Xbox Game Pass (Official Thread)

[winb83]

Yeah they woulda been way better off signing that GP deal.


The revenue wins didnt come till AFTER the GP release.

Without GP they would have struggled to break even, like Callisto Protical

They took a game that was pretty much done in terms of sales and put it on a subscription service after that. What I'm saying is that's Sony's ideal model for a gaming subscription service should be. A place dead games go to get a second life.

The Callisto Protocol will probably be on Game Pass in a few months if not sooner. It will not have gone there day 1 though just like Hitman didn't. I think the industry as a whole has made it pretty clear they don't like the Game Pass day one model but have no issue getting a new revenue stream off a game that's no longer selling by putting it on a subscription service.

What separates Game Pass from everything else is that day 1 release. If not for that it's just another subscription service that serves up games that have been out a while.

 

[MeachTheMonster]

They took a game that was pretty much done in terms of sales and put it on a subscription service after that. What I'm saying is that's Sony's ideal model for a gaming subscription service should be. A place dead games go to get a second life.

No. This was a remaster/collection that released day one on gampass.

Check this and their previous statement. GP is the reason the game eventually became successful.

The sales before don’t matter because they weren’t that great. It’s not like this was multi million success story and they just added to it with GP.

GP literally saved their game and studio and they would have only made more money off it if they released there earlier.

The Callisto Protocol will probably be on Game Pass in a few months if not sooner. It will not have gone there day 1 though just like Hitman didn't. I think the industry as a whole has made it pretty clear they don't like the Game Pass day one model but have no issue getting a new revenue stream off a game that's no longer selling by putting it on a subscription service.

Gamepass has dozens of day one releases signed for this year.

Callisto can’t sign with GP until sony tells them to. I’m 100% positive the game would have been more successful both commercially and critically if it released on gamepass.

What separates Game Pass from everything else is that day 1 release. If not for that it's just another subscription service that serves up games that have been out a while.

Again, GP has dozens of day 1 releases set up for this year.

Unless you are an established AAA franchise like GTA, Batman, Star wars, etc. It makes all the sense in the world to sing with GP and get that for sure money and crowd playing your game.

 

[The Mad Titan]

I mean you saw it with The Callisto Protocol. If a dev and publisher think they can get by without Game Pass they'll elect to not go that route. Sure it helps some devs and publishers but the ones it really helps aren't usually in a position to be so successful without it.

Also notable is Hitman 3 came to Game Pass a year after it was released and not day 1. They sold through whatever they could manage before going that route. Sony fans arguments are that games being released day 1 on Game Pass is bad for the industry. When the game sales go inert doesn't matter anymore. Hitman 3 followed Sony's ideal model for subscription gaming.

Sure it's a case by case basis.

It shouldn't be a 1 shoe fits all situation.


If Callisto Proto would have landed with strong praises it would be a huge success with a sequel probably guaranteed. I feel like if they would have been honest with themselves they could have been in a much better position out the gate.


Instead... Now they gotta hope for the residuals

Now granted if MS decides they want it now they might throw them a bag but I mean... At this point what they could have got and what they might get offered now is probably going to be significantly different and that's even if they get the offer. Maybe Sony will make it a free game sometime this year before DLC drops.

Also Sony Stan's initially spread the word that sub services as a whole were bad for gaming as a whole, the companies, devs and the players. I'm sure you remember the threads here even.

"MS is losing tons of money, devs aren't getting paid, players will just get GAAS games and shovelware, putting there games on PC is dumb"


Overall gamepass has been nothing but great for players, devs and the industry.

From here on out there will always be a market for subscription services in the gaming space. MS is for a change being proactive in making sure they are one of the top contenders and it's not snatched up by Google, Amazon, Apple, tencent, steam, epic or Sony.

 

[winb83]

No. This was a remaster/collection that released day one on gampass.

Check this and their previous statement. GP is the reason the game eventually became successful.

The sales before don’t matter because they weren’t that great. It’s not like this was multi million success story and they just added to it with GP.

