Xbox-bossen Phil Spencer har tidigare sagt att det ökar försäljningen att ha sina spel på Xbox Games Pass, trots att man rimligen kunde tänka sig det motsatta. Men detta är ju såklart även den bild Microsoft vill måla upp, så vad säger oberoende utvecklare och utgivare om saken?
Nu har Games Industry fått möjligheten att prata med Descenders-skaparen Mike Rose. Och det visar sig att han bekräftar mycket av vad Spencer sagt och menar att konsekvenserna att att ha sitt spel på Xbox Game Pass varit positiva, även om han var initialt skeptisk:
"Since Descenders came out on Game Pass, the thing I did not realise would happen -- because you'd assume that you put something on Game Pass and sales tank, right? I had assumed that: why would anyone buy the game when they can literally see it on Game Pass?"
Det visar sig att folk var väldigt sugna på att köpa spelet trots Xbox Game Pass, och Rose fortsätter:
"Sounded like bullshit, right? Weirdly, it's true. It surprised me. Being on Game Pass means that you basically have constant featuring on Xbox. You're game is on the dashboard all the time... People are seeing our game every day.
And because of that, during launch month, our Xbox sales -- we didn't do any discounts on it or anything -- quadrupled, and have now settled to about three times as much as before. It's essentially an advert; a straight up advert. And now Xbox is asking, 'Oh, can we feature Descenders in more of the Game Pass advertising?' Yes, you can. Of course you fucking can."
Har Xbox Game Pass förändrat hur du konsumerar spel?