Microsoft Should Take Notes From WWE

Speculation on what the Netflixization (yes I just made that word up) of video games is nothing new. Fans for years have beyond wondered and downright hoped for Nintendo to look at Netflix as a model to dispense the prolific cache of iconic games past and present to their fans. Unlike what Netflix is doing and now what Microsoft aims to do, I think fans of Nintendo honestly just want to pay a monthly fee to be able to access any Virtual Console game on their new Switches. That hope for Nintendo still remains just that, hope.

Meanwhile, Microsoft indulged us with the rare “didn’t see that coming” by announcing the program established just about 8 months ago, Xbox Game Pass, was getting a big upgrade. From this point forward, all first party Xbox titles beginning with Sea of Thieves (dated for March 20th, 2018) will be included with the Game Pass program.

Once this announcement happened all matters of reactions swirled, from does Sony need to react by rebuilding their Playstation Now more in line with Xbox to Will Nintendo take the afore, often mentioned leap into a similar type of offering. The first thing that popped in my head though, was the WWE. After spending my 45 minute walk with my dog and thinking about it, the similarities were actually quite startling. So, without further ado, let me present my findings about how Microsoft could look to the WWE Network for success and some of the worries that accompany it.

Comparing the new and improved Xbox Game Pass with the WWE Network brought upon such easy comparatives it was actually shocking. First off, the general idea is obviously akin to one another in that both are offering a digital service paid on a monthly basis serving up content from both the past and the present. They both also happen to cost $9.99 a month. So similar ideas with the same price point made it an instant comparative in my mind, but the similarities certainly did not end there. Before the WWE Network came to be, the WWE was setup for many millions to watch the weekly programming and get invested to the point of purchasing at least one, or some, if not all that years Pay-Per-View events. The cost of those events was (and still is) $60 (Wrestlemania usually cost $70), a price point that may be familiar to people buying video games. The idea of selling AAA games (in this case Microsoft marketing their first party exclusive titles) to an audience is homogeneous with how WWE would try to sell Pay-Per-View events. Microsoft releases teases, trailers and full out conferences trying to talk to the many millions that own their system and are a part of their ecosystem and show them, convince them, get them invested in buying the game. Just like a very small percentage of fans would buy every WWE event each year, a very small percentage of Xbox owners will buy every first party exclusive each year. The idea for both was to speak to the many millions in hope of a percentage buying in at $60. WWE saw that maybe they would get to or close to about a million to buy in for Wrestlemania, but the margin varied greatly from tens of thousands buying into ancillary events (like the infamous ECW’s December to Dismember) to hundreds of thousands buying into more established shows like the Royal Rumble or SummerSlam. For Microsoft, Halo is like Wrestlemania, a larger swath of the many millions will buy Halo, but a fairly limited amount will buy into ReCore or Shadowrun, while a decent amount of people buy into something like Gears of War or Forza. What WWE realized is instead of trying to convince the audience to pay a decent amount for one event, they could create a service owned and operated by them that presented a value to the average fan. For $10 a month, all of sudden you can watch every Pay-Per-View event for the cost purchasing two events previously. On top, you can go back and watch from their rich library of past Pay-Per-View events and many of their weekly episodic shows whenever you’d like. For the WWE, it gave them a chance at a million or so consistent subscribers instead of huge deviations from month to month buying in their product. Game Pass allows for a similar situation allowing you to play the latest and greatest, but also go back and play Halo 5 or go back to the Xbox 360 and play plenty of good things you may want to revisit or catch up on. If you ask wrestling fans though, the golden goose of the WWE Network may very well be NXT. What started out as a way to simply provide more wrestling content via their network, turned into the brand that many of the hardcore far and away consider the best product within the company. This is the thing that Microsoft is missing, something grassroots and original that can only be found within the confines of their Game Pass service. Microsoft needs to find its NXT, a brand within their $10 a month service that caters to the hardcore. Whether it’s a publisher-like that finds smaller titles and curates them to Game Pass or perhaps even an exclusive studio that is able to put games out on the service at a somewhat regular basis, Microsoft needs that thing, that brand, that product that serves the hardcore under the banner of major corporation.

Upon comparing these two services, something else came to mind. When WWE was gearing up towards the launch of their new network, it seemed like a potential win-win. However, this wasn’t wholly true because as network subscribers went up and Pay-Per-View buys went down the wrestlers themselves were finding the sore spot. For the performers, just getting on a Pay-Per-View event let alone main eventing one was the goal. Along with getting more admiration for your craft, bonuses for the performers would often be tied to Pay-Per-View numbers. Since the WWE Network was created to splice those numbers, wrestler bonuses became a confusing mess. No longer could the actions of a hot act or feud correlate directly to the public buying in. If Rare, the developer of Sea of Thieves, can not also directly correlate sales or pre-order numbers because some people buy the game outright and some download as part of their $10 a month package, does this affect individuals or the developer that may have incentives tied to the number of sales made on the game. How does a developer deem a product a success if some buy the game and some play it as part of their service. The upside is people may be willing to go in for $10 a month and try the game because it’s there waiting to be played when they never had any intention on purchasing the game at full price or at all.

In the end, whilst not new to consumers, this model is now in a grand test for the gaming audience. The similarities between the Xbox Game Pass and the WWE Network are apparent , and Microsoft has the luxury to see what has worked and what has caused issues. I think Microsoft can look at what NXT has become and provide a similar focus within their Game Pass service that would garner esteem from the loudest of the loud Xbox fans much like wrestling fans have uplifted NXT. All we can do is what and see what happens and if this service structure arouses Sony or Nintendo or Steam to follow suit.