Ori director says Game Pass needs "smash hits," not studios slopping out mediocre content

Xbox is going through a turbulent time, to say the least. Last week brought news that the company is closing Ninja Theory and Double Fine, with Compulsion and others set for the chopping block – part of the major layoffs that are being implemented. We've also heard that Microsoft could consider spinning off the brand or a joint venture.

There have also been questions over Game Pass. The service has reportedly seen its subscriber growth slow in recent times, a problem that was exacerbated last year when price hikes drove away millions of people.

The Game Pass Strategy Under Fire

In a post on X, 3D Realms founder George Broussard posited that Microsoft overbought studios to add more content to Game Pass. Moon Studios' CEO Thomas Mahler responded with:

"The Gamepass strategy could've worked if people would've shown up for it. Problem is: They didn't and the software catalogue was just nowhere near good enough to make people happily pay the subscription every month."

"It's the same as with streaming in the film business: I'll happily pay my HBO sub cause HBO has amazing content that I want to watch. I'd keep that sub just to binge Sopranos, The Wire, GoT, etc. But with games, 'NEW' for some reason is very, very important to players. And if your new content doesn't even remotely match the quality of the old content, you've got a problem."

Mahler believes that there simply aren't enough big hits on Game Pass to make a wide audience want to subscribe.

"You need those games your studios are producing to become smash hits, cultural events that everyone wants to play - but what was the big Xbox game in recent years that was just delightfully good?"

"And that's the crux of the issue: You'd need the Xbox folks to deeply, fundamentally understand gamers and what they want. They'd need to understand what's a good game and what's a mediocre game. And they'd need to have good deals with devs so developers are actively incentivized to produce massive hits, not just slop out mediocre content like a factory."

Mahler concluded by comparing Game Pass to communism, in that without giving developers the incentive to go the extra mile, they won't.

The State of Xbox's Library

There are some good games on Xbox, of course: Forza Horizon, Doom: The Dark Ages, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and more. It's also worth noting that Microsoft was ranked the fifth-best publisher last year when it comes to aggregated game scores.

However, there is an undeniably large number of mediocre and poor games on Game Pass. Some users can find themselves waiting months before a title they want to play is added, leading to a cycle of subscribing and cancelling. Moreover, Microsoft may have reversed course on the price hikes, but the Premium and PC-only plans are still more expensive than before the 2025 changes, and the Call of Duty franchise no longer arrives as a day-one release.

Mahler's Track Record

Mahler has never been afraid to express his opinion. He was vocal about studios such as CD Projekt Red and Hello Games that promise amazing games only for them to disappoint on release – and the fact that gamers forgive them after years of patches and updates improve these titles. Even CDPR worries it lost fans because of Cyberpunk 2077's disastrous launch.