Its creator attributes the growth of the title, which has added 500,000 more players in the last three months, to Microsoft’s subscription service on Xbox and PC.
The profitability of Xbox Game Pass is one of the main topics of conversation in video game forums around the world. Is a “Netflix of video games” viable? Surely, we will not know that answer for a few years and, as in almost everything, there will be winners and losers. What is tangible is the data of some video games that are already part of this Microsoft solution, which offers more than a hundred games on demand in exchange for a monthly subscription. The Descenders case contradicts the belief that a game on Xbox Game Pass is bad for sales.
20% of Xbox Game Pass players have downloaded Descenders
Descenders, a small —and addictive— extreme mountain bike title developed by RageSquid under the production of No More Robots, offers arcade gameplay where we have to descend hills and mountains at full speed. Easy to understand, easy to start playing, difficult to master. The title has almost 3,000,000 players; of which almost 500,000 correspond to the last three months. 20% growth in just one quarter. What is the reason for this amazing growth? Mike Ross, a member of No More Robots, has it clear: Xbox Game Pass, where it has been available since May 2019.
Descenders is the first video game published by No More Robots; founded in 2017.
As he has commented on his personal Twitter account, “Game Pass continues to be a beast for Descenders.” In the last quarter, from June to the end of August, they totaled half a million, which is powerfully close to three million. In addition, a fundamental fact transcends: approximately 20% of Xbox Game Pass users (15 million until this month of September) have downloaded the game. The question that many ask themselves, taking into account this circumstance, is the following: how many players would Descenders have if it were not on Xbox Game Pass?
Click, download and … try. Obviously, those 3 million players are not buyers (the title costs 22.99 euros on PS4, Xbox One and PC; soon on Nintendo Switch), but in his words this does not seem to be a problem: he quadrupled his sales the first month available on Xbox Game Pass. The companies and studios that put their games on Xbox Game Pass agree a price with Microsoft. There are many variables here: it can be a certain economic amount (such as a kind of advance payment from which the equivalent of specific sales is deducted) or a percentage governed by what are usually called royalties. That is, depending on the number of players, they will receive more or less money than what Microsoft entered through subscriptions.
There is one element that leaves no doubt: the more subscribers Xbox Game Pass has (ergo, the more people religiously paying the chosen fee month by month), the more benefit for the studios that are part of the service.
The constant feeling that you are playing the penultimate game.
No More Robots, delighted with Xbox Game Pass from the start
No More Robots’ trust in Xbox Game Pass goes a long way. Last August, when only three months had passed since the debut of Descenders on Xbox Game Pass, Mike Ross gave an interview to GameInformer where he declared himself openly delighted with the economic security that Microsoft’s strategy provided. The reason for the interview was as follows: No More Robots had achieved total revenue of $ 3 million in profits. Unthinkable for a small independent publisher group with just six employees based in Manchester, England.
“A lot of times, there are a massive amount of games on Steam and you can’t hear about them,” says Rose. Why should they be talked about? Unless you are an AAA… ”, he added. It is very difficult to stand out on a platform with thousands of games, but on Xbox Game Pass they are much less and highly selected. The probability of standing out is higher.
“Since Descenders was released on Xbox Game Pass, I didn’t realize something like this could happen; because you assume that if you put something in the Game Pass, the sales go down. I had it assumed: why would someone buy a game on Xbox Game Pass if they can literally play it from there? ”, He added then. The reality is different, it is stable. “Being on Xbox Game Pass means that, basically, you are constantly being featured on Xbox. Your game is on the dashboard all the time. People see it every day.
Xbox Game Pass had 10 million subscribers in April; in September it already had 15 million members.
That is why, according to their data, during the launch month of Descenders on Xbox – May 2019 – sales quadrupled. “It is, in essence, like an advertisement” to be on Xbox Game Pass. In May 2019 there were 600,000 registered players and the company set its record in revenue, money that they have to distribute as agreed with the small Dutch group that shaped the video game, RageSquid.
The future of No More Robots, now with a bigger economic cushion, is to publish more titles. Notably, in 2020 Family Man and Yes, Your Grace; In 2021 it will be TombStar, a dual stick roguelike for PC.
The future of Descenders, meanwhile, continues to go uphill.
References | Mike Ross; GamesIndustry; Xbox
