The head of ID@Xbox Chris Charla told Eurogamer in a recent interview that Microsoft’s long-term bet on Xbox Game Pass is paying off. According to Charla, the company is making its “largest investment in Game Pass to date” as a growing number of independent developers are eager to place their games on the service.
Charla revealed that Microsoft has signed deals with over 150 partners to expand the Game Pass catalog. “The majority of partners who’ve had a game in Game Pass want to bring their future titles to the service,” he stated. Last year, the team signed over 50 companies to their first Game Pass deals, and that number has since grown, reflecting a sustained push to deliver a “most exciting and diverse catalogue in gaming.”
Despite this evident commitment and growth, the debate around the long-term sustainability of the service continues to rage. Critics, such as former PlayStation head Shawn Layden, have expressed serious doubts about the Game Pass model. Layden previously stated that the subscription service makes developers “wage slaves,” arguing that it does not “create value” in the way that traditional game sales and profit sharing do.
He believes it can stifle creativity by reducing a developer’s output to “content” for a catalog, rather than an asset with independent market value.
Dead Money Devs includes former Valve developers who worked on well-known titles such as Left 4 Dead, Portal, and Team…
While Elin began as a Japan-focused project, recent sales show strong growth overseas.
PC gaming continues to grow, and Steam has just set a new record that proves it.
Patreon is where we share early impressions of games before reviews go live, talk more openly about the indie industry,…
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Will Powers spoke about the importance of quieter moments, cultural details, and the everyday lives of the people inhabiting Pywel.
Starfinder: Afterlight is based on the Starfinder tabletop RPG from Paizo, a science-fiction offshoot of Pathfinder.
Bouhafa is best known for his work on films such as Timbuktu, The Summit of the Gods, and The Little…
The game blends open-world exploration with intense combat against both human rivals and hostile creatures.
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The game aims to recreate the sense of wonder many players felt the first time they encountered a 16-bit platformer.
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Players act as MOCHI-O’s caretaker, guiding the hamster during battles and aiming it directly at incoming enemies.
Dead Money Devs includes former Valve developers who worked on well-known titles such as Left 4 Dead, Portal, and Team…
While Elin began as a Japan-focused project, recent sales show strong growth overseas.
PC gaming continues to grow, and Steam has just set a new record that proves it.
Patreon is where we share early impressions of games before reviews go live, talk more openly about the indie industry,…
Instead of slowing down, the scene delivered a mix of unique ideas and long-awaited sequels, led by two very different…
The main structure revolves around surviving wave after wave of enemies inside strange, broken dream worlds.
Will Powers spoke about the importance of quieter moments, cultural details, and the everyday lives of the people inhabiting Pywel.
Starfinder: Afterlight is based on the Starfinder tabletop RPG from Paizo, a science-fiction offshoot of Pathfinder.
Bouhafa is best known for his work on films such as Timbuktu, The Summit of the Gods, and The Little…
The game blends open-world exploration with intense combat against both human rivals and hostile creatures.
Set during the Black Death, Nested Lands places full control of a struggling settlement in the hands of a lone…
The game aims to recreate the sense of wonder many players felt the first time they encountered a 16-bit platformer.
The new gameplay trailer was recently showcased during the New Game Plus Showcase.
Combat in Shadow of the Road embraces classic turn-based design with a strong samurai tactics influence.
The setting imagines a quiet post-apocalyptic future where pollution has erased most marine life.
Although Kinetic Games is best known for co-op horror, the new publishing arm is open to all genres.
This first-person survival horror game takes place aboard a massive, abandoned cruise ship slowly falling apart in the middle of…
Within the first two weeks, Shape of Dreams moved more than 500,000 copies, setting the tone for its fast rise.
At the core of the game is a fully diggable 3D world made of voxel terrain.
Players act as MOCHI-O’s caretaker, guiding the hamster during battles and aiming it directly at incoming enemies.
