
There have been a lot of positive success stories emerging from Xbox's Game Pass service such as Tango Gameworks' surprise release Hi-Fi RUSH earlier this year, but according to PlayStation boss Jim Ryan, publishers aren't big fans of the model at all.
During his pre-recorded video deposition for the hearing between Microsoft v FTC earlier today, Ryan claimed Xbox Game Pass was unprofitable - noting how he's "talked to all the publishers" and they "unanimously do not like Game Pass because it is value destructive".
The PlayStation boss is also of the belief Microsoft is losing "a lot of money" from the service.
This is basically the opposite of Microsoft's comments about the service since its launch, with Xbox boss Phil Spencer mentioning on multiple occasions in the past how the subscription model is more than sustainable and still has potential for growth in the future.
Big-name publishers like EA and Ubisoft have also brought their games to the service - offering a large range of their catalogue, and there have also been a number of indie success stories via Game Pass, with Xbox highlighting how many creators have returned to the service with follow-up releases.
Where the market has changed is seemingly in base game sales. Players within the Xbox ecosystem commonly opt to play games on Game Pass instead of actually purchasing them. Microsoft also releases all of its new games "day one" on the service, encouraging players to stay subscribed.
In contrast, Sony is still against the idea of new releases being on its own PS Plus subscription service at launch, with the company seemingly concerned about cannibalising regular game purchases, which is still an effective sales strategy for PlayStation.
What do you make of Jim Ryan's comments? Do you think Game Pass is value destructive? Comment below.
[source ign.com]
Comments 99
Of course people talking to Sony’s big wig are going to say they don’t like GamePass. Would you go to the owner or Burger King and tell them how much you love McDonald’s fries?
And if Sony thinks it’s so bad for publishers, besides day one games, what makes PS Plus Extra any better for them? Was the dev of Stray saying how horrific it was to be on their gaming subscription?
Pretty sure everyone in comments 'unanimously' is tired of Jim Ryan.
Well that would explain why 95% of AAA games don't come to the service or PlayStation Plus, unless they are old games.
All of these people suck
@Suda52 yeah that was a very ugly statement by Booty. Which just reaffirms my belief that he shouldn't be in charge of studios with that mentality. Put him in acquisitions or accounting. I was surprised he kept his job after Redfall. His job is to prevent that.
@Suda52 Greenberg engages and seems to be good. Bond is ok, although I honestly don't know exactly what she does aside from have her hands frozen in an upright position when she speaks. Phil hasn't been perfect but I'll take him over Ryan or Matrick any day. Even still I miss the old days of Shawn, Reggie and Iwata.
No one is forcing publishers to be on Game Pass. Game Pass is also not a requirement.
I'm sure Microsoft comes to the table with these publishers and the publisher can say yes or no.
Most people who actually want a major game release from one of these publishers who "doesn't like" Game Pass, will just buy the game on release day.
Poor Jim. No one believes him at all anymore.
If you listen to some, the only reason we get day one third party games on Game Pass is because someone at MS bribed someone at the government. Yea that somehow makes sense to some there.
@Krysus Sarah is the one who negotiated whatever the current deal with SEGA is, so she is probably one of the most important people on the team, right now.
@SplooshDmg awesome. Just glad she's not Inspirational Public Speaking Coordinator.
"Unanimously disliked". Are those words real or just pretending. And says the who is acting very secretly with 3rd party exclusives.
GamePass is already losing value. Price increases and lower quality releases. At least it’s optional… for now.
Although I enjoy playing AAA games from Microsoft and its subsidaries on Game Pass and I've bought a number of games — including bigger games, such as Control — specifically because I got to play them on Game Pass, I'd argue Microsoft has a lot of potential to fund unique and creative IPs from smaller studios with the agreement that they'll appear on the service and that's part of the appeal.
If he said a lot of publishers or most publishers he might technically not be lying. Saying publishers unanimously don't like it is an outright lie. Publishers like sega and Annapurna have spoken highly of their experiences on gamepass.
Who believes a liar?
Ryan: "...talked to all the publishers... and they hate Game Pass".
Lawyer: "Can you name these publishers?"
Ryan: "You wouldn't know them. They live in Canada. You probably haven't heard about them before. Next Question!"
