Xbox Game Pass not coming to other platforms any time soon

Despite much speculation to the contrary, Microsoft will not pursue bringing its Xbox Game Pass service to rival platforms like PlayStation and Nintendo any time soon. This comes straight from Microsoft Gaming CEO Phil Spencer, who recently put down any question on the matter when speaking with Windows Central, saying “”We have no plans to bring Xbox Game Pass to PlayStation or Nintendo.”

The comment came just days after Xbox CFO Tim Stuart made statements to the contrary. Speaking at the Wells Fargo TMT Summit Stuart said,

“It’s a bit of a change of strategy. Not announcing anything broadly here, but our mission is to bring our first-party experiences [and] our subscription services to every screen that can play games. “That means smart TVs, that means mobile devices, that means what we would have thought of as competitors in the past like PlayStation and Nintendo.”

It’s no secret that Xbox has striven to make Game Pass available on a range of devices from console and PC to portable handheld gaming devices like the Asus ROG Ally and even smart TVs. While Xbox remains a distant third place among the major home consoles, Game Pass has proven a big hit compared to Sony’s PlayStation Plus offerings. So it makes sense that Microsoft would want to expand its Game Pass user base by bringing it to as many platforms as possible.

Rivals Sony and Nintendo, however, may not be so keen to compete against Game Pass on their own platforms. Xbox Game Pass tends to see day one additions for big AAA titles including first-party Xbox games like Forza Horizon 5, Halo Infinite and Bethesda’s Starfield. During the interview Spencer also revealed that Microsoft spends $1 billion a year maintaining Xbox Game Pass. Which puts into perspective just how valuable Microsoft considers the service.