GP literally saved their game and studio and they would have only made more money off it if they released there earlier.


Gamepass has dozens of day one releases signed for this year.

Callisto can’t sign with GP until sony tells them to. I’m 100% positive the game would have been more successful both commercially and critically if it released on gamepass.

Again, GP has dozens of day 1 releases set up for this year.

Unless you are an established AAA franchise like GTA, Batman, Star wars, etc. It makes all the sense in the world to sing with GP and get that for sure money and crowd playing your game.

When Hitman 3 released if you owned Hitman 1 or 2 those levels were incorporated into Hitman 3 at no extra charge back then. When Hitman 3 came to Game Pass they basically just said everybody can have the levels from 1 and 2 in Hitman 3 now without ownership of the other games. Not really a remaster as that content was already available in Hitman 3 it was basically just a GOTY type edition where available content was included.

Outside of Microsoft and indie publishers that need the publicity the industry mostly views Game Pass as a place to send games that have sold through all the meaningful sales they will have or a place to send IPs they know won't have any success with just a traditional release. it's a tool they'll take advantage of only when they deem it necessary. It's often a last resort. A third party publisher would rather a game didn't need such a service at all.

Saying if you aren't an establish franchise you should sign with Game Pass is false. Many franchises established themselves without the need of such a service. If the franchise seems unlikely to be able to stand on it's own then yea but if you think you can put it out and build it up on it's own I would absolutely not go to Game Pass until after sales have shown you've gone as far as you can if ever.

 

[Legal]

Yeah they woulda been way better off signing that GP deal.


Very few games have inherent success built in. The rest could benefit greatly by signing with GP.

Callisto Protocol leaders were too full of themselves in what they thought they would/could achieve and they got burnt, probably their first and last game with that kinda funding.

The game would have been much better received if they had a humble gamepass release and let the game grow organically something like High on Life.

As it stands that $70 single player game with middling reviews and a short playtime was a failure as it shoulda been.

The revenue wins didnt come till AFTER the GP release.

Without GP they would have struggled to break even, like Callisto Protical

That argument doesn't necessarily work, because if the game was better, it probably would've sold better.

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

That argument doesn't necessarily work, because if the game was better, it probably would've sold better.

They’re actually arguing what we’ve been saying, that the game could have ‘succeeded’ on gamepass despite being critically panned. So, its basically where devs go to launch their games when they aren’t feeling confident on the release of them

Or like whats been stated, they make up for the lack of initial sales by getting a later gamepass release.

 

[MeachTheMonster]

That argument doesn't necessarily work, because if the game was better, it probably would've sold better.

Maybe.

But with the game as it is, the goodwill of having a cheap place to acquire the game would have given it a much better start.

$70 was its problem. With a gamepass release it would have reviewed better. It would have had a larger audience and they would have made some for sure money.

 

[MeachTheMonster]

When Hitman 3 released if you owned Hitman 1 or 2 those levels were incorporated into Hitman 3 at no extra charge back then. When Hitman 3 came to Game Pass they basically just said everybody can have the levels from 1 and 2 in Hitman 3 now without ownership of the other games. Not really a remaster as that content was already available in Hitman 3 it was basically just a GOTY type edition where available content was included.

Sure, but it was a new SKU day one on gamepass.

Outside of Microsoft and indie publishers that need the publicity the industry mostly views Game Pass as a place to send games that have sold through all the meaningful sales they will have or a place to send IPs they know won't have any success with just a traditional release. it's a tool they'll take advantage of only when they deem it necessary. It's often a last resort. A third party publisher would rather a game didn't need such a service at all.

Callisto Proticol is an indie game.

And again. There’s at least a dozen AAA games releasing day one on gamepass this year. What you are saying just doesn’t line up with reality.

Saying if you aren't an establish franchise you should sign with Game Pass is false. Many franchises established themselves without the need of such a service. If the franchise seems unlikely to be able to stand on it's own then yea but if you think you can put it out and build it up on it's own I would absolutely not go to Game Pass until after sales have shown you've gone as far as you can if ever.

