Netflix-Style Services Unlikely To Be Future Of Gaming, Says Analyst

We all love a bit of Xbox Game Pass don't we? While it's nice to own a game, the service offers a cheap way to try out some 500 games without having to commit to an actual purchase.

There's always the chance to do a quick one and done on games you're not particularly taken with, preventing you from taking the plunge on more expensive purchases. It feels like a system popular with both customer and company, as PlayStation are reportedly looking to replicate the success with their overhaul of PlayStation Plus - called codename Spartacus.

Game Pass offers new games like the exceptional Tunic, you can check out more about it in the video below.

However, despite the increasing popularity of gaming based streaming services, they haven't reached the level of our dear pal Netflix. The film and TV platform has so many competitors that it can feel like you're drowning wading through them all. The gaming equivalent leaves us a little lacking with Xbox's domination of the market, and the majority of Nintendo's fare deep in retro classics.

However, as spotted by PC Gamer, industry analyst Piers Harding-Rolls is skeptical that services such as Game Pass will have the same effect on the gaming industry as Netflix had on TV and film. Currently subscriptions make up just 4% of the industry revenue which Harding-Rolls expects to reach 8.4% by 2027.

The difference is in the disparate ways the industries make their profits. Games make the bulk of their money after the consumer has purchased them. DLC and microtransactions make up around 79% of the player's spending; a price which people are far less likely to commit to if they don't actually own the base game. So while customers are often recommending the services to each other, due to lack of profit, it's not causing the same ruckus within the industry.