Is there a better deal out there for PC gamers than XB game pass? They just announced integration with EA’s Origin Access (or whatever they’re calling it now, EA Play), so now we get a boatload of AAA EA titles with the subscription. I pay my subscription dues with Bing points too!
I’d still really like to hear from game devs how fund dispersion works. I’ve read plenty of speculation about it but nothing solid. I’d feel real guilty if it turns out devs are getting pennies on the dollar like with the music streaming industry.
How could it be anything but? It’s a game of statistics… You hope a given subscriber doesn’t use too much of the content they’re entitled too. Let’s assume, out of the monthly fee, that MS takes 30% off the top and 60% is put into the bucket for payouts to game makers. Let’s further say this amount of money amounts to $10 per month. If a particular person only plays say 3-5 different games in a month then maybe each game studio gets a couple of dollars. If you have someone who goes nuts playing 100 games… then clearly the same bucket of cash results in tens of cents for each studio. I can’t think of any other way you could equitably run such a program, so I assume it has to work like this.
You’re assuming Microsoft treats Game Pass as a totally separate business unit, pretty unlikely. The snippets I’ve read from developers who can’t discuss specifics have been positive, so I’d guess Microsoft is subsidizing this service to grab market share and/or get it off the ground. Some have hinted at a per-hours type model and some have suggested per-download. Some say the initial “onboarding payment” is more significant for them.
My guess is at this point there isn’t a set model that Microsoft adheres to, and they hammer out unique terms for each studio as they don’t quite have a Spotify-like command over the market like the music streaming industry. But who knows - plenty of speculation!
No one is biting the hand that feeds them, EVER. Getting any recurring income is better than no recurring income, BUT I doubt they’re making the money from a “Netflix styled” system that they dreamt of making when they originally budgeted for the title. Small indie devs may actually get an audience they wouldn’t so for them it maybe helpful, but if their game ends up going big, then they’re losing out big time, IMHO.
Tim Epic would like to have a word with you. So would @DHH from BaseCamp.
Seriously - Microsoft is not Apple. No one is afraid of speaking out against them because Microsoft learned the right lessons from their antitrust encounter, and they are a far different company today from what they were even 10 years ago. @thurrott and @MaryJo routinely criticize that company on a (Windows) weekly basis and yet they still get invited to guest host events at Microsoft’s biggest events.
I realize they are not in the same category as game studios - but it speaks to Microsoft’s ability to take criticism without retaliation.
Well he is already whining about the loss and trying to get the courts to force Apple to reinstate Fortnight, so I would suggest that proves the point that biting that hand has hurt him. On the other hand, Epic is not an indie developer, and my comment was really directed at them. They don’t have any leverage or many friends in the industry, and they’re routinely getting screwed by said industry.
I wouldn’t characterize it as whining, but that really wasn’t my main point - which was that Microsoft is a company that can take criticism without typically retaliating at a developer; and that Apple is a company is a company that does not take criticism well, especially from those who are beholden to it for their livelihood.