Gamepass made it easier for both Sony and Nintendo to strike third party exclusivity and marketing deals

[Yurinka]

Well, imagine each platform holder has a $50M/year budget for 3rd party deals.

• Nintendo spends them mostly on console exclusives
• Sony spends them mostly on console exclusives
• MS has to split that between paying people to put games day one on GP and console exclusives

So having to dedicate part of their budget for 3rd party deals to GP leaves them less money for exclusivities.

 

[Nhomnhom]

Well, imagine each platform holder has a $50M/year budget for 3rd party deals.

• Nintendo spends them mostly on console exclusives
• Sony spends them mostly on console exclusives
• MS has to split that between paying people to put games day one on GP and console exclusives

So having to dedicate part of their budget for 3rd party deals to GP leaves them less money for exclusivities.

MS don't seem to have any third-party deals that don't involve Gamepass and many of those deals are the only way these games would ever even be ported to Xbox.

For Nintendo and Sony these third party deals pretty much pay for themselves with the extra sales.

 

[Box]

Another potential concern for developers is that the focus on day one releases could lead to a decrease in the quality of games. Because developers are under pressure to release their games on Game Pass as soon as they are available, they may not have as much time to polish their games and fix bugs before release. This could result in a lower quality product for gamers.

 

[Systemshock2023]

Not sure about that on the PC side specifically. MS games sell more on Steam vs Sony ones even if they are included on gamepass. Gamepass might be useful for MS games because most of them are trying to keep you engaged for months and have a strong MP component like Forza Horizon, Sea of Thieves, Gears, Age of Empires. You can play it for a while, but chances are that if you really like the game, you will buy it because it will be cheaper than to keep being subrscibed to GP.

Gamepass PC in particular is useful to try games outside of your comfort zone (like JRPGs to me), and specially to try how a game runs. Campaign based one and done games, like the ones Sony produces, are not a good fit for gamepass if you want to be profitable. You can get a month of gamepass and beat those type of games (Quantum Break, Hellblade, Doom Eternal and more)

 

[Swift_Star]

Not sure about that on the PC side specifically. MS games sell more on Steam vs Sony ones even if they are included on gamepass. Gamepass might be useful for MS games because most of them are trying to keep you engaged for months and have a strong MP component like Forza Horizon, Sea of Thieves, Gears, Age of Empires. You can play it for a while, but chances are that if you really like the game, you will buy it because it will be cheaper than to keep being subrscibed to GP.

Gamepass PC in particular is useful to try games outside of your comfort zone (like JRPGs to me), and specially to try how a game runs. Campaign based one and done games, like the ones Sony produces, are not a good fit for gamepass if you want to be profitable. You can get a month of gamepass and beat those type of games (Quantum Break, Hellblade, Doom Eternal and more)

None of that has anything to do with the thread since I’m taking about third party games, not first party. Keep on topic.

 

[JAHGamer]

A mix of the Series S being annoying to develop for AND GamePass, is what makes it easier for Sony to get a lot of 3rd party deals.

 

[anonpuffs]

More evidence

Xbox Game Pass Hurts Sales, Says Dev Behind Xbox Game Pass Title​

Somerville dev reveals how Xbox Game Pass hurt its sales.

By Luis Joshua Gutierrez
on May 11, 2023 at 12:52PM PDT

Dino Patti, the co-founder of Playdead and Jumpship, has revealed that Xbox Game Pass hurt the studio's sales for Somerville.
According to an interview by Video Games SI, when Patti first founded Jumpship, the studio originally pitched the game to Google Stadia (RIP) but ended up partnering with Microsoft to have its game launch on Xbox Game Pass.
In the interview, Patti states how the deal was good, but they also believe it may have hurt their sales by saying:
"I also think it hurts sales. Because a lot of people just go in and try it, and they don't invest. If they don't like the first 10 minutes? That's it. Also, if you don't make the first 10 minutes amazing, maybe it's also a problem. I think [Game Pass] is okay. It's not my favorite. My favorite is the old premium model, where I sell you on some video, on big images and earn your $30. And then after that, I have to deliver. I don't need to get money out of you later."
This aligns with what with what was previously said about Xbox Game Pass potentially hurting sales for certain games. But that still hasn't stopped developers from working with Microsoft. Mike Rose, the founder of No More Robots, has told GameSpot that they've had games sell better when they're on or just leaving Game Pass, but at the same time, it has also seen "zero change in the sales they were getting before or after." Rose said the biggest problem with Xbox Game Pass eating sales is that it's difficult to tell how many copies the game could sell on Xbox if it didn't launch on Game Pass.