Game Pass is a huge part of the gaming industry, but lots of publishers allegedly hate it. Here is why.
The acquisition trial of Activision Blizzard is bringing forth more and more revelations. Microsoft has been forced to share a lot and many voices have chimed in with their opinions. So it's not surprising that PlayStation chief Jim Ryan is also sharing some information and opinions.
One of his claims is, that publishers hate Game Pass . Let me explain why that might be the case.
Game Pass Could Be Hated by Publishers For This Reason
So why exactly could publisher's hate Game Pass, and what does that have to do with PlayStation's boss man Jim Ryan? Well, now that the FTC trial about the Microsoft/Activision Blizzard acquisition is progressing, Ryan made a video deposition for the trial on the situation from PlayStation's view.
In it, he revealed some information on how, according to him, publisher's view Microsoft's Game pass:
I talked to all publishers, and they unanimously do not like Game Pass because it’s value destructive. I talk to publishers all the time, and this is a very commonly held view over many years by the publishers.
But what does this mean? Well, what he claims is that Game Pass makes games less valuable, and that is horrible for publishers. But remember that his statement is from a trial, where he is speaking against Microsoft. So he certainly has an agenda to make his competitor look questionable.
If you think about it, though, it kinda makes sense. After all, for $10-$15 a month you get access to hundreds of games, including brand-new AAA games which normally cost $80. For players, this is a steal, but developers could earn less money and there is a huge value difference between $15 and $80. So it's pretty understandable, why publishers might be upset.
Of course, this begs the question, why do games still get added to Game Pass upon release, then? Well, the issue isn't quite that clear-cut. This is supported by Sport Interactive's studio head in an interview on this topic. He fundamentally disagrees and explains that for their games, Game Pass has been a purely positive experience.
One argument he is bringing up is, that Game Pass enables players, who might never have engaged with the studio's games, to now try it out, since it is already included in their subscription. So it is less risk for someone to just try out the game without spending extra money on it and then maybe not enjoying it.
Try Game Pass out for yourself and discover hundreds of games!
To sum all this up, Game Pass might or might not devalue games and publishers could be losing on sales, because people rather just play it on the service. But there are opinions both supporting this hypothesis and denying it.
This trial certainly has revealed a lot of interesting insight into the video game industry, so stay tuned for even more interesting news.