It’s become abundantly clear by now that Xbox Game Pass is not just an excellent deal for players and consumers, it’s also something that’s proven to be very beneficial for developers and publishers. Time and again, we’ve heard developers talk about the same, and recently, speaking with GamesIndustry, Just Cause developer Avalanche Studios CEO Pim Holfve chimed in as well.
Holfve says that the Game Pass business model has been a profitable one for Avalanche Studios, especially when it comes to their own self-published game, TheHunter: Call of the Wild. On top of being able to reach wider audiences, Holfve says that being on Game Pass also led to more people seeing the value in the game and, in turn, spending money on it.
“Game Pass has been really great for us, especially if we look at our self-published title,” Holfve said. “TheHunter: Call of the Wild helped us prove our service model and Xbox Game Pass was fantastic because we were able to reach so many more players. It’s a good way for people to try [the game], and since we have such a massive DLC catalogue for that title — over 20 DLCs — it’s a beautiful way of getting people in, getting engaged and showing that it’s a stellar game. Then people are really tempted to buy more. So the business model really works to our advantage.”
Avalanche Studios-owned Systemic Reaction’s Second Extinction is also available via Game Pass. Meanwhile, Avalanche are also developing Contraband in partnership with Microsoft, which, of course, is going to launch for the service on day one as well.