The manager reveals the relationship that Microsoft establishes with each developer to enter the Xbox Game Pass library. Nuances and conditions.
Xbox Game Pass has become the gaming service with the greatest impact, support and prestige. What was conceived as a “Netflix of video games” has become a platform with more than 15 million subscribers and availability on Xbox One, Xbox Series, PC and Android devices. A frequent question goes through sustainability, where is the fine print: how is Microsoft’s relationship with each studio that incorporates its games on Xbox Game Pass?
Phil Spencer, in a recent interview with The Verge, has commented on how the company negotiates with each new member; be it a small studio or a large publisher that wants to give a second life to a title that at full price does not quite take off. Is it sustainable to maintain that library of more than 200 games, many of them exclusive or AAA, in exchange for a subscription of just 10 or 12 euros? Does it have a positive or negative effect on the sales of the embedded games?
You open Xbox Game Pass, choose, download and … play.
Case by case: upfront payments, cost of production, agreements and more
“Our deals are, I would say, of all kinds. It may seem that it is not well managed, but the reality is that it is based on the needs of each developer ”, he begins by saying, to make it clear that there is no single condition shared by all the games that are part of Xbox Game Pass. “One of the positive things is that a developer, usually small or medium-sized, could be starting a game and saying, ‘hey, we’re willing to put it on the launch Game Pass if you give us X dollars right now.'” , an advance payment that translates into what they would have achieved by selling a certain number of units.
“In some cases we will pay the full cost of producing the game,” he adds. “Then they have the opportunity to also sell their games in stores, outside of the Game Pass. They can sell it on PlayStation, Steam, Xbox or Nintendo Switch. But they will have already protected themselves from ending up negative ”, having covered the development expenses by saying ‘yes’ to Xbox Game Pass. “The game is going to be done”, he adds, which is the peace of mind that those studios that develop their next work have knowing that their backs are covered economically.
EA Play is now part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate at no additional cost; more than 80 games added.
Other times, however, a developer puts their video game up for sale externally and, at some point, it becomes part of Xbox Game Pass in exchange for a specified amount of money, Spencer explains, making it clear that it all depends on the individual condition of each video game, of each study.
Others prefer usage-based deals and monetization, either through monetization with microtransactions or through usage. We’re open to experimenting with a lot of different partners, ”as there is, in Spencer’s view, one formula applicable to all agents involved in the Xbox Game Pass library. Initially, Xbox Game Pass only based its monetization on the time of use of each game, and that did not like the studios, who simply asked for the money in advance.
Sea of Stars, Descenders and the Flat Rate Concept
In an interview with FreeGameTips, the Sea of Stars development team, Sabotage Studio, responsible for the famous The Messenger, explained that, in their case, “you receive a fixed amount in exchange for a period of exclusivity, but this amount is not seen affected by the number of downloads or by whether you play more or play less ”, but it is“ an advance payment, and you have to evaluate if it is worth it. You think if those people who play it will end up buying it but we also think that there are more people who know your game. “
On the other hand, Descenders, one of the most successful games on Xbox Game Pass, has managed not only to excel in the service, but its sales soared on the rest of the platforms in order to be visible in this library of on-demand games from Microsoft. So much so that it quadrupled its sales a month after its arrival at XGP.
Xbox Game Pass does not have a magic formula, but its strategy seems to work and, in the words of the Redmond giant, it is profitable. 15 million users until last September which, according to some forecasts, are simply the tip of the iceberg.
