530°

Developers Claim Game Pass Has Caused A Behavioral Shift That Has Led To Very Few Sales On Xbox

Developers have claimed that Microsoft's Game Pass subscription service has caused a behavioral shift that has led to very few sales on Xbox.

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twistedvoxel.com
Einhander197263d ago (Edited 63d ago )

No one could have predicted this would happen.... oh wait...

Jingsing63d ago (Edited 63d ago )

Less sales on Xbox. If the majority of developers want to secure finance for their game they'd best ignore the platform that is going to take it away from them or release on it much later.

Barlos63d ago

Or release on Xbox but not on GP.

Einhander197263d ago

Barlos

That doesn't work anymore, people on xbox only play what is on game pass.

This is why the series s is so much more popular than the x, because people just buy it as a game pass machine.

This is demonstrated by the fact that even when the two consoles were closer to each other in sales multi-platform games sell 80+% of their copies on PlayStation.

Petebloodyonion63d ago

@Barlos
The complete article touches on this subject "How can the platform improve for developers who don’t have the advantage of a AAA publisher behind them? Proposed solutions were varied, but all came down to one thing: better discoverability and incentives for people to play outside of Game Pass."

@Jingsing and Einhander
If we consider the data of this article as FACTUAL then this should be FACTUAL too right?
"Something that was surprising in the discussions concerning effort versus value, however, was that some developers flagged the same concerns with PlayStation. After all, though it consistently ranked above Xbox in finding sales and players for games, it still trailed significantly behind PC and Switch."

Does this mean that ppl on PlayStation play too much Essential and PS+ extra?

Einhander197263d ago (Edited 63d ago )

Petebloodyonion

"Does this mean that ppl on PlayStation play too much Essential and PS+ extra?"

Yes, this is what PlayStation has been saying from the beginning, that's why they haven't put their day one games on the service and why they have largely tried to keep the service secondary to sales. Jim Ryan repeatedly stated that putting games on a service like Microsoft is doing wasn't sustainable.

When Insomniac was hacked one of the Sony internal memos showed that after they put Forbidden West on PS Plus sales of the game almost completely stopped, there was even a chart that showed how sales went flat as soon as they put the game on the service, and it's also why they wanted to delay the release of Ratchet and Clank onto the service.

/rolls eyes

S2Killinit63d ago (Edited 63d ago )

@Barlos

From the article:

“Another developer said that if they release a game on Xbox without Game Pass, they miss out on the majority of the player base, which is essentially only playing games via the subscription service.”

Pretty tough spot to be for developers when xbox gamers dont realize that gamepass only offers a small ratio of available games. “Day one first party” translates to a couple of games per year, if that.

Petebloodyonion63d ago

@ Einhander
Where in the article is it alluded to the day 1 game?

"Something that was surprising in the discussions concerning effort versus value, however, was that some developers flagged the same concerns with PlayStation. After all, though it consistently ranked above Xbox in finding sales and players for games, it still trailed significantly behind PC and Switch."
"Some developers also pointed to the deals regarding the PlayStation Plus Catalog or Free Essential Games as having a similar effect."

Should I remind you that Sony has been offering PS+ games since 2010? Don't recall ever seeing you complaining about how it impacts Indies Dev in the monthly offering articles.

But if you actually took the time to read the whole interview you would have understood that small studios understand that and accept Gamepass and PS+ money because it remove financial stress and they might get lucky with a winner by reaching a wider audience.

And you would have found that
"The bigger issue is that everyone is playing the evergreen games like Call of Duty, Fortnite, Minecraft, Roblox, etc. Each one is soaking up a small percentage of players who never venture further out," said one developer.

Others were more hopeful and optimistic. Said another: “As long as there are players to reach and deals that offer benefits, I try not to worry too much about what’s looming over the horizon.”

And ultimately – as exemplified by some of 2024’s biggest hits that seemingly came from nowhere – it’s often those untroubled and unaffected attitudes that foster those great ideas for unique games that keep the medium so exciting, even when we think it can't get any better."

Einhander197263d ago (Edited 63d ago )

Petebloodyonion

Holy crap man, you are constantly missing the big picture so much I can't even believe you say the things you do...

Yea, this one, of the hundreds of indies on the platform might get lucky and make 1,000,000 in revenue from Microsoft, but everyone else including the indies that don't get lucky, Microsoft and the big AAA is losing billions in sales combined...

Why do you think Microsoft is closing studios and putting their games on PlayStation and literally any platform that will have them, and force their way on to the ones that won't? I guess in your mind it's because I am a PlayStation fanboy, right?

I can't even believe I keep having these arguments with you...

AMiles9963d ago

@Einhander1972
Even if it was an 80-20% divide...there is still a lot of potential cash from Xbox sales.
Take GTA6 as an example. If it sells 20 million units across both platforms with PS5 accounting for 80% ....that would still be $280million Rockstar would get from Xbox sales of the game.

If Xbox was truly a total bust like you say and people only play what's on game pass....NO company would be putting their games on Xbox.

Petebloodyonion63d ago

@Einhander

Most of my answers in this COMPLETE thread come straight from the source interview ( statements from devs or the author).

So with that in mind, I'll point out that:
"the thing said that he can't even believe I could say" is the complete conclusion of this interview.

Now you're free to tell the indie devs in the article that they don't understand the bigger picture about their answers regarding the main question in Edmon Tran's interview:
"Why would you work to bring your game to Xbox, especially if you already have a PC release?"

Source
https://www.patreon.com/pos...

Again all my arguments for your points are statements from THIS article, the same article that you are using as the foundation of your usual anti-Xbrox rant.
And like I said in a previous topic: "You can prove me wrong" by showing me your sources regarding indie dev's feelings about publishing on Xbox.

