Is Game Pass good? Is Game Pass bad? Plenty of people have plenty of opinions about the subscription model, and while it seems to be an overwhelmingly good deal for a lot of consumers, those in the industry are still torn on how it affects developers making games.
Speaking with Gamesindustry.biz, ex-PlayStation executive Shawn Layden believes that the Game Pass model can serve to make developers "wage slaves." While it might be profitable from an executive standpoint, it might not inspire developers to make the best game they can.
"The real issue for me on things like Game Pass is, is it healthy for the developer?" Layden asks. "They're not creating value, putting it in the marketplace, hoping it explodes, and profit sharing, and overages, and all that nice stuff. It's just, 'You pay me X dollars an hour, I built you a game, here, go put it on your servers.' I don't think it's really inspiring for game developers."
Layden does admit that Game Pass and services like it can help smaller teams get noticed with the games they're making, but for larger studios these models might not be the most creative future for gaming.
Do you agree with Layden's comments?