In an interview with The Guardian, Phil Spencer discussed Microsoft’s confidence in the success of Xbox Game Pass and the readiness of the service’s user base for new games. As it turned out, if it weren’t for the service, there would be no Microsoft Flight Simulator, Tell Me Why, or Battletoads.

“To be honest, I don’t think we would have given the green light to Tell Me Why if it wasn’t for Game Pass,” Spencer said. – It’s a serial story game – there aren’t that many of them. With 15 million subscribers, we knew it was going to be played and would attract more people than if it just sold for $ 30. Even Flight Simulator is a game that we wouldn’t have given the green light if we hadn’t seen Game Pass grow. We had a million players on Battletoads! These are all examples of games that would have been more difficult to release with an exclusive retail model. ”