Gamepass didn’t exist in the past. In the ultra competitive gaming world of today. Gamepass is the number one way to get your game out there to make a name for itself. We have seen devs talk about it on multiple occasions at this point. Just you sony stan’s in denial

 

[MeachTheMonster]

They’re actually arguing what we’ve been saying, that the game could have ‘succeeded’ on gamepass despite being critically panned. So, its basically where devs go to launch their games when they aren’t feeling confident on the release of them

Or like whats been stated, they make up for the lack of initial sales by getting a later gamepass release.

Not every game is worth $70

We all know a game like Callisto has a hard road ever justifying a $70 price tag. When sprawling epic games like elden ring or GOW are $60-$70 no way in hell Callisto should exist in that space.

The metacritic score was not the problem.

 

[Legal]

Maybe.

But with the game as it is, the goodwill of having a cheap place to acquire the game would have given it a much better start.

$70 was its problem. With a gamepass release it would have reviewed better. It would have had a larger audience and they would have made some for sure money.

Bruh, Gamepass isn't the magic bullet. A mid game is mid, regardless of the price point.

Callisto Protocol was just a mediocre game, and would've been, regardless of how it released. If there were any retroactive advice to give them, it would've been to maybe move the release further away from Dead Space. A lot of the pre-release coverage focused on how this was a Dead Space spiritual successor, when people could just wait a month and change and just buy another Dead Space game.

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

Not every game is worth $70

We all know a game like Callisto has a hard road ever justifying a $70 price tag. When sprawling epic games like elden ring or GOW are $60-$70 no way in hell Callisto should exist in that space.

The metacritic score was not the problem.

Its just about managing expectations. They wanted to sell 5 million copies, they needed to put out a way better game. The cream rises to the top


Despite what people think some sony games sell the way they do because beyond the pretty graphics and production budget, they’re actually fun to play.

 

[The Mad Titan]

Bruh, Gamepass isn't the magic bullet. A mid game is mid, regardless of the price point.

Callisto Protocol was just a mediocre game, and would've been, regardless of how it released. If there were any retroactive advice to give them, it would've been to maybe move the release further away from Dead Space. A lot of the pre-release coverage focused on how this was a Dead Space spiritual successor, when people could just wait a month and change and just buy another Dead Space game.

Disagree with this, just like anything else paying "premium" price for a non premium experience, service, or goods can drastically affect your enjoyment.

CP being 39-49 bucks would have gained it a lot of good will out the gate as opposed to 69.

They just wanted to sell everyone on the game being that kind of experience and apparently it's not.

 

[MeachTheMonster]

Its just about managing expectations. They wanted to sell 5 million copies, they needed to put out a way better game. The cream rises to the top


Despite what people think some sony games sell the way they do because beyond the pretty graphics and production budget, they’re actually fun to play.

Lots of games have sold more and made more money on worse reviews.

Lots of well reviewed sony games have flopped.

 

[Gizmo_Duck]

Lots of games have sold more and made more money on worse reviews.

Lots of well reviewed sony games have flopped.

Maybe games with built in fanbases they’ve cultivated over multiple generations of consoles, not new IPs. A new franchise from a new studio has to prove themselves, when they come out with a game that gets middling scores and poor word of mouth it inevitably kills the long term legs of the game.

 

[MeachTheMonster]

Bruh, Gamepass isn't the magic bullet. A mid game is mid, regardless of the price point.

Gamepass is only one way to get your game out there. Very few games are actually worthy of $70.

Lots of games find success at lower price points.

Callisto Protocol was just a mediocre game, and would've been, regardless of how it released. If there were any retroactive advice to give them, it would've been to maybe move the release further away from Dead Space. A lot of the pre-release coverage focused on how this was a Dead Space spiritual successor, when people could just wait a month and change and just buy another Dead Space game.

literally dozens of games come out every day. There’s levels to this shyt. Callisto had no business positioning itself as it did. Even if tit didn’t have the technical issues and it reviewed a little better it would have still sold the same.