I see Game Pass hitting 30m active subscribers by December 31st, 2021 even WITHOUT Starfield releasing this year because it would be early 2022 so people will still subscribe and stay subscribed.
If the second half of 2021 sees Flight Simulator, Wolfenstein III, Forza Horizon 5 and Halo Infinite get released, I see 30m being an easy reality.
The potential Starfield bump is only a thing if MS can get those blades upgraded to XSX by then. If I were them id even consider delaying the release of the game until then.
I think the ability to get consoles out there is the bigger need atm as well as the overhaul of the Windowsâs Store. There is still potential areas of growth on just those two platforms that streaming is not absolutely necessary for this year.
Agreed, but there is no better time to get people to try your service than by making it an option for them to try a game theyâve been excited about for 3 years.
When xCloud comes out of beta they should have a âkiller appâ alongside it.
The other challenge for Sony is that PS Plus is cheaper to sub to than Gamepass but Sony will have greater overheads as they are paying MS I believe for use of the Azure network and MS obviously already owns this for use with Gamepass.
In addition, Sony will not be as willing/able to make the substantial investment to get the 3rd party stuff on PS Plus.
They can of course increase the price but as online play is locked behind the PS Plus paywall the optics around increasing will be tough to manage.
PS Now is prob more feasible and it has significantly lower subs ATM.
I mean if they can coincide with it then thatâs great, but I feel it is not as essential for basically an app or service because itâs not really selling a physical product and whenever the next AAA game is ready, Xbox can always advertise the fact it is on streaming.
For me the number reason to possibly delay Starfield, assuming it will be ready for this year, is to keep momentum going from the launch of Halo Infinite.
I expect starfield to not be in Xbox one. I think it will be the first next gen only game from Microsoft. I also think that any games launching in 2022 will be next gen only.
So I bet the goal for Microsoft is to have upgraded the xcloud servers to series consoles by the end of the year, and to allow for Xbox one users to stream all games through gamepass on their Xbox ones. This way users on Xbox one can play starfield if they have gamepass.
Itâll definitely be on Xbox One.
I disagree here because I think the base of customers using xCloud exclusively is residual. We have figures of 23 million subscribers which are mostly console and PC users. A very small part of this right now is xCloud users, and this will not improve much until cloud technology matures and network infrastructure improves all around the world to provide a consistent cloud experience that just isnât there yet. XSX blades may improve the experience, but Iâm betting on xCloud still being comparatively very niche to console and PC, and as such not crucial for Starfield being a huge success, the game itself will move consoles and PC Game Pass subscriptions.
A bigger point of immediate expansion would be allowing Game Pass on Steam. I think Microsoft wants this because, well, they already release games there, so clearly they donât mind you donât use their specific store, and they want to reach you where you most want to play. Also, having Game Pass on Steam would allow a richer PC library because many titles skip the Windows Store, which results in a discrepancy between console and PC Game Pass versions, and itâd be in there best interest to eliminate that.
Not every game requires an amazing streaming experience. An RPG is not typically all thet fast paced and would be playable even with latency.
IMO, non Xbox owners have been told since the Bethesda acquisition that it is okay because Xcloud lowers the barrier of entry. Starfield will be one of the biggest moments for Xbox this generation and there is no better time for a PS-only gamers to give Game Pass a shot than at the release of Starfield. It would be a total missed opportunity if people canât stream Starfield on day 1 of its release.
I donât think any of that prevents them from working on improving the PC experience at the same time. It already sounds like they are working on a store that does not need Windows store specific versions any longer.
I do expect a bump from Starfield (or any major release), the question is how big of a bump.
This discussion may not be needed because I am sure that by the release of Starfield series blades will be in some capacity up and running in xCloud to make the game playable on xCloud.
Only chip shortges can spoil this.
Otherwise, no need to delay the game as you said.
I donât think so. Starfield was presented by Todd as a âbrand new next-generation single player gameâ on E3 2018.
Dirt 5 Technical Director praises Game Pass and says the player count is shockingly huge (with high levels of engagement)
Perhaps sooner than you think. I think secular growth + Halo Infinite + Starfield + Cuphead DLC might be enough to get it to that #.
Todd Howard said 2-3 years ago that he wasnât sure if it would be on last gen or not. I say 30-40% chance it hits Xbox one.
He said at that e3 and after that trailer that didnât necessarily mean it was next gen only. He said he wasnât sure if it would launch on last gen.
Edit also guys jez said today on his podcast with Rand that his 23 million subscribers number was wrong, and he owes Ed an apology. Guess itâs at 22 million.
It still may be a slightly different number announced during the next MS Financial Event, since theyâll stop at end of March. There was some time spent about this on the Live XboxEra Podcast today.
Why Cuphead DLC?
Weâll see. Personally I really hope it is current-gen only. I want it to take full advantage of Xbox Series X|S, and I feel Xbox needs that âwinâ (that it is current-gen only).
Dunno, it just stuck in my mind that is the most anticipated DLC for Xbox.