***** Jim Ryan. I wish Sony would hurry up and get rid of that douchebag like MS did with Don Mattrick.
So what? I am a consumer. It isn't my job to count beans for publishers. They will find value in the system or it will go under. In the meantime I will take part as long as I FIND VALUE.
Here is what I know. The most respectable publisher in the game right now, Capcom, finds it worthwhile. So I guess Capcom hates it too right Jim? Hates it enough to join in. They are releasing Exoprimal. If it is good enough for them it is good enough for me. I plan on playing the sniz out of that game next month.
Jim's speaking for a lot of companies here. Market leader says high consumer value service is hated by industry. Is that supposed to get the FTC to go against the beneficial to consumers product? Some publishers hate it. They've voiced that. Publishers that put games on it don't seem to hate it though....
Doesn't SIE have a game on it? Hasn't Jim told investors the game is doing well on Xbox?
Gamepass is good for me, and that’s all I care about.
@Scummbuddy Ryan: "...talked to all the publishers... and they hate Game Pass".
Lawyer: "Can you name these publishers?"
Ryan: "You wouldn't know them. They live in Canada. You probably haven't heard about them before.
Also Jim Ryan: I can moonwalk dance for you if you like.
It's only value destructive for Sony. He can cry all he wants it isn't going to change anything.
@Cashews yep and Capcom still releases $60 games that most of the time look better graphically than most $70 games too.
@CaptainCluck lower quality!? Theres some fantastic games coming to gamepass the rest of the year
Ryan claimed Xbox Game Pass was unprofitable - noting how he's "talked to all the publishers" and they "unanimously do not like Game Pass because it is value destructive"
I'm sure PlayStation fans agree with uncle Jim here. The mental gymnastics some performed when Sony hiked game prices to £70 was hilarious to read...errr, ahem to give games perceived value😂.
GamePass offers me incredible value and until it doesn't I will stay subscribed.
But I understand that Jim's job is to reinforce the status quo and not offer value destructive options to PlayStation fans 😂😂.
@Banjo-
Who believes a liar?
Jim Rayn is not a liar, he's just being very economical with the truth in the name of value preservation for their customers 😂.
I do note that he says publishers and not developers. That alone says a hell of a lot.
Smaller developers often praise Game Pass as it gives them some security. They never know whether their game will sell enough units and that can be make or break for a small independent developer.
Take Planet of Lana for example. I don't think I'd have given that game a second glance if it wasn't on Game Pass. It is fantastic and I loved every minute of it. I'll most likely buy it for my collection now too.
I know he and Phil are doing their job, which is to protect and reinforce their respective companies interests(among other things), but the stuff that sometimes come out of their mouths....holy crap........
@Toot1st I completely agree.
Some people, however, believe it's losing its value as they're not getting loads of "AAA" games on the the service because "Muh gwafix" or some other such daft reason. They're entitled to their opinion though and can choose not to sub if that's the way they feel.
The more I hear Jim talk the more I'm beginning to dislike him. I mean I wasn't a fan of him to begin with. The lies and the spin and the fact I don't think he connects with any gamers like Phil does. Crying all the time. Yet he practices what he preaches. Money hat king. And I just want to stop your merger Bollocks. Really fed up with him!
Just concentrate on Sony. Not Xbox. The more he talks about Xbox the more you know he's worried.
Xbox is better value for console and PC players.
Games day and date etc.
@CaptainCluck not true. Don't believe the lies please. You shouldn't be reinforcing anything Jim says.
Game pass is excellent value even if it was indies and double As. The value is immense.
Another day, another demonstrably false statement. Snooze.
Wake me up when it’s over
But yet game pass is always full of lots of different games and lots of third party day one releases...yeh they can't stand game pass lmfao
Translation of Ryan: noooo we want them to pay us $70 not be able to play them cheaper elsewhere so we will convince idiots game pass is a bad thing !!!!
"Jim Ryan", need we say more... 🤣
One of these day's he might say something which isn't a lie. Although, I'm not holding my breath.
Remember it's only a bad thing because we didn't think of it first that's what Jim really thinks
I wish Ponies would realise that when he says "value destructive" he's talking about value to Sony, not value to the consumer.
