De geruchten dat Microsoft van het Xbox-merk afwilde en het zou gaan verkopen zijn onjuist. Gamers met een Xbox 360 of Xbox One hebben niets te vrezen. Volgens Microsoft-baas Phill Spencer blijven de werknemers de Xbox helemaal trouw. Xbox blijft van Microsoft, dit zal niet veranderen. Daarnaast liet Spencer weten dat het Games with Gold-programma gaat verbeteren. Hij weet dat er met kritiek is gereageerd op het programma omdat de games die gratis worden aangeboden vaak te oud zijn. Sony geeft op de PlayStation vaak nieuwere games gratis weg. Daarom gaat het programma een verbetering krijgen, al blijven er wel verschillen tussen de tactiek van Microsoft en Sony.
One of our issues with Games with Gold – not ‘issues’ but differences between the other system we get compared to – is the fact that with Games with Gold, you get to keep that game, regardless of whether you continue to subscribe.
And the business around Games with Gold, for us, is just fundamentally different from some of the other programs that are out there, which does put a different financial picture on a — you’re gonna go buy a game that’s brand new, the cost of putting that in, just to be kind of blunt about it.
I have been sitting down, monthly now, with that team – some of the earlier months were already programmed – and playing a more active role in picking franchises that show up in Games with Gold, and I think you’ll see at least something that feels, at least, more true to what I think Games with Gold should look like with the constraints that are there. For us, in the long run, as an industry, giving away content like that is just … I think there’s some steps and some evolution of what Games with Gold or any of the other systems will go through to their full potential. You have things out there that are kind of bigger subscription services, where I get access to a lot of content. Games with Gold is kind of this step in the middle of, ‘I get games, and how do I feel about those games.’
