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> And let’s not kid ourselves, no one is subscribing to Gamepass for cloud streaming. It just happens to be bundled in, so the argument that they have a monopol

> And let’s not kid ourselves, no one is subscribing to Gamepass for cloud streaming. It just happens to be bundled in, so the argument that they have a monopoly is a bit of a farce. Ah, I remember this one. > No one likes Windows better than any other OS, it just happens to be bundled with almost 99% of the computers sold out there. > No one wants Word over Wordperfect, it just happens to be bundled in the Office suite, and that happens to be installed along Windows in many new PCs. > No one likes Internet Explorer, it has a 90% market share just because it comes bundled with Windows. And so on and so forth. Extend, embrace, extinguish.

smileybarry 4y ago
"Xbox LIVE Gold" -- AKA online multiplayer on Xbox consoles which most users buy ever since the Xbox 360 -- is $10. Xbox Game Pass is $10. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate -- which includes both -- is $15. That's the tier that also has cloud gaming. Not only is it $20 vs $15, I doubt the account system would let you subscribe to both separately instead of Ultimate. In addition, consider that Ultimate is available anywhere both Game Pass and "Gold" are available, even where cloud gaming is not. I'm subscribed to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in Israel, except cloud gaming is not offered here (and not even as "ping may be higher than optimal", it's not even in the UI unless I VPN). If someone's counting Ultimate subscriptions as "cloud gaming subscriptions", they would be heavily inflated from "cheaper bundle" users and users from countries where cloud gaming isn't even available.
- manuelabeledo 4y ago
  > If someone's counting Ultimate subscriptions as "cloud gaming subscriptions", they would be heavily inflated from "cheaper bundle" users and users from countries where cloud gaming isn't even available. The report states that Xcloud is available in a handful of countries, and compares it to its rivals, but the point they make is about available content, which concerns the acquisition. In other words, even if Microsoft accounted for 60 or 50% of the global cloud gaming numbers, CMA foresees a scenario where they use an extremely popular franchise to increase the value of their offering, while decreasing the attractiveness of their competitors. They also back it with some numbers that suggest that CoD could drive platform adoption up. > Our survey asked CoD gamers on PlayStation to think about the time when they bought their most recent PlayStation. The survey asked what they would have done if the most recent CoD game they owned at that time had not been available on PlayStation, but had been available on Xbox and PC. > Results indicated that 24% of respondents would have bought an Xbox, a PC, or no gaming device at all instead of a PlayStation.

smileybarry 4y ago

"Xbox LIVE Gold" -- AKA online multiplayer on Xbox consoles which most users buy ever since the Xbox 360 -- is $10. Xbox Game Pass is $10. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate -- which includes both -- is $15. That's the tier that also has cloud gaming. Not only is it $20 vs $15, I doubt the account system would let you subscribe to both separately instead of Ultimate. In addition, consider that Ultimate is available anywhere both Game Pass and "Gold" are available, even where cloud gaming is not. I'm subscribed to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in Israel, except cloud gaming is not offered here (and not even as "ping may be higher than optimal", it's not even in the UI unless I VPN). If someone's counting Ultimate subscriptions as "cloud gaming subscriptions", they would be heavily inflated from "cheaper bundle" users and users from countries where cloud gaming isn't even available.

manuelabeledo 4y ago
> If someone's counting Ultimate subscriptions as "cloud gaming subscriptions", they would be heavily inflated from "cheaper bundle" users and users from countries where cloud gaming isn't even available. The report states that Xcloud is available in a handful of countries, and compares it to its rivals, but the point they make is about available content, which concerns the acquisition. In other words, even if Microsoft accounted for 60 or 50% of the global cloud gaming numbers, CMA foresees a scenario where they use an extremely popular franchise to increase the value of their offering, while decreasing the attractiveness of their competitors. They also back it with some numbers that suggest that CoD could drive platform adoption up. > Our survey asked CoD gamers on PlayStation to think about the time when they bought their most recent PlayStation. The survey asked what they would have done if the most recent CoD game they owned at that time had not been available on PlayStation, but had been available on Xbox and PC. > Results indicated that 24% of respondents would have bought an Xbox, a PC, or no gaming device at all instead of a PlayStation.