Making its debut late in the Xbox One generation, the Game Pass service has been a major success story for Microsoft and Xbox. Game Pass offering not only a selection of independent titles but also various games from Xbox and other publishers has led to the service becoming central to Xbox’s long-term business strategy. This rise to prominence is all the more surprising when one considers its apparent cost for Xbox. When Game Pass was initially revealed, there was widespread concern as to how it could be sustainable for Xbox. After all, the company is spending millions of dollars on bringing games to their service, all while charging a low monthly cost. Xbox has itself admitted that the service is not yet sustainable, but their strategy of bringing the service to as many devices as possible would help raise subscriber numbers and thus boost their revenue. Although Xbox is taking a financial loss with Game Pass, the studios providing the games don’t seem to be experiencing the same issue.Time and again, Game Pass has proven supportive of the developers and publishers who are bringing their games to the service. While the specific deals between Xbox and each developer are confidential, some developers have stated how the service has helped increase their reach, whether they are a one-person team or a AAA studio. Besides the obvious advantage of financial backing from a large corporation like Microsoft, these studios also benefit from new players feeling enticed by the opportunity to try a game they might have otherwise overlooked. Game Pass has, without question, done right by many folks in the games industry.
As some may be aware, the video game business is one where projects live or die by the appeal of their initial pitch. Similar to other entertainment industries, when a game studio works with large publishers to get funding for their game, they need to pitch the idea in order to receive said financial backing. This process could take place during the game’s development or once the game has been completed. Though not terrible in theory, problems arise when it comes to publishers’ willingness to offer their support.Sometimes a project’s failure to reach market is simply a matter of being deemed a risky venture. When a game has been completed, the creators often pay the development costs out of their own pocket, hoping to receive funds to recoup the money spent. Due to the game pitch process, however, a large amount of creative games wouldn’t have the opportunity to be developed due to the publisher’s fear that it wouldn’t be a top seller.
As mentioned above, though Xbox does publish its own titles, they also help fund the efforts of outside developers. Microsoft has gotten into the habit of opening their wallet to developers of all shapes and sizes so they can bring their games to Game Pass, whether in the months after the game’s initial release or on launch day. This support is especially useful to developers in the independent scene, particularly those in search of a publisher.For independent developers that don’t have an existing publishing deal, they use trade shows such as PAX or the Games Developers Conference (GDC) to showcase their project in hopes of landing a publishing deal. When it comes to Davionne Gooden, developer of She Dreams Elsewhere, this is exactly what happened. While showcasing his project at GDC in 2019, he was noticed by Xbox representatives that wanted to have a meeting with him to discuss the project, leading to him landing a Game Pass deal that was “the biggest financial deal I’ve ever gotten.” Of course, just offering that deal isn’t the end of what companies like Microsoft intend to provide.
While Game Pass is all about giving current Xbox players this large catalogue of games to play, it has the secondary goal of addressing the issue of Xbox consoles being a hard sell for some folks. The Xbox One was notable for not having sold as well as the PlayStation 4, a trend set to continue with the Series X. Xbox’s solution was to offer a Game Pass subscription with the cheaper Series S console, ensuring people could access both classic games and new releases. Naturally, Game Pass being able to act as a selling point for Xbox systems is predicated on the service’s ability to offer compelling games.To continue bolstering the service, Xbox does pay to get bigger games on launch day to entice players to play titles on their platform. Consider Outriders, the new third-person looter-shooter published by Square Enix. Since Outriders appeared on Game Pass the same day it was released for retail, people might be inclined to download the game after hearing about it or seeing it on the Game Pass menu. Being able to download titles for the sole purpose of trying them before committing to a purchase is a great benefit of Game Pass.
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