Microsoft is betting big on Game Pass adoption, and it's releasing all of its internal studio games on the gaming service on release day. This list ranges from small projects like Pentiment or Grounded to games with huge budgets created by hundreds of developers, like Starfield or Halo. However, former Playstation boss Sean Layden believes that such a model is not viable, since a subscription cannot recoup the costs of developing AAA projects.
During an interview with What's Up Playstation, former Playstation CEO Shawn Layden stated that Game Pass or Playstation Plus subscriptions are unable to offer truly high-quality AAA games because they simply won't recoup the cost of developing such projects, which is not profitable for content creators.
Sean Layden
CEO of SIE Worldwide Studios until 2019
I think the subscription is interesting for people who want to get into gaming. But these are not high-quality AAA games. I see that in subscriptions players get a whole world of AA or just A level projects.
If you are developing a true high-quality AAA project that involves spending double or triple digit millions of dollars on development, then you will not be able to pay for such a game through subscriptions. There are simply not enough coins in this “box” that could cover, for example, 200 million dollars.
Yes, the platform itself, be it Game Pass or, especially, Playstation Plus, it can make money and support itself. But I'm talking about the developers who created and released the game – for them this is not a viable model.
Let's remember that Sony does not add its high-budget games to the Playstation Plus subscription on release day, and the company has repeatedly noted that it does not plan to do this for economic reasons – it is unprofitable. While Microsoft plans to release several large AAA games on Game Pass in 2024, including Avowed, a game about Indiana Jones, Age of Mythology Retold and many others. In particular, the company is adding AAA projects from third-party studios and publishers to Game Pass.
Microsoft hasn't disclosed financial terms for adding games to Game Pass, but earlier this year it announced a subscriber count of 34 million, including players who subscribe to Game Pass Core.