Square Enix believes Outriders’ Xbox Game Pass launch has paid off

It is one of the highest profile third-party games so far to arrive on the service on the day of its release, and Square Enix believes the boost to the online shooter’s player count means the decision was justified.

“In regards to the response to Outriders, while there were slight issues with bugs and the like on launch, we believe it has gotten off to a good start as a new IP,” Square Enix president Yosuke Matsuda said during the company’s full year financial results briefing on May 13 (the comments have only today been published in English).

[Thundercat77]

The game may not had a good reception but Square Enix got a good chunk of money from Microsoft so it paid off for them.

[Orchard]

Square gets $$$ from MS
MS gets $$$ from GP subs
Game ends up getting an active user base

Seems like a win all-round.

[itsmebryan]

You forget all the money Square got from the sells of the game to PS owners. Square probably did even better. Gamepass seems to be good for developers.

[NeoGamer232]

First you have no idea how much was paid. But, any opportunity to put out and develop a new IP I applaud. I want new IPs.

[Tedakin]

Games like this and Back 4 Blood are perfect for Gamepass. They need a lot of users to even survive. Gamepass guarantees 25 million potential players day 1.

[Deathdeliverer]

Got a fair point. I’d say only half of those would even try the game and only half of those would even stick with it for more than a week and then taper off. The real point in a lot of these games is to get the game itself and then sell the dlc. If the player spent next to nothing on the game maybe they’d pay for more DLC. With the previous math plus maybe a quarter paying for dlc it’s probably around 1-2 mil playing for extra stuff.

[Tedakin]

I honestly wouldn't have tried it without gamepass and I played it a ton. Finished it. I'm done with it now but it was a fun ride.

[jznrpg]

I’m sure it has . Janky game played by more people than it should have been but they didn’t have anything else to play

[Atom666]

Didn't it make the top selling chart on PS?

You didn't think this troll attempt through too well. It happens.

[MadLad]

You don't like it, therefore the people who do are wrong and shouldn't.

Highly mature take.

[Redemption-64]

Why say they believe? Shouldn't they have the information to give a more solid answer?

[Deathdeliverer]

True

[SurgicalMenace]

I mean when they look at the larger install base on the Playstation platforms coupled with them PAYING full price they have to compare the numbers.

[Highrevz]

It sold well on Xbox without factoring profits from a deal with gamepass. As it launched in gamepass day 1 they can only speculate how it might done with the out launching there.

Disclaimers most likely stop them from revealing figures so they would have to be careful with wording but if you had the sales data of all platforms it shouldn’t be difficult to get an estimate of how many played via gamepass.

It’s a new online IP so player base is important to them, the state it launched didn’t help things but they probably did just fine.

I enjoyed the game, the Trickster class was on of the most fun builds I’ve played with on a game. Sadly the online was terrible so I spent most my time offline which the game wasn’t intended for.

[Redemption-64]

I think looking at steam might give you an idea of how the game is doing. For one the player count seemed to dropped off a lot, and I mean a lot. Unless I am looking in the wrong place, but right now, two months ago, the game had over 46,000 avg players, and now has about 3,900 avg players.

I think you are right in that, they might not be able to reveal numbers, so they are careful with wording.

[itsmebryan]

Did you guys read that it was a translation from Japanese? They could have translated the word to say:
"I think "
"I feel "
Or other ways of saying instead of "I believe "

If an athlete says "I believe " my training helped me win. Would you say the same? It's a just part of a bigger puzzle. It's success not just from gamepass but, it help in the outcome.

[Redemption-64]

Well for one training actually works, it's why every single athlete trains. It's factually proven to work.

And if a company said, I believe we made some money or a scientist say i belive a unicorn exists would you say the same? The wording used is very odd, especially given that they should have all the information to give a definitive answer. As someone pointed out, maybe the contract they signed doesn't allow them to reveal the numbers and I would not be surprised, given that MS has been against revealing those numbers. Also please look up the definition of the word believe.

[itsmebryan]

@Red
It was translated. Is "I believe " even actually want he said. It could just be how the person translated it. Have you read the un translated interview yourself?

[thesoftware730]

@Redemption

My man. You are trying way to hard to prove nothingness, Why do you care so much if they are, kinda happy, slightly happy or fucking super happy about putting the game on Gamepass?

They Belive, they think, they feel it was the correct move to put it in gamepass...who gives a fuck?

You(I belive) me, and others on here are gamers, and if Square made a profit from MS paying them a bundle, good for them, it's called buisness, you only make a deal if something seems in your best interest one way or another. If Ms is indeed shelling out more for day 1 games than its making from Gamepass..then you know what STFU and say thank you, can I have another.

Lol..

[masterfox]

misleading title.

[XBManiac]

The game has really improved since launch in every aspect. I hope it continues this way.