The Next Subscription War Will Be Sony vs. Microsoft -- Here's Why
The rise of digital media has spawned the age of subscriptions, where the biggest companies in the world are at war for the literal hours of a consumer's day. The video streaming industry is often at the center of this discussion, but recent events have put Sony (NYSE: SONY) and Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) at the forefront of the subscription wars -- here's why.
Microsoft introduced its video game-subscription service Xbox Game Pass in June 2017, and its immense success has changed the industry. For $14.99/month, the company grants members access to an extensive library of games playable with an Xbox or PC -- streamed or downloaded. In a similar style to Netflix Originals, Microsoft releases its in-house developed titles on the service day one, with Halo and Forza Horizon just a couple of Xbox exclusives immediately available to subscribers. Five years on, and Xbox Game Pass continues to see tremendous growth. From 2020 to 2022, the platform's subscribers increased by 150%, growing from 10 million to 25 million members.
Xbox Game Pass has retained its position at the top, even while tech giants such as Google's parent company Alphabet, with its cloud gaming service Stadia, entered the market. Stadia launched in 2019 and has had trouble convincing consumers to adopt its platform. Google hasn't revealed subscriber numbers since hitting 1 million in 2020, but insiders reported Stadia missed user targets by "hundreds of thousands" in 2021.
Source Fool.com
