When Xbox Game Pass first launched, it was met with enthusiasm. At last, here was a way to unify your gaming experience across multiple platforms. You could try out games you weren’t sure about with no risk. If you didn’t like it well, you can just delete it and find something else. PC and consoles gamers were eager to sign up, and publishers scrambled to have their games listed on the service.
Underneath all of that, however, there was a question that didn’t seem to have an immediate answer: was the relatively modest cost of subscription enough to keep such a massive service going? Especially since various ‘hacks’ such as the ‘£1 subscription’ and ‘gift card method’ were being shared across the internet via social media.
After Microsoft’s recent announcement that the price of the Xbox Game Pass subscription will be rising by a massive 50 percent, it would seem that we have an answer, which is “no.”
Consumer pushback has been intense, with reports of the Xbox Game Pass customer portal being overwhelmed by cancellation requests once news of the price hike broke. The Xbox brand is already on shaky ground after raising prices on its Xbox consoles, and a series of layoffs that resulted in the cancellation of promising projects like Perfect Dark and a game from the legendary John Romero.
Tech Strategist John Bull popularised the term ‘Trust Thermocline’. This refers to a company or service which has a lot of customers or users, and seems to be coasting along making money when all of a sudden: Boom. Customer numbers drop like a stone. At this point, companies usually panic and try anything to get those numbers back up. Unfortunately, they can’t. The trust thermocline has been breached.
This state is pretty much unrecoverable, because it is not the result of any one action or decision. It is a series of things. Small anti-consumer points that build up over time. Like tiny pieces detaching from an aircraft until it can no longer hold itself aloft and crashes into the ground.
The position of the Xbox brand is precarious. Rumours are swirling of the next console being cancelled, and of the basic Xbox Game Pass tier being festooned with adverts. Either of these could prove to be the straw that breaks the camel’s back and sends them plummeting down that thermocline.
Xbox Game Pass customers in some countries such as Poland, Ireland, Italy and Germany have received emails confirming that people in that region are shielded from price hikes. For those elsewhere in Europe, €26.99 will be the new normal. At least, for now.
