Xbox Studios celebrate arrival of games on PS5 through Game Pass

The strategy of Microsoft Gaming to release titles on competing platforms, such as PlayStation and Nintendo, has been a divisive topic in the Xbox community, but within the company, the studios are pleased with the expansion. The journalist and unofficial industry source, Jason Schreier, revealed to 404 Media the internal sentiment of the developers.

Schreier explained that the financial mathematics of the Xbox studios is complicated by the Xbox Game Pass: “Many of these internal Xbox games are put on Game Pass, which means they don't sell as much because people can simply subscribe and play them much cheaper than buying them,” he said. The profitability seeks the 30% profit margins of direct sales that other platforms offer.

The journalist confirmed that the sales opportunity on the competing platform is pleasing the developers: “Many of these studios are now even excited to release their games on PlayStation, a recent phenomenon that has been happening in the last year or so,” he added.

The flow of Xbox titles to the PS5 has increased. Although several games have arrived on the Sony console with months or years of delay, notable releases like Gears of War Reloaded, Ninja Gaiden 4, The Outer Worlds 2, and the upcoming Halo Campaign Evolved have arrived or will arrive on the PlayStation 5 (PS5) on launch day, a move that seems to satisfy the producers developing these games.

With the sale of games on the PS5 compensating for the cannibalization of sales by the Xbox Game Pass on the Microsoft platform, how does Microsoft Gaming plan to maintain the subscription value of its service if the studios themselves see external release as the main profitability route?