Microsoft’s Game Pass service can potentially boost PS5 sales of multi-format games, according to a post by business journalist Christopher Dring on the InstalBase forums.
When asked about his thoughts on Game Pass and its impact in the video games market, stating the service can also harm premium sales of Xbox titles included in Game Pass, such as Indiana Jones and Starfield.
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Anecdotally, games that are in Game Pass can expect to lose around 80% of its expected premium sales on Xbox. That’s the figure that gets thrown around. It’s less if it’s a big mainstream release, but generally… look at how low Hellblade 2 charted. Or where Indiana Jones came. Or even Starfield. Game Pass clearly hurt sales of those titles on Xbox.
But… if it’s a game on multiple platforms, it can be beneficial. That surge in players on one Xbox can have a strong impact on sales on PlayStation, for instance.
We know from data that there are a lot of people that only play Call of Duty. And if some of those people decided to get Call of Duty this year via Game Pass, and those very same people took the opportunity to play some other Game Pass games, games they wouldn’t have otherwise played… it’s hard to argue that’s a bad thing.
Microsoft last year started bringing some of its first-party games to PlayStation and Nintendo platforms, and will continue to do so in 2025, with Indiana Jones and the Great Circle arriving on PS5 in Spring 2025.
[Source – InstalBase Forums]