In a recent earnings call, Zelnick doesn’t see the good of releasing games on a subscription service the day that they hit store shelves. Specifically, Zelnick had this to say: Zelnick adds that he doesn’t think that the subscription business is a “mass market service that supplants the interactive entertainment business as we know it at all. And I don’t think there’s any evidence to the contrary so far”. This isn’t the first time Zelnick has said something along the same lines. Ironically, this is the same perspective of several people over at Sony, including the executives. Of course, it only makes sense for Phil Spencer, Microsoft Gaming’s CEO, to think otherwise. But, when you look at the numbers, the only way for all parties involved to win is if a game really blows up on the Game Pass at launch but even then, such a success isn’t sustainable. We don’t have concrete numbers to back up our claims, save maybe the Game Pass that hasn’t really grown at the rate that Microsoft is expecting. Of course, the numbers that we do have do suggest that Microsoft’s investment in the Xbox Game Pass has paid off. In a recent report, Microsoft claims Game Pass made nearly $3 billion last year. As for Take-Two, the company’s biggest upcoming release, GTA 6, casts a huge shadow over the rest of the gaming industry. After being confirmed and even leaked, Take-Two and Rockstar Games are staying disciplined. Both are yet to show anything for GTA 6. But, Zelnick did confirm that development on GTA 6 is going well despite the hacking fiasco, so it’s not all bad news.
