In 2022, Jim Ryan met with analysts, during which the activities of the competition were also discussed. The head of PlayStation spoke very clearly about Xbox Game Pass and, as he has emphasized many times, the service does not arouse enthusiasm among creators because it destroys the entire industry.
Last year, Jim Ryan participated in a conversation with investors and analysts, the transcript of which came to light as a result of the recent leak of information and documents regarding Microsoft. The main representative of PlayStation answered various questions, but one of the topics discussed was the issue of Xbox Game Pass. Already at that time he believed that the service was destroying the entire industry.
I can say with a high degree of certainty that Microsoft tried the first option and it didn’t work at all. This prompted them to make a major acquisition. I’ve talked to all the publishers and they unanimously don’t like Game Pass because it destroys the value of not only individual titles, but also the entire industry. The last subscriber figure Microsoft announced in January was 25 million. I’m sure everyone has their own opinion on this, but personally I expected more considering all the money spent. We have nearly 50 million PS Plus subscribers. We believe we have a significant subscription service.
Thus, the head of PlayStation clearly expressed his opinion on the strategy of the Redmond giant, emphasizing that the Xbox manufacturer was not successful with the first “option”, i.e. starting cooperation with external teams and guaranteeing them a certain amount for adding a game to the service, so he started major acquisitions. In his opinion, Game Pass has a negative impact on the value of individual games and the industry. At the same time, he compared the subscription to PS Plus, noting that the Japanese service has more users (in 2022, when the conversation took place).
In June, the head of PlayStation mentioned that Microsoft’s service is “disruptive” and talked “to all publishers who unanimously do not like Game Pass” . His statement caused quite a stir among many industry groups, whose representatives did not agree with Ryan.
Source: Reddit