Also, he clearly didn't talk to EA, who have no problem putting all their stuff in Game Pass - granted it's not day and date, but (almost?) everything ends up there via the EA Play connection. EA were also saying the other week about how they'll still be the biggest shipper on Xbox even if ABK went through. Maybe he just spoke to the publishing team at SIE...
Gamepass is unbelievably good value for consumers, in my view.
Wow he talked to all the publishers 😮 did he talk to Indie publisher's who wouldn't have a game out if it wasn't for gamepass? Did he talk to the likes of EA who include their own kinda game pass in game pass? Nope. Did he talk to Ubisoft who have their own game pass thing? Clearly not. Jim the kinda guy that only talks to people if it's his own voice is being heard. Worst descion Sony ever made was to employ that idiot. As soon as he stepped in I went from pro playstation to year subscription of gamepass cause at least Phil and his Xbox monkeys are givin us games to play while they kill Xbox unlike Jim who's trying to shove vr headsets down our throats with nothin to play on them while he destroys playstation.
Jim Ryan is a tool.
I have a burning hatred of this D-bag. FIRE JIM RYAN! 🔥😡
Brumble dev answer to a question about gamepass: „All of that was handled by our publisher, so can't say how it all panned out. But working with Xbox is a pain-free experience that we highly recommend to all devs. It's been a smooth process."
I hardly think buying games that are £60+ being good value. Especially when they can be finished in less than 24hrs.
@LordYellow Tools are useful :]
It's a shame he sent only prerecorded stuff because I really want to know how PS+ is different ir which publishers.
Maybe it's because of bluray. I mean Sony spent decades losing format war after format war and it finally wins with Bluray and Netflix almost single handedly destroys the home media market and sony's cut. There is gamepass openly calling itself Netflix of games.
Jim dogg at it again, giving a public message to his lapdogs and troll army so they have a script to go off.
@Suda52 legit Sony was spending Xbox out of the market with the exclusivity deals. The punching bag hit back and Sony is the victim all of a sudden? Both are corporations after our money so one shouldn't ever befriend either but come on...Sony is getting some of its own medicine and all of a sudden Xbox is a bully lol. I say keep hitting back. End of the day real competition is only beneficial for the consumer and Jimbo already said that they "will be okay, more than okay" post merger.
@Krysus Redfall was all under the Zenimax guy so that one's on Phil n that guy no booty. Also with that mentality having him in acquisitions would empower him more no? I thought he was I charge for all the games as well and wanted his head as well after the Redfall incident, still don't know who was to blame for Halo, but he just looks after the pre Zenimax Xbox studios I'm pretty sure. So Halo launch debacle aside they've been rather good.
Microbius wrote:
Right after, he approached the trolls army, "You have a very important mission, spread the rumour that Game Pass only has mobile rubbish because every publisher unanimously dislike Game Pass". "That's why I'm offering you, my dear fans, the best-value $70 games and subscriptions that don't include them in order to increase the perceived value of both products", he added @Sol4ris.
@Mauzuri Jim Ryan also mocked Series S when it was released. I don't think the reason was that he is a hardcore gamer that want to experience the best possible gaming experience; rather, he started the generation playing dirty.
If he used the word 'unanimously' as several sites have quoted, then its an obvious lie. You have to wander what the point of that lie is when several publishers actions clearly disprove it?
I guess its a court case and people on both sides of the divide will lie to seek an advantage. I would suggest undermining your own credability is not the best tactics though..
If he had said 'some', that would have been correct. Not many will speak it publicly, but take two have gone on record with this view, and its likely that some other large publishers share the sentiment. Its purely down to keeping profits high though, their concerns are definitely not based on value for the consumer, just on their profit margins.
I'm annoyed I got pulled into a neeting all morning yesterday and missed Lyin Jimmy Ryan, who I was looking forward to hearing more than anyone. Oh well. Juciest bit i caught yesterday afternoon with Professor Lee was the MS lawyer made him say there was an Xbox version of FFXVI.
Why would they? Unless they know it's not going to be a big seller, why lose £70 per game. I can't imagine the MS payout would cover all the sales you could make. Obviously this is all depending on the game and how much potential sales it would generate.
