Phil Spencer Reportedly Pushed HARD To Get Xbox Game Pass Approved

Phil Spencer is reportedly the one to thank for the creation (and eventual massive success) of Xbox Game Pass.

According to an IGN report, it was he who pushed hard to get Game Pass off the ground, even if there were a lot of "internal doubts" about the service. When it started life as an offshoot of Microsoft's cloud service business, not many people within the company saw the service's potential early on.

Spencer was the subject of a recent profile article by Wall Street Journal. In there, it was revealed that even when presented with numerous arguments against Game Pass, the Xbox head simply wouldn't relent.

There were mentions of meetings where Spencer's staff would argue why Game Pass won't work. Among their reasons were the possibility of publishers not participating, or the investment into Game Pass itself eating away at Microsoft's profits.

According to fellow Xbox veteran Richard Irving, Spencer "wouldn't take no for an answer," further adding that the latter was always trying to find ways to make it (Game Pass) work.

Eventually, the subscription service would be launched for the first time on June 1st 2017. Since then, it has cemented its reputation among gamers as a prime place to get games from a wide variety of publishers, all for a monthly fee of $9.99 ($14.99 for Game Pass Ultimate).

It would take the subscription service only a few years to become the now-undisputed leader in the game subscription market. To date, it has already grown to a massive 25 million subscribers across multiple countries, which The Verge reports is up from the previous 18 million reported in January 2021.

Since its release, Xbox Game Pass has been considered the veritable "Netflix of Video Games," with its rotating library of titles that can be accessed by any subscriber. It also offers Day One access to upcoming big releases, which is something that no other immediate competitor can't match as of late.

Game Pass' Success Is Phil Spencer's As Well

For his efforts in getting Microsoft to approve Game Pass, Spencer is getting rewarded in a big way soon.

A 30-year gaming industry veteran and Microsoft lifer, the current Xbox head is scheduled to be given a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 25th Annual DICE Awards, reports IGN. The announcement for the award was made by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, with the actual awarding to be held this February 24 in Las Vegas.

Aside from the award, however, the Xbox head honcho's efforts concerning Game Pass is also putting the entire industry on notice. Protocol writes that the subscription service's model is the next big thing, especially now that it is being "validated" with news of Sony's competitor, codenamed Spartacus.

While Spencer himself did say that Sony's efforts to create their own Game Pass-like service is "not a validation" of his brain child's success, he did call it an "inevitability" and considers it the right answer to the needs of gamers all over the world right now (via Eurogamer).

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Written by RJ Pierce