The big XO19 interview: Xbox boss Phil Spencer on Game Pass, streaming and Project Scarlett

At Microsoft's big XO19 event in London yesterday, Xbox boss Phil Spencer told the gathered press all about Game Pass, the company's video game subscription. He spoke about the Yakuza games coming to Xbox for the first time. He spoke about Final Fantasy games coming to Xbox for the first time, including even Final Fantasy 14. And he spoke about Project xCloud, Microsoft's take on video game streaming, which already seems like a cool proposition as it plans integration with Game Pass in 2020.

That's a lot of Game Pass. And why not? It's such an incredibly good deal for gamers, and, it seems, is doing the business for Xbox, so it feels right it should form the basis of Microsoft's video game strategy in the near to medium term. And yet, it seems, doubts linger.

In a recent interview with Eurogamer sister site GamesIndustry.biz, Spencer's counterpart at Sony, Jim Ryan spoke about his company's rival video game subscription service PlayStation Now, which is on the up after a recent price cut. Essentially it's the same as Game Pass, but there is a stark point of difference: Sony will not put its big first-party PlayStation exclusives on PlayStation Now at launch. Microsoft puts all its big first-party games on Xbox Game Pass day and date with their launch in the shops. Why does Sony keep the likes of God of War, Spider-Man and Days Gone off PlayStation Now at launch? To have those launches be "clean and pure", Ryan said.

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