Microsoft‘s Xbox Game Pass subscription service has proven to be a huge success, yet many fans have questioned how much money the Redmond, Washington-based tech company has been pouring into the program in order to keep up with the constant stream of new releases. According to David Gibson, a well-known games industry expert, titles like Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy – which just joined the program – cost between $5 and $10 million to include in the Xbox Game Pass subscription from Microsoft.
Gibson revealed these figures in a recent Twitter discussion relating to the reported PlayStation Spartacus unveiling, which Gibson participated in. As a point of comparison, Google Microsoft paid upwards of $10 million dollars to bring Red Dead Redemption 2 on its streaming service Stadia.
Gibson is said to have arrived at these figures after speaking with a number of Square Enix executives, albeit given the need for anonymity in such issues, there is certain to be some degree of inaccuracy in the equation.
Additionally, he discussed how the publisher would only get $2 per game on the service, as compared to $29 for the same game on retail, making it unattractive for developers and publishers from an economic standpoint. It remains to be seen if Sony’s rumored tiered service will be able to resolve this issue, despite the fact that both products are obviously distinct and have apparently disparate target groups (at least for now).
Keep in mind that MSFT paid about US$5-$10m for Guardians of the Galaxy to be on Games Pass… that is like $2 per game when retail is $29. Ok that is all profit but not too many publishers will be doing that given the low economics from Game Pass.
— David Gibson (@gibbogame) March 26, 2022