@Jenkinss Imagine what our resident Sony fans and pseudo-neutrals will say when Final Fantasy XVI is released for Windows in 6 or 12 months, after claiming that it's only possible because of PS5 "exclusive tech". I'm sure that it runs better on Series X than on PS5.
@Ep_13 This lawsuit has been effective into making Ryan look like the bad guy in gaming. I think Sony is doing more damage to their brand by opening their mouths in this FTC hearing than if they had just stepped aside and let it go through.
I rarely gave Sony two thoughts a few months ago. Now, along with that disaster of a showcase, they seem not only is complete disarray but are just becoming...loathsome.
He's not wrong though, games don't sell when there on Game Pass.
@Banjo- And how laughable is that exclusive tech? That crowd spends their time concern trolling about Starfield, probably the most ambitious game since Red Dead 2, that the Series X "can't do 60 FPS." The most expansive open world, systems driven RPG we've seen with stunning visuals that the developer is choosing to lock to a consistent 30. Meanwhile FFXVI looks like a single player version of their 13 year old PS3 MMORPG, it's a linear Devil May Cry action game with 6 item slots that barely affect the gamely, and it can't do 60 FPS. If that's what they think 60fps is, if that's what they want Starfield to do, that's a complete joke. Anyone who wants that doesn't actually play video games. Same goes for Jedi Survivor "60 FPS" mode. Make no mistake - I much prefer 60 FPS - REAL 60FPS. If you can't hit it, lock it to 30 and make it buttery smooth. Or do a 40 mode for people with 120hz TVs.
PS love the term "pseudo neutrals." Concern trolls, 9 out of 10 times. I own all the consoles guys, here's why I'm visiting your community to let you know that the other console is better than yours (which I own, I promise).
This guy has such a big mouth it’s ridiculous. I might not like Phil Spencer praising Sony so much like he does but credit where it’s due, He’s not toxic like this guy.
"I lie for a living. Trust me..." - Jim Ryan
Which devs Jim? "Well uhhhhh grumble grumble grumble"
That's what i thought!
@Jenkinss Yeah, that's it, basically 😁.
I honestly look at gamepass the same as Netflix. The same principle. Studios releasing series and films exclusively to Netflix. They ain't complaining
@Moonglow A man of Xbox 2 culture I see
@themightyant We are going to have to cryogenically freeze you and wake you up 20 years into the future and then it might be over….
I actually call BS here. Look i believe Gamepass isn't doing as well as MS claim and i'm sure some Publishers don't like it but i feel he's confusing his opinion with facts and cherrypicking the people who don't like it. End of the day he doesn't have all the facts here and if anything downplaying GP doesn't help him, if anything he should overhype it and make it sound a threat to Sony.
@Jenkinss I mean FF16 is doing things that are pushing gaming hard, those big titan battles for instance couldn't be done on last gen consoles. As for the visuals well have you played it? DF were mostly impressed and while its not the best looking game its sure easily the best looking FF game that isn't FF7R, its actually pretty stunning at times. As for it being linear? Again have you played it? Do you even know what linear means? Yes its not open world but guess what apart from FF15 no FF game has been a true open world, its got some big open zones though to explore and do side quests like say FF7 or FF12.
@WallyWest oMG we agree on something. This might be end if the world. He’s viewpoint is a skewed. I think GP does great for some games. But terrible for others. Depends on the game.
@Titntin Well, he is an immigrant, maybe his English isn't solid enough to chose the right words...
@Snake_V5 Of course individual unit sales are lower when access is included as part of a membership access as members prepaid for access to anything made available instead. That doesn't mean money didn't exchange hands, just means unit sales are lower and those sales are replaced by lump sum payments.
Is it less profits for each publisher than allowing only full price unit sales? In some cases yes. Which is the point of competition. Fixed pricing is called a monopoly. Multiple companies colluding on a fixed price is called illegal. Jim is, effectively, lamenting the lack of full monopoly price fixing powers for his and his partner publishers.
@Cashews "This lawsuit has been effective into making Ryan look like the bad guy in gaming."
I don't think it's the lawsuit that did that.
