would reduce the value of games. That’s why Microsoft started experimenting with older games, as the risk was correspondingly smaller.

This experiment also succeeded, and it was more than impressive. The interest exceeded all expectations and so it was possible to get the first publishers and developers on board. The final breakthrough came when Microsoft decided to unlock an exclusive game, Sea Of Thieves, on day 1 in Xbox Game Pass. Xbox boss Phil Spencer consciously took the risk of not selling a single copy of the pirate adventure. But that didn’t happen, because Sea Of Thieves was selling satisfactorily despite Game Pass availability.