Microsoft has announced that subscribers to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will receive bonus monthly content in Halo Infinite’s multiplayer mode, including exclusive weapon coatings and XP boosts.

Free-to-play titles made viable in a subscription service landscape

The proliferation of subscription services in the games space is typically thought of as incompatible with the dominant free-to-play model: what value can be found for consumers when including a free game in a paid-for service? Previously, EA offered exclusive Apex Legends cosmetic content to subscribers of EA Play. However, this was a limited time offer and a one-off bundle of items. In terms of on-going incentives, the case of Halo Infinite and Game Pass Ultimate is the first truly high-profile example of its kind, and one that many future collaborative efforts will probably replicate as interest in subscription services grows. 

Popular and lucrative IP is highly valuable to subscription services, which are constantly striving to differentiate themselves. A vast amount of the most successful and well-known games today are free-to-play – such as Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone, or even League of Legends. Despite Ampere Games Consumer data indicating that players – particularly in the Western world – are still keen to purchase premium titles, free content is increasingly favoured, and in-game spending a growing category.

Games as a service model benefits from on-going incentives

Halo Infinite is positioned as a games-as-a-service (GaaS) title; whereby it can be monetized beyond its point of sale, and sustained long-term through on-going updates. This model has been gaining pace recently in the AAA space, with companies like Ubisoft also outlining a GaaS vision for upcoming Assassin’s Creed content, seeking to extend the lifespans (and profitability) of high-profile IP. 

Giving Game Pass subscribers regular access to various in-game perks both encourages on-going engagement with Halo Infinite, and commitment to the Game Pass subscription: each feeds the other. As yet, this strategy has only played out in a first-party context, where the orchestrating publisher owns both the title and the subscription service in question. In the future, we are likely to see more collaborative efforts between service providers and third-party publishers.

A churn-reduction tactic for free-to-play fans

Huge numbers of gamers within the Xbox eco-system favour free-to-play content. The USA and the UK are Halo’s biggest markets, and Ampere Games Q4 2021 consumer data indicates that up to half of Xbox users in these territories have a strong preference for free-to-play*. As such, the provision of Halo Infinite multiplayer bonus monthly content for Game Pass subscribers will appeal to fans of titles like Fortnite or Apex Legends. On-going incentives will combat churn from the service – and from the game – and may prevent some players from heading to competing titles.

*2,120 respondents per market, ages 13-64, internet users only