Matt Piscatella: In the US, subscriptions account for 10% of the revenue from console and PC games

The growth rate of subscription revenue has slowed. This was announced by Mat Piscatella, an executive director and analyst at Circana (formerly NPD).

Currently, according to him, subscription services account for "only 10% of total video game spending in the U.S."

Piscatella's comments were in response to a statement made yesterday by Larian Studios head Swen Vincke, who said the industry would suffer if subscriptions became the dominant model.

"Whatever the future of video games may hold, content will always be at the forefront. However, it will become much more challenging to obtain good content if subscriptions prevail and a limited group of people decides what the market needs. Directly from developers to players—that's the way," Vincke wrote.

"Convincing a board of directors to launch a project based on idealism is nearly impossible. Idealism needs room to exist, even if that could lead to disaster. Meanwhile, a subscription model always boils down to cost assessment and analysis of potential benefits. Both are aimed at maximizing profit," the game designer revealed, adding that Larian Studios’ games will never appear on subscription services.

Piscatella does not share Vincke's view: "I understand that some want to protect their preferred model, but the idea that subscriptions could become the dominant model is not supported by the numbers."

"Subscriptions are more about acclimatization rather than cannibalization. They offer players, developers, and publishers more options in how to play and how to bring products to market. Let's not blow this out of proportion," the analyst emphasized.

This discussion wouldn’t have arisen if Ubisoft’s subscription director Philippe Tremblay hadn't stated a few days ago that players should get used to not owning games, arguing that the future lies with subscriptions.