EVEN FLOW

Walking the tightrope between old and new

In assembling the Game Pass catalogue, Microsoft must strike a fine balance: games must be highprofile enough to attract subscribers, but not so new that they risk harming the sales of new games. Does Desphande see a time when brand-new, fullprice games launch day and date on Game Pass and at retail? “We don’t think of new releases as being off limits,” he says. “What we are committed to is that all the games in the catalogue are great. At the right time, based on various balancing acts, we will introduce new releases after a period of time. What gamers care about are great titles, not necessarily how old or new they are.”