@WallyWest What's the most amazing about this is his head is so far up the boardroom's backside that he's actually presenting industry/investor value concerns to the FTC as a reason why they should stop a strengthening move of their competitor who, in his own words here, is damaging industry/investor value in the name of competing for business. He's making MS's argument for them because he can't see past the red lines on his own spreadsheet.
Those who support Jim's rhetoric are having problems with that it doesn't make sense. He seems to be living in a world where Sony have a monopoly and Nintendo's been developing handhelds for them for the past twenty years.
Publishers in his world all hate XBOX and their way of selling games, and want Sony to go back to having an exclusive monopoly, where they buy Playstation for their high end consoles, and Nintendo for their portables.
Yes.... Yes.... Jim we do not like Gamepass..... Now, about that exclusive money $$$$
As much as I detest Jim Ryan and simply find him as a crying baby infant throwing a temper tantrum on a national scale, but really not going to argue with him here. Game pass is a horrible deal unless you like game quality that of game boy color games. 99% of game pass are games like playing back in 80s and early 90s. I quite side scrolling, jumping over lava pits decades ago.
What does GP have to do with acquiring Activision/Blizzard? Nothing other than rasping at straws.
Gamepass is widely regarded as the best deal in gaming. Sony claiming it is "value destructive" shows just who they care about.
The Sony motto will always be "extract every penny"
@Suda52 they don't have the same amount of coin but they didn't and still don't have an issue paying and using their market power in console gaming to keep games away from Xbox and making it a weaker console.
If Phil didn't convince Satya to invest in Xbox it's pretty clear they would have folded and there wouldn't be a Gen 9 Xbox. So now they have that investment and Sony just has to reap what they sowed. They can compete and will do so... resulting in more value for their gamers. They will lose market share and that will force them to react. Sony isn't a victim here, they just a bully realizing they ain't that tough after all.
@GuyinPA75 value is different to everyone. I absolutely love gamepass and wouldn't be gaming outside of crappy mobile games without it. Thing is we both get to choose how to spend our time abd money. We're both correct even though we're on completely opposite sides of the spectrum. You do you, I'll do my thing and so will everyone else. But it's good to realize that a lot of people enjoy gamepass and it's great for them.
@Suda52 so Sony by locking up Starfield without buying Zenimax is totally organic and okay but MS buying Zenimax and making it exclusive is bad?
Xbox was in a situation where they had to buy publishers to secure content so they did. Now it's Sonys turn to react. They will be more than okay, don't worry. Jimbo said so
I think unanimously we think he's talking something very smelly from his bottom, er I mean mouth.
I'd seriously like to see what evidence he has to prove he's spoken to 'all' publishers and that they all don't like it.
@Suda52 look at the bright side mate, PS will be getting CoD if the merger is approved. But probably will not be properly optimize well, since Sony will refuse to give the dev kits to MS. So don't complain if CoD or any ABK games will be in a buggy state.
@Suda52 so pray that ABK games on PS will run smoothly. And if not, you know who's to blame.
@Suda52 to you it's not but for the toxic fanboys and wannabe fanboys it is
@WallyWest The Titan battles that are QTE sequences that give you like 10 seconds to respond? DF were extremely unimpressed by the performance mode of the game. They had quite a laugh about purposely having monsters follow you around so you could stay in battle mode to maintain 60fps, although it would drop the game down to sub HD resolutions at times, which they couldn't believe. Watch their weekly show, it's more conversational than John's video alone and better context for their opinion. And reviewers whose views I trust have said the game offers very little outside the main story, which is a huge departure from other games in the series, and thus my linear comment. To answer your question, I have not played the game and I most likely will not. Once they finish releasing the 7 remake on PC 10 years from now I'll probably play that, but graphics aside I have zero interest in playing devil may cry action games.
Instead of paying for development studios, Sony pays lobbyists to do their dirty work. There are plenty of companies that say their games are doing great on Game Pass because they get exposure they may not have gotten elsewhere.
Jim is spot on 👍
@Krzzystuff Did you miss the part where I said if you like that quality of games you're good? At no point or anywhere in that post did I imply my opinion was the definitive, be all, end all, of the entire everythingverse.
There's been loads of publishers who have spoken out on how GamePass benefited them, what a clown he is!
