It seems like game subscription services are a great deal for players. For a small monthly fee, you get access to a huge library of high-quality games. But many game creators are now speaking out. They warn that these services could really hurt developers in the future.
Shawn Layden, who used to lead Sony Worldwide Studios, shared his deep concerns with gamesindustry.biz. He talked about serious negative issues hurting the game industry. Layden compared it to the music business. Services like Spotify and Apple Music hugely impacted music sales. Yet, music artists still make money from concert tours or selling merchandise. But for video games, it is completely different.
“Our problem is we only have the game launch,” Layden explained. “That’s truly it. Nobody wants to pay money to come into a studio and watch people code.”
Layden also pointed out that financial effects are not the only downside of subscriptions. These services also hurt developers’ creativity when making games. If creativity suffers, then thinking about how games can make money becomes even harder.
“You can do many financial tricks for enterprise services to make them look profitable if you want,” Layden said. “You just deduct enough costs from the balance sheet and then say, ‘Look, it’s profitable!’ The real problem for me with Game Pass is, ‘Is it good for developers?'”
Layden further suggested that subscription services might turn developers into “slaves to money.” They stop creating work to build real value. Instead, they just get a contract that says, “You pay me this much per hour, and I’ll make a game for you to upload to a server. That’s it.”
Many game developers are criticizing subscription models these days. Raphael Colantonio, who founded Arkane Studios, slammed Microsoft’s Game Pass. This happened after his company restructured and laid off many employees. He believes this marketing model is not sustainable. He thinks it only survives because Microsoft heavily subsidizes it. Colantonio expects it will eventually fall apart.