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

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.

For more Microsoft news, check out our story on Microsoft workers not getting an annual pay bump and how Xbox hardware execs want to bring quick resume to Windows.