According to the latest rumor, Sony doesn’t see Xbox Game Pass as a threat. Microsoft’s subscription service for playing Xbox games went live in 2017, and its appeal has skyrocketed ever since. New and highly anticipated AAA and independent titles are being added to the Xbox Game Pass catalog on a regular basis.
As opposed to PlayStation, which charges $70 for its launch titles, Xbox Game Pass customers have access to first-party Microsoft titles on launch day. Sony was also among the first videogame developers to raise the cost of PS5 titles by $10 from the industry norm of $60. PlayStation doesn’t see Xbox Game Pass as a competitor, despite user concerns that it would feel threatened by the service’s value.
The President of Sony Interactive Entertainment, Jim Ryan, allegedly said that the company doesn’t see Xbox Game Pass as a competitor at a December 2022 staff Q&A, as reported by Insider Gaming. According to a source, in response to a query concerning Xbox Game Pass, Ryan said that the service’s overall subscription count appears to be declining and is now in the mid-20 million range. Additionally, he said that PlayStation Plus has around 50 million users. However, despite Insider Gaming’s credibility, enthusiasts should still treat any and all disclosures with caution.
It was also noted by Ryan in the same article that Sony had moved more PS5s in twenty months than the whole subscriber base of Xbox Game Pass. As of September 30, 2022, Sony has delivered 25 million PS5s throughout the globe. Users have reported noticing increased quantities of the PS5 in retailers, suggesting that Sony has greatly increased production in recent months.
Bundles of the PlayStation 5 were also available, with titles like God of War: Ragnarok and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, some of the year’s most popular titles, included for fans to enjoy,
However, as of January 2022, the estimated volume of Xbox Game Pass customers was above 25 million. Sony previously said that over 29 million people are now paying customers for Xbox Game Pass. Thus, this latest announcement appears to go against the prior statistic. Perhaps when equating Xbox Game Pass subscribers on Xbox platforms to PlayStation Plus subscribers, Sony is leaving out the amount of PC Game Pass customers.
