A new report suggests that Sony doesn’t view Xbox Game Pass as competition. Xbox Game Pass officially launched in 2017, and it has massively grown in popularity since its inception. Microsoft continues to add exciting AAA and indie games to the Xbox Game Pass library, with some of them being available on day one.
Xbox Game Pass offers first-party Microsoft games on day one to its subscribers, a stark contrast to PlayStation charging $70 for its exclusives. Sony was also one of the first publishers to increase the price of PS5 games by $10 from the previous standard of $60. While some users think that Sony might feel pressured by the value offered by Xbox Game Pass, a new report now reveals that PlayStation doesn’t view it as competition.
According to Insider Gaming sources, Sony Interactive Entertainment CEO Jim Ryan held an employee Q&A earlier in December 2022, in which he implied that PlayStation doesn’t see Xbox Game Pass as competition. Regarding a question about Xbox Game Pass, Ryan reportedly claimed that the total number of subscribers seems to be getting lower, and it currently sits near low 20 million users. He also stated that the number of PlayStation Plus subscribers is just shy of 50 million by comparison. Fans should note that even though Insider Gaming has proven to be a reliable source, all rumors or leaks should be taken with a grain of salt.
In the same report, Ryan mentioned that Sony has sold more PS5s in two years than the total number of Xbox Game Pass members. PlayStation 5 has shipped 25 million units worldwide as of September 30, 2022, and this number has definitely increased since then. Sony reportedly improved PS5 stock significantly in the last few months, resulting in some users seeing stacks of the console on store shelves. Fans were also able to buy PS5 bundles with God of War Ragnarok or Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, two of the biggest games of the year.
The exact number of Xbox Game Pass subscribers is currently unknown, with the last figure being over 25 million as of January 2022. Sony recently claimed that Xbox Game Pass has over 29 million monthly subscribers, so this new statement seems to contradict the previous number. Perhaps Sony is omitting the number of users on PC Game Pass and only comparing Xbox Game Pass members on Xbox consoles to PlayStation Plus in this case.
Source: Insider Gaming