Everyone loves free games. Unfortunately, games cost money to make. Thankfully, that has not stopped Microsoft from exploring ways to bridge that gap by introducing an ad-supported, free tier to its Xbox Game Pass service.
According to Xbox CFO Tim Stuart (thanks to TweakTown), this initiative aims to expand the reach of the popular video game subscription service, particularly in markets with high mobile usage but limited access to gaming consoles.
The proposed model would allow users to access game streaming after viewing ads, which is basically what YouTube's been doing for the last decade, offering a new way to access Xbox's extensive gaming library.
Microsoft has set its sights on Africa, India, and Southeast Asia, where a younger demographic with growing disposable income predominantly uses mobile devices. If this strategy pans out, it could considerably broaden Game Pass' user base, tapping into a market segment that, until now, was largely inaccessible due to economic limitations.
What's more, this could greatly benefit Microsoft's larger vision of making Game Pass available on every screen that can play games, be it mobile or PC. The idea of an ad-supported Game Pass tier shouldn't come as a surprise anyway since it fits in with the latest trends in content consumption. Almost all media platforms now have a variant of a free or ad-supported model as a way to entice new customers and retain existing users.