Xbox Game Pass Developer Encourages Teams to Avoid Day One Releases

For years now, there’s been a debate about the overall industry impact of Xbox Game Pass. The service gives subscribers access to a much larger number of games than most could afford to purchase in a given month; in that respect, it can be good for consumers based on their individual playing habits. However, there remain a lot of questions about the trade-off for developers that agree to put their games on the service. In an interview with Gamer Social Club, Revenge of the Savage Planet director Alex Hutchinson talked about the challenges associated with putting a game on Xbox Game Pass.

While Revenge of the Savage Planet was a day one game on the service, Hutchinson argued that “the whole industry should agree to only allow games on subscription services a year after release.” The director believes that the current way of doing things could prove disastrous in the long run for developers. This is a surprising perspective for someone that chose to embrace Xbox Game Pass, and Hutchinson was asked why the team decided to launch the game the way that it did. The director explained that his hope was that Revenge of the Savage Planet‘s presence on the service would translate to other income sources that have yet to materialize.

“The hope was that the exposure would lead to people who got the game as part of their subscription to at least buy the little add on pack or to encourage a friend to buy it on another platform so they could play it together but we haven’t seen that, or at least not yet. What we’ve seen is that content has been devalued and that people are less willing to pay for things, which in the long run will likely mean less games being made and a lot more studios going under,” Hutchinson told Gamer Social Club.

It’s worth noting that some developers have argued that releasing their games on Xbox Game Pass has translated to sales on other platforms, and resulted in increased exposure they would not have received otherwise. Back in April, Pocketpair communications director John “Bucky” Buckley weighed in on the debate when these discussions emerged again following the release of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Speaking from his experience with launching Palworld on the service, Buckley said “yes it is very worth having your game on Game Pass.”

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At the end of the day, every developer is going to have a different experience when it comes to Xbox Game Pass. Not every game is going to find a massive level of success that drives interest on other platforms; critically-acclaimed games fail to find an audience every year. It’s worth noting that Revenge of the Savage Planet has also been available for less than a month so far, and Hutchinson has admitted that sales have “been good” so far. Based on that, the situation could change as people learn more about the game, and what it has to offer.

Do you think Xbox Game Pass day one releases help or hurt game sales? Have you bought a game because you saw someone else playing it through the service? Share your thoughts with me directly on Bluesky at @Marcdachamp, or on Instagram at @Dachampgaming!