@UltimateOtaku91
Then why does Sony pays publisher to not put games on GamePass if they all hate GamePass so much?
@Krysus I'm tired of jim ryan and other big wigs it's there egos talking
@Tasuki he has no clue about games nor does he care its all about money
There's an unfortunate realty to the statements here and love or hate Jim Ryan, as a xbox fan, I have to agree with the value issue. See, gamepass is only ever designed to lock you in. No subscription, no games. The more you use this or rely on it, the worse it gets and in return you get no games to keep or iwn and subscribein the hope a fraction if those game appeal. You just cant escape the fact that a large portion of any potential game on there wont be for you andbis falae economy. Even xbox have admitted that gamepass cannibalises base game sales in a Netflix-style games as a service buisness model and I want no part of that. Of course the top percent developers will see benefits from it, but it will screw over small devs similar how to the saturated music industry in light of Spotify has ruined music - or at least how musicians earn money through tangible record sales, not just a percentage. Subsequently, this means the losses are passed on in the music world and have to be recouped in ticket sales at live venues with largley unaffordable tickets. Granted, there's more to it than that with scalping, but there's a similar thing going on with how games are priced on top of the cost of living, inflation and games being more complex and taking longer to develop. Potential exposure in game pass does not equal success and there have been plenty of bad games burried in there that havent been great on there for this very reason. I still remember the crackdown situation and yikes was that a stinker. It's reasonable tobassuke this is the case as the subscription isbperhaps intended to softennthe blow of poor quality and divert accountwbikity innthe lackingnstandards in a game by thinking "oh, well it was just somethingnon game pass anyway" despite the fact that games absolutely should be valued as an individual and the quality speaknfor itself. Again, the redfallnsituation under xboxbis inexcusible and embarrasing. I firmly believe this isn't about value or the customer; rather, as xbox conceded, it's about having a cash cow because they refuse to compete as a platfom in the conventional sense. The mentality that it is "too late" is ridiculous. More competition and sales of xboxs = more reason to own an xbox and is every reason to compete and be competitive, even after the ***** show launch of the xbox one. All xbox need to do is work on building a portfolio of games, building confidence as publisher and incentivising tangible sales while not cannibalising itself with game pass and PC launches simultaneously. Given how xbox are seemingly struggling to manage and take leadership over current existing projects, I have low confidence they can pull off this acquisition even if it goes ahead. I'm not for a bidding wars or a platfom being the next Disney buying up the industry is not good, just to generate profits though a monopoly with other peoples work and put in minimal effort. This will not end well and games will only suffer. You know, besides bethesda and COD devs expressing disdane for the merger and xbox incentive, it overtly seems anti competitive. All xbox have to do is what they did with the 360 and that was a winning formula that Sony akanowleged and rolled with leading to their sucess - as we all know the xbox 360 was a huge sucess over Sony at the time.
@Thunderbird_99 I disagree. According to Microsoft, Game Pass boost sales. According to small developers, they get more players and income. According to big publishers, it's additional revenue and more consistent player base except for best-selling games that don't really need that (GTA, Call of Duty...). The only publishers complaining about Game Pass are Sony's.
As a subscriber, I disagree, too. I don't think that the value is less every month. First and third-party games are added every month and I don't have time to play all the games I'm interested in. Moreover, the value is better every year because first-party games stay forever and Microsoft have acquired more studios, so in a few years it will be packed with first-party games. More studios equal more games.
I don't think that Game Pass lowers the quality of third-party games at all. The only place where you see rubbish quality galore is on mobile because of the free-to-play scheme ruling the mobile platforms. I don't think that Game Pass lowers the quality of first-party games because that's up to the studios to be good or bad. We see that some Xbox Game Studios are efficient and consistent while others struggle to do their job properly but it doesn't have anything to do with Game Pass.
Yeah, can't speak for anyone else but the last games I paid for were buggy train wrecks, even from triple A studios. At least with game pass I can try stuff out. It also has led me to purchase DLC for those games I particularly enjoyed which is a benefit to publishers.
GP is better for no name, third party game developers. It gets them and their game noticed. Rather than being lost in thousands of crappy game releases (Talking to you Steam).
I unanimously don't like Jim Ryan. Will he just disappear because of it?
