During GDC 2023, Mike Rose – founder of independent publisher No More Robots – gave a presentation discussing Xbox Game Pass value to his company. His speech is long and interesting and below we convey the most important details, which are above all related to the game Let’s Build a Zoo.
Rose said that listing the game on Game Pass Eliminates the risk of project failure Financially, as financial terms are agreed upon in advance rather than having to wait for sales results.
The consistent base for Game Pass subscribers It also ensures a large player base at launch, which means that the studio can focus on content support after launch. This ultimately benefits the studio, as many players who already play the game as part of their subscription will purchase the downloadable content.
Rose said that four times more people have purchased the Let’s Build a Zoo DLC than those who have only purchased the base game. Among those who have purchased the base game, there is an unusually high percentage Bought the base game bundle with the DLC included, according to Rose, because consumers want to continue accessing purchased DLC even after the game leaves Game Pass. Finally, he said Game Pass players provide a great deal of feedback, which can be invaluable to smaller developers.
practically, Game Pass guarantees sales DLCs and even the base game, because many enthusiasts want to make sure they always have access to the game. It’s obviously a specific example of Let’s Build a Zoo, but in principle it defines the idea of an audience willing to invest extra money on top of the money spent on Game Pass.
Rose also said that when the studio releases a game on multiple platforms with a one day launch on Game Pass, The number of Xbox gamers far exceeds all other gamers. He said that at least 80% of gamers usually use an Xbox.
However, Microsoft itself has admitted that Game Pass “cannibalizes sales,” at least potentially. But Rose is very conservative about it.
“From my point of view, as someone who put so many titles into Game Pass, it’s impossible to say. We’ve definitely had titles that outsold when they entered Game Pass, and we’ve had titles after they entered Game Pass or were released from Game Pass, they didn’t see any change in sales.” They were getting before or after.The main problem with the “Game Pass kills sales” claim is that no developer or publisher has any idea how many copies their game will sell on Xbox if it doesn’t launch on Game Pass.How can you say definitively That this is the case?”.
Rose said that for a company the size of No More Robots, the two most important things Game Pass brings to the table are “money and players.” The market is full of games and it’s hard to catch the attention of fans when you have to compete with hundreds of titles at once. In Game Pass, on the other hand, the competition consists of a few dozen games, at most, at the time the video game is launched.
“We need money to make sure that the developers we work with get paid well for their hard work, so the massive influx of players we get for each game means that a lot of people will be talking about your game, which is great both for short term and long term success.” term for any stock, Rose said. “I think it’s more complicated for a publisher that’s much larger than ours: they have investors that have to keep them happy, they have criteria that they have to hit, and so it might not be that simple to sign up for them. For us, on the other hand, it’s just: Is the money right? So it’s okay.”
While a supporter of Game Pass, Rose admits that the new levels for PlayStation Plus They seem to be competing directly with Game Pass. So while No More Robots has been a hit with Game Pass, Rose is also eyeing PlayStation. The studio put Descenders on PlayStation Plus, which Rose says has added hundreds of thousands of new players. “PS Plus is great, just like Game Pass for us,” he said. “We’d definitely like to include more titles in the future.”
Among the games that have arrived on Game Pass that was announced recently, there is also Venba.
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