Much has been said today about the future of subscription services in video games, such as playstation plus. Although one might think that Jim Ryan, CEO of SIE, plans to fully enter this market, and occupy a position similar to that of Netflix or Spotify, the manager has indicated that this is not the case, and instead he has pointed out that the industry is moving more towards games as a service.
In a chat with GamesIndustry.biz, Ryan discussed subscription services, and their role in the industry today. With more than 25 million users, Xbox Game Pass is a factor that has created pressure in this market. However, the CEO has mentioned that the medium will not be dominated in a similar way that Netflix and Spotify they have done in their respective markets. This is what he commented on it:
“Underwriting has certainly grown in importance over the last few years. Our number of PlayStation Plus subscribers has grown from zero in 2010 to 48 million now. And we anticipate, for our services, that we will see further growth in the number of subscribers.
But the gaming medium is so different from music and linear entertainment that I don’t think we’ll see it reach the levels that we see with Spotify and Netflix.
Some of the [juegos] live service providers that are having a lot of success these days, and I’m not restricting this comment to the console, they are effectively subscription services themselves.
That phenomenon of live service gaming… which, in no small part, has fueled the tremendous growth in the gaming industry that we’ve seen over the last ten years.
I think the trend towards live services will continue, and if you’re looking for a model in our entertainment category that supports sustained engagement over a long period of time, live service games might be a better fit than a subscription service.” .
This position makes a lot of sense when we consider that the last two studio acquisitions are related to games as a service. On one side we have Bungie, creators of Destiny, and on the other side we have Haven Studios, who are creating a social experience.
On related topics, Jim Ryan assures that the great publishers of the industry will be in the new PS Plus. Similarly, subscription services only account for 4% of industry profits.
Editor’s Note:
If there’s one thing the industry has made clear to us, especially in recent months, it’s that games as a service can mean big losses for a company. Not everyone can be the next great Destiny. We can only wait and see which of these two trends ends up working for Sony.
Via: GamesIndustry.biz