You do have sources right?

RIGHT?

Cacabunga62d ago (Edited 62d ago )

PlayStation has a chance in gold and I’m glad they didn’t give in to all the pressure from ask parts to release their games day one on PS+ to “country” GP.

At this stage we cannot even dial about market share. All gamers knew this time would come, just not this soon.. this proves that Phil Spencer and co are just non gamer amateur execs

Einhander197262d ago

Petebloodyonion

Wow...

You got me, some lucky dev has supposedly made game pass work... it doesn't matter that the whole xbox ecosystem is burning to the ground around them caused by game pass itself killing sales on the platform...

/rolls eyes

+ Show (8) more repliesLast reply 62d ago
Eonjay63d ago

Yup... I don't think it was something that needed to be predicted because it was very obvious from sales data.

shinoff218363d ago

When alot of us tried saying this the fans didn't wanna hear it. Instead spewing on about how gamepass helps with sales and all the bs. It was clear as day what was going to happen.

JEECE63d ago (Edited 63d ago )

Who would have foreseen that the people using basic common sense and understanding incentive structures were right and the people parroting nonsensical PR talking points from the corporation were wrong?

Chevalier63d ago

Interesting how some of us have mentioned this with Xbox own reports showing this trend, but, Xbox fans kept disagreeing

Crows9063d ago

To be fair...the outspoken Xbox fans on this site are a minority...many Xbox players actually do have some sense...they're just not on social media to talk about Xbox.

OlderGamer1762d ago

Ots MS's own fault they where pushing the GamePass PR down Xboxgamers troath like the coming of "Christ" for Xbox, and gaming in general talking about hunderds of million of GamePass users. They had unreal exspectations. They wanted GamePass be the "netflix" of gaming. That has bit them in the ass in a big way. Who burnt his ass is bound to sit on the blisters...

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 62d ago
Aloymetal63d ago

Exactly!
But, but tEh bEsT dEal In gAmInG...
Never understood that mentality when the best deal in gaming would be having all AAA third party games released day one on the service from ALL the big publishers like Rock*, Ubi, EA etc and not just a few so so games and the rinse and repeat MS 1st party games.

S2Killinit63d ago (Edited 63d ago )

Yup, the “best deal” is actually not all that great if you want to play games.

shinoff218363d ago

I've played games on both services but I to this day usually just pop a disc in I own. I'd be perfectly fine if they both stopped their services. I feel it'd help the gaming market to.

Abear2162d ago

It was a great deal when you could get it dirt cheap, at full price all these subs are a straight up rip off.

FinalFantasyFanatic63d ago (Edited 63d ago )

They should have seen this coming, I think Game Pass was one of the worst things Xbox could have done as a brand, good for the consumer who want to game on the cheap (although you can also argue that it hurts consumers in the long run, seems to be bad for developers unless you're a small indie game, possibly).

shinoff218363d ago

They were desperate when this came out. They then painted themselves into a corner and now they can't get out of it without losing or missing off the base

ThinkThink63d ago

If your game is good, I'll find it on gamepass. I often buy the smaller games that I discover, which I would have otherwise missed. I buy more games because of gamepass, not the other way around. I have stopped purchasing full price MS 1st party games though.

S2Killinit63d ago

Lol 😂 yes, don't give up.

Xeofate63d ago

I see Xbox people say this all the time. But, I have honestly never bought a game I played on a service.

I think this is just something Xbox fans say... I never see people from any other similar subscription say this. And statistical data shows that this is not how consumer behavior works.

S2Killinit63d ago

LOL Well, too bad for xbox, its not like people didn’t warn them.

neutralgamer199263d ago

Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick made a significant point when he stated that Game Pass is a great service for classic catalogs but is not sustainable for AAA blockbusters releasing on day one.

This is also acknowledged by Microsoft, as they are seeking to bring their games to PlayStation and Nintendo platforms due to insufficient sales on their own platform, Xbox. Comments from Xbox fans often reflect a mindset of waiting for new releases to appear on Game Pass rather than purchasing them outright, indicating a reluctance to buy games immediately.

As a result, many publishers are internally debating whether it makes sense to release their games on Xbox at all, considering the potential inability to cover porting or development costs. Typically, in AAA blockbuster game sales, $10 goes to retail, $10 to developers, and the rest to the publisher for advertising and profit. Once a game reaches a certain sales threshold, royalties are shared over the game's lifetime. Game Pass has altered this financial structure.

Xbox fans often cite smaller developers who have benefited from Game Pass, as their games received more exposure. However, AAA blockbusters do not face the same visibility challenges due to their extensive advertising.

It is unclear how long Microsoft will continue to avoid addressing these facts. They should transparently announce that their games will be available on PlayStation, despite potential backlash from some Xbox fans. This approach is essential for recouping the substantial investment made in recent acquisitions.

Chevalier63d ago

"I can't even believe I keep having these arguments with you..."

Believe it. This vegetable is an idiot

+ Show (6) more repliesLast reply 62d ago
ravens5263d ago

Oh really 😯. Can't say I'm surprised.

VenomUK63d ago

The Brits have a well-worn idiom: ‘Everything will come out in the wash.’

Barlos63d ago

Wow, really? Never saw that coming...

meganick63d ago

Water itself isn’t actually wet. Water makes things wet when it comes into contact with a solid object.

Abnor_Mal63d ago

Thaaaank yooou, I tell people this all the time. You can not pour water onto water and get the first set of water wet. Water saturates things, or covers things with small particles of itself, and we refer to that as being wet.

RaiderNation63d ago

Oh FFS, it's just an expression. Relax your brain, Poindexter!

jwillj2k463d ago (Edited 63d ago )

“They have an uncanny ability to state the obvious”

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