Raphael Colantonio, co-founder of popular game development studio Arkane, recently expressed frustration with Microsoft’s widely popular subscription service Game Pass following the company’s widespread layoffs. In a now-deleted comment on LinkedIn, the industry veteran questioned why no one was addressing the “elephant in the room” – the potential negative impact of Game Pass on the industry and its workers.
Arkane Studios might now be an Xbox-owned studio, but its original founder has expressed concerns about the impacts that Xbox Game Pass is having on the industry.
Raphael Colantonio founded the developer behind imsim heavyweights like Dishonored, Prey, the failed Redfall, and the upcoming Marvel’s Blade decades ago, before the studio was eventually sold to Microsoft as part of its Bethesda acquisition, meaning it’s now another gear in the megacorp’s subscription service strategy.
But Colantonio recently tweeted Game Pass “is an unsustainable model that has been increasingly damaging the industry for a decade, subsidized by MS’s ‘infinite money’, but at some point reality has to hit.” His main concern is that he doesn’t think Game Pass can “co-exist with other models” since the service will “either kill everyone else, or give up,” which would inevitably lead to more Xbox studio closures.
That’s certainly what happened to the movie industry – the general public aren’t concerned about owning the movies that are just available on streaming services anymore – though recent sales successes, including Expedition 33 and Oblivion Remastered, have proven games can sell well and launch into the service. Whether that can last forever is another question.
- Raphael Colantonio’s Criticism of Game Pass: Colantonio, co-founder of Arkane, voiced concerns that Microsoft’s Game Pass could be damaging the gaming industry and its workers, suggesting it may have long-term negative impacts.
- Impact of Game Pass on the Industry: He argued that Game Pass, funded by Microsoft’s extensive resources, is unsustainable and might force the industry to adapt or face potential decline and studio closures.
- Comparison with the Movie Industry: Colantonio warned that similar to movies shifting to streaming platforms, games on subscription services might eventually lead to a loss of ownership and revenue, affecting the industry’s sustainability.
- Potential Consequences of the Model: He believes the Game Pass model is like throwing a tsunami at the industry, benefiting gamers temporarily but causing long-term harm to developers and game ecosystems.
- Upcoming Major Releases on Game Pass: Despite concerns, numerous anticipated titles like Grounded 2, The Outer Worlds 2, and Hollow Knight Silksong will soon be available on Game Pass, indicating the service’s continued influence.
“It’s a long game that involves throwing a tsunami at the entire ecosystem of the industry,” he added. “Only the gamers like it because the offer is too good to be true, but eventually even gamers will hate it when they realize the effects on the games.”
“Other industries have different ratio cost content / sales. But even then, users enjoy Spotify because of the value proposition, but it is a horrible model for musicians, it only works for Spotify and the huge musicians and the major labels who have a stake in Spotify.”
Despite those concerns, there’s still a ton of games dropping into the service soon. We’ll see how Grounded 2, The Outer Worlds 2, Hollow Knight Silksong, and the next Call of Duty fare later this year.
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