Xbox Game Pass Not ‘Value Destructive’ Like PlayStation Claims, Football Manager Boss Says

The studio head of Football Manager developer Sports Interactive has said PlayStation’s claim that Xbox Game Pass is “value destructive” is not true.

The United States’ Federal Trade Commission spent the last week battling Microsoft in court over Xbox’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, during which PlayStation boss Jim Ryan said publishers do not like Game Pass.

Sports Interactive head Miles Jacobson refuted this to Eurogamer, however, saying Game Pass has been a positive experience for Football Manager.

“Every studio is going to have different opinions on this,” Jacobson said. “Different studios will have different data, because different games work well in different situations. For us, it’s nothing but positive on all three platforms.

“The simple fact is Game Pass and Apple Arcade have brought new people to the franchise that never played it before. I’m confident enough in our games to believe we will now have those consumers for a long time, whatever platforms we’re on. Fiscally, it makes sense. Creatively, it makes sense.”

Ryan claimed he’d “talked to all the publishers, and they unanimously do not like Game Pass because it is value destructive”, insisting Game Pass is losing Xbox a lot of money.

Xbox CEO Phil Spencer, meanwhile, has been transparent about Game Pass’ profitability and sustainability. In an interview with Axios last year, Spencer explained how the service was not burning cash and called it “very, very sustainable”.
At the same time, however, in the UK Competition and Markets Authority’s provisional report, Microsoft admitted its video game subscription service led to a marked decline in base sales.

Microsoft and Sony have different strategies for their video game subscription services. Microsoft launches its games day-and-date on Xbox Game Pass, whereas Sony opts not to release its first-party games on rival service PS Plus at launch, with the likes of Horizon: Forbidden West coming a year after. Earlier in June, Sony’s vice president and global head of subscriptions Nick Maguire indicated Sony will not copy the Game Pass approach to exclusives, despite the rise of $70 games, because its current strategy is “working”.

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick is one video game executive who remains unconvinced by Game Pass. Speaking during a financial call in November, Zelnick said of releasing big games day-and-date on a Microsoft’s subscription service: “I still don’t think it makes sense. And I believe that it’s now becoming obvious that it doesn’t make sense. It’s just a lost opportunity for the publisher. So, I wouldn’t want to speak for my friend, Phil [Spencer], but our views remain unchanged.”

And Jim Ryan has an unlikely ally who shares his view on Game Pass: Activision Blizzard boss Bobby Kotick. If Microsoft buys the company, Kotick acknowledges he’ll be stuck with Game Pass whether he likes it or not. “I don’t agree with the idea of a multi-game subscription service as a business proposition going forwards, but we [Activision and Microsoft] can agree to disagree,” he said during the trial.

Sports Interactive is owned by Sega, who also came up in the FTC trial when Microsoft revealed it was once interested in purchasing it. While the Sonic publisher is happy with its “very close” relationship with Microsoft though, it made clear it wasn’t up for sale.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.