A lot of us have been waiting with baited breath for next gen launch details and for long rumored whispers to materialize. Many of us felt like Xbox was mismanaging their marketing because it didn’t march the beat of the traditional marketing drum. I think the events of the pat 48 hrs have made many folks online re-examine these assumptions, and rightfully so. I do think one element might be overlooked though and it’s tightly related to All Access.
While Sony offers its traditional platform and associated marketing push, MS is offering an unbeatable monthly package with XSX+EA Play+Gold+Game Pass Console+Game Pass PC+xCloud all for $35/month with NO MONEY UP FRONT. PS5 buyers will be mighty compelled to consider grabbing an XSX as an impulse buy as a result. After all, they’d get the best of both worlds if they do; Sony’s 1P titles for PS5, XGS 1P for Xbox, EA Play, Game Pass, xCloud, Gold, and all those multiplatform games will run best on XSX and might even be free if they land on Game Pass.
I believe the XSX All Access option will end up serving as a Trojan Horse for Xbox. PlayStation owners will grab the deal on a whim and end up using their PS5 only for 1P exclusives here and there, which will largely be titles that have little in the way of deep replayability. The vast majority of their play time will gradually shift to their XSX with its free online and mountains of free games and XGS titles sprinkled in for good measure. They will start exploring xCloud and as the tech improves further that might become an important way for them to access their Xbox library. Before long, the PS5 will be the secondary console.
When you give players tons of free games to play the psychology behind what to get excited about changes from ‘is this game worth my money’ to ‘is this game worth my time’. I think All Access is going to flip that mentality towards the latter, even on PS5 for gamers who end up getting both. And I’m betting TONS of ppl do get both as a direct result of how affordable All Access makes XSX.
I think XSX is the better option. It’s $10/mo more but ya get all the best multiplat versions. XSS is targeting a different demographic imho (though targeting them SUPER aggressively). That’s the other element here; we have never had a launch like this with hardcore gamers and casuals and impulse buyers all targeted outta the gate. This thing could be MASSIVE this holiday.
Here, you answered my first thought: “why not XSS?.”
My second thought is brand recognition and the “die hards.” What percentage do they really make up of PS’s base? Judging by the “smash hit sales” of maybe 10 million out of 110 million units, I expect the hardcore console warriors (far less than the 10 million sales number) to be the vocal minority we currently are deafened by. Leaving the rest as gamers, casuals, second consoles, and friend/family purchases.
If enough interest can be generated globally and early, I can definitely see your vision panning out with the ease of entry and the social engagement it could bring.
Keeping in this line of thought, and refocusing on the friends/family aspect, now is a great time to announce a family pass again! For just x dollars more you can have double the home consoles and double the gamer tags for less than two Game Pass Ultimate subscriptions.
Definitely within the realm of possibility, if pressed, narrated, and aggressively marketed enough globally.
As I’ve said before, something like this would have been amazing for Sony. As it stands, I’m looking only to the PS5 for exclusives and if it is a cent above $650 Canadian I will have to have serious thoughts.
All access may be a good thing to help your credit score assuming you make all of your payments. For those with very little credit history this is a good chance to build up some history cheaply.
Well you can find zero interest financing deals (retail) but they are mostly tied to signing up for a store credit card. I believe they say those looking to start up their credit history should actually start with a store credit card and buy something at 0%. This would be a similar chance I would imagine.
That’s different than the argument I am making in the OP though. The thing that sells XSX to a PS5 owner is the ability to play the best multplatform games, many of them potentially for free via Game Pass. XSS can do that latter but no the former.
XSS is tailored to a different market (more casual gamers who maybe can’t justify throwing $840 down for top of the line console tech all at once). This is the first time that anyone has tried targeting all these demographics at once (the casuals, the hardcore and even the competition’s userbase). If it picks up steam in the hardcore space and MS markets it right, it will swell with the casuals too. That’s never happened right from jump street before. Traditionally, it’s hardcore focused only, then 2-3 yrs later they target casuals in a less focused way.
What is fascinating to me is that All Access makes the whole Xbox platform a single, affordable day 1 option for no money down, making it a very good companion option for PS5 gamers. This kind of targeting has never been conceivable before like this.
This will be the third generation in a row that I’ve picked up a PlayStation only for First Party titles, so this is already a thing with a lot of people.
