The value of something is a tricky thing, because how does one assign value? Even the world’s currency is only “valuable” because we, the people, state it to be. There’s nothing wrong with trying to “get things at a good value,” or wait for something that’s worth a lot to lower its price and thus be “accessible” to you, and it’s just as fair not to get something because you think it costs too much. The question of “price and value” has been running rampant in the gaming industry recently, especially regarding the Xbox Game Pass and how much “value” it actually has to all parties involved.
For games, it’s an astonishing value. For even if you pay for the “Ultimate Package,” you’re getting a massive library of games that you can play so long as you have the subscription and the game remains in the library. The teams at Xbox and Microsoft mostly love it, mainly because it’s the only “positive thing” about their brand right now in many respects. However, the Xbox Game Pass has drawn the ire of many over the years, especially in recent years, because it’s widely felt that the “value” of the product doesn’t help the developers who actually make games that end up on the service. This was backed up on LinkedIn by Shannon Loftis, who used to be a VP at Xbox for their 1st party studios. Pete Hines, formerly of Bethesda, criticized the Game Pass and she backed him up with:
“As a longtime first party Xbox developer, I can attest that Pete is correct. While GP can claim a few victories with games that otherwise would have sunk beneath the waves (human fall flat, e.g.), the majority of game adoption on Gap comes at the expense of retail revenue, unless the game is engineered from the ground up for post-release monetization. I could (and may someday) write pages on the weird inner tensions this creates.”
And while Xbox/Microsoft loves to tout all the “Day One Titles” you can get on the service, like Hollow Knight Silksong, there are plenty of games that AREN’T on there and won’t be on there.
One such big-name title is Grand Theft Auto VI. Take-Two Interactive already made it clear that they won’t have the game there at launch or after, and the reason for this is that they simply don’t need to be on it. They KNOW the game will be successful, and putting it on there will severely cut into their profits for what might be the biggest launch in gaming history.
What will be curious is if others follow their example.