And XB wasn't the first to offer game subscriptions. Playstation started them with PSN's instant game library. It is funny how people take shots at "ownership on GamePass" when it was PSN that started it with their "two free games a month". And by the way, the day you stop subscribing to PSN you lose access to all the games you ever accumulated in that model. All XB has done with GamePass is improved on the model.
@Banjo- Couldn't agree more with your last comment!
@HarmanSmith Thanks, buddy.
@Banjo- appologies in advance, I've had to stagger my responses due to the chatacter linit.
Firstly, of course xbox would say that, why would they say otherwise when trying to market what they hope to be an attractive service? We both know that information is outdated hype and irrelivent, given that xbox literally stated base sales suffer not too long ago. You forget to mention there's no incentive to buy a game after it is acessed via game pass service. Further, applying that logic, how can you state acess to that game equates to greater than the percentage of revenue a game recives by a flat purchases? They don't. It is the same situation with Spotify providing $0.003 - $0.005 per stream instead of the prior conventional way of making money per track or album. If you support devs, you pay full price. Simple. This is no different to Spotify, only really benefitting the top percent of studios publishing content with the most exposure and foothold in the industry. This all cuminates in the losses over conventional distribution being passed down in ticket sales. You also forget that people follow gaming news and reviews and go into a purchase otherwise knowing what to expect and what they like to then get excited by a game from a known studio being added to the game pass roster. That's how xbox are opperating to cater to supply and demand. What they are not, however, is an advertising platform on behalf of little studios. The exposure on the service/ platfom changes nothing for the popularity of the publisher behind them - even though their quality should speak for itself.
@Banjo- Secondly, saying game pass is a good means of exposure is ridiculous given that the services is A) rotated with huge new games and B) despite this, the principle of saturation still applies and is easy for small devs to get buried/ overshadowed by virtue of xbox pushing everything they can via the service - and I very much doubt they are incentivising smaller studios giving a quick glance at it. Regardless, exposure once again does not equate to or gurantee sucess. Similarly, game pass has also proven to be a tactic to reduce the blow of sub par games by thinking that gamers will forgive or at least be somewhat more leniant to the game being bad, simply because they didn't buy it full price and acessed it via a service for a conparitivley lower cost. Need I remind you of redfall and crackdown 3? Perfect game pass fodder examples out the gate as the publicity around them was pretty bad and therefore off-putting, so it stands to reason the service would hopefully offset it to remedy this with xbox thinking people would adopt the above mindset. This is where you misunderstood my stance.
@Banjo- Thirdly, the other point you missed wasn't that having acess to games to a wide variety games is necessarily inherently bad; rather, it's that you're eventually becoming reliant on a service soley to play games. Given how you're paying a subscription for games that you won't have the opportunity to play while focusing on one for a decent amount of time, and may well end up paying more than their worth as they depreciate with time, the fact remains that you're situation is an example of false economy as you're paying a subscription only to invest and play one game at a time potentially while so many more get added that you may also not like. You can't physically play that many games enough to find value in the service unless you're switching playing between games like someone riddled with adhd. There's also the fact that game pass is getting more expensive and you're paying all that money over time for what, when you don't renew the subscription and lose acess to all of them? It's insulting as a matter of principle.
Lastly, I never argued game pass reduces the quality, but you'd be lying if there hasn't been a noticeable issue of xbox's project management since the current gen and since deals went ahead with certain studios. Redfall again is the epitome of this under xbox management (or lackthereof) and is rather interesting, given there has been no sigificant issues with previous games from Arkane until this whole acquisition thing happened. Given how the entirety of last gen was mismanaged and the xbox tactic still remains, albeit pushed more heavily, I have reasonable doubts over leadership and ability of Phil spencer to deliver quality first party games or at least thier management to make the development a smooth process while ensuring quality is checked truthfully at all times. I have reasonable doubts, but if starfield does not deliver, then it will only solidify my stance on xbox's leadership/ ability to manage studios that seemingly haven't had major internal issues before.
It's only attacks and lies with that guy lately. Amazing how a gaming company leader can be so unpleasant.
Lyin Cryin Jim Ryan is the Donald Trump of the Game Industry
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