A Way Out Director Says He Prefers PlayStation's 'Strategy' Over Xbox

I'll tell you what Game pass did, Josef. It allowed me to play your game with a friend and we actually both really enjoyed it.

Would we have bought your game if it was not on Game Pass though? No.

So, in conclusion, I wouldn't have played your game without Game Pass. I hope that explains things for you.

People are going to kill him for his comment, but he’s not wrong. The story driven high-quality games drove Sony’s domination of the last generation. GamePass rocks! But it won’t truly shine until some AAA bangers come out on it. I’m excited for Starfield, Avowed, Fable, and others, but they seem further off. Halo is around the corner, but likely won’t be story heavy and is not a new IP.

I think he is more wondering what type of games this will help create in the long run.
Which is a interesting question . As I know gamepass has help keep things like sot and a few other games with alot of new users coming in over time

I think the issue regarding people who are still on the fence with trying out Game Pass is that there's no "killer app" on the service yet. It needs a Game of Thrones, a Stranger Things, a Mandalorian and so on. Because that's what I keep hearing people say about Game Pass, that it only offers "mediocre" games, which is of course not true but I wouldn't blame them for thinking like that when there are no standout titles.

That's why I'm interested to see how Microsoft's upcoming games will be received. Will Hellblade II be that kind of title? Or maybe Perfect Dark? Fable? It's definitely going to be interesting to see if any of these games manages to compel people to finally give Game Pass a try.

But yeah, I do have to agree that I'd love for more story-heavy games on Xbox. Because let's be honest here, we're at a point with video games where it's becoming harder and harder to offer unique and fresh experiences. Games are becoming way too similar. One way to change this would be to offer rich and engrossing stories since you can always make up new stories for people to enjoy. So hopefully Microsoft will start doing more of this in the future.

I kind of agree with him. Game Pass is incredible, but there aren't many heavy-hitters on XBox in comparison to PlayStation.

GPU is great if maybe you have not had all the Xbox consoles since day one and purchased the games you wished to play when they were released. I enjoyed Hivebusters on GPU but that is not worth the price alone.
Therefore my GPU expires end of Feb 2021 and I will not renew until we got some first party AAA exclusives. Which with Covid etc will be hard to come by more than usual. Of course if the village and far cry 6 were on GPU day one I would keep my subscription going, but they are not.
I’m not into replaying games over again etc.
Anyway that’s my situation and other gamers of course will be in different situations.
If Halo is the only big AAA hitter coming this year from Microsoft studios then I will probably just buy it instead.
At the end of the day it’s horses for courses.

Interesting statement considering how this is the type of game that I would never buy but might download off Game Pass and play with a friend. When it comes to coop games like this, I just don't see myself going back to it or playing it often, Game Pass is the perfect way to get into such a game because I can just play it with a friend who also has Game Pass, makes it real easy to get into an online game with someone I know.

Honestly now that we are entering a new generation I just don't see Sony's strategy as being appealing. When it comes to home consoles I would rather just do Game Pass at this point, especially considering how they've been trying to increase the price of next gen games. Sony exclusives never really appealed to me anyways, they have a heavy focus on 3'rd person cinematic character action games and that type of game just never really interests me.

Typical really. Despite a load of other directors saying Gamepass has increased their player count so many times over. Undoubtedly doing the same for his game. There's always some greedy person who wants to get as much money from players as possible. He probably thinks micro transactions are good too.

> I mean, with Game Pass, I’m not sure what that’s going to give. I mean, if there’s no games that makes no sense.

Game Pass Ultimate was literally the driving force behind my adoption of Xbox this generation, the Series S being my first buy-in to the ecosystem. And I'd bet there are a lot people — consumers — in a similar boat.

@Bdbrady
You make a lot of sense, but I'd argue Sony's games are starting to grow long in the tooth in terms of gameplay. I love The Last of Us, God of War, Horizon, Uncharted, but they are all TPP action adventure games. I switched to Xbox to play different games, actually. I didn't even play Ghost of Tsushima because I'm so tired of the Sony action adventure formula. Let Xbox be Xbox. As for Fares, he should keep his opinions to himself. He seems to be seeking attention again.

@TownYsend no joke I was coming to the comments to type this out exactly. When EA Play was added to Ultimate, my wife and I played A Way Out and absolutely loved it...and now we are looking forward to buying his next game this year.

...seems pretty straightforward to me.

@gollumb82 I agree. Sony should mix it up with another killzone or, better yet, a isometric cRPG. Perhaps partnering with Larian (dream!). I do love switching between the two systems for all types of games.

@TownYsend and that raise another point. In the future, if you liked his game, you can buy his next game because now you know what to expect, something that maybe would never happen if you hadn't experienced A Way Out in the first place.

Is he living under a rock, and if he is for the games, then surely he would be for xboxs approach and especially gamepass seen as that gets people playing games they never would usually... Great for people like him actually because not that many people will be willing to buy his games, especially when he first started

I bet the number of people who played a way out increased massively when it was on ea access

Sounds like Josef really doesn't pay much attention to gaming as a consumer and is too busy making games. He seems to not really understand what Game Pass is and is falsely correlating Microsoft's lack of IPs (which they are now resolving with their many developer purchases), with the Game Pass model. Sometimes devs aren't the best people to ask these kinds of questions because they are disconnected from the consumer world, being so engaged in development.

@AJDarkstar That's basically how I feel about Game Pass as well. It's great that it offers so much value to others, so I definitely wouldn't want to deny anyone this service, but for me it just isn't interesting: too many games, too disposable, too little time to play most of them before they get pulled from the service and so on, and so on.

In that regard, I most definitely have to agree with Fares' comparison between Netflix and Game Pass, where the disposability of the service is more natural and/or acceptable.

This joker again 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️

I’ve had GPU since November and it’s been great, I’ve smashed through a ton of Xbox exclusives I missed, but I do feel I’ll be cancelling the subscription soon. Looking forward there’s not much to get excited about just yet and the games I’m playing now are all on disc.

I feel gamepass does need some truly amazing games to rival what Sony put out and I’m sure in the future with the studios MS have that’ll happen. Also I’d wish MS would stop putting so much microtransaction ***** in their games, it’s Ubisoft levels maybe even worse. I do wonder if all their titles being on gamepass day one leads them to do that.

I feel like the people overreacting are kind of misinterpreting what he said. Even the headline of the article paints him in a super antagonistic light

I'm sure he actually gets why people prefer Game Pass, but it is also a more disposable method in regards to playing games much like any Netflix-style service that has thousands upon thousands of different apps and content for a low entry fee

I personally stopped using Game Pass a while back because I just found it easier to dedicate my time to a single game if it genuinely interested me as opposed to sampling a bunch of games that I might not even play all the way through, which makes the subscription I have basically serve no purpose. I dabbled a bit with Master Chief Collection when it came to Game Pass on PC but that's literally all I've played on it before cancelling it and just buying it on Steam because I was far more interested in playing it to render my judgement and refunding it if it doesn't hook me as opposed to trying it once and letting my sub lapse over

That's just me though. Admittedly there are very few Xbox exclusives that genuinely hooked me over the past few years compared to Sony or Nintendo's offerings, so I found it just safer to buy the ones that actually captivated me instead of spending a few bucks on a subscription I'm not taking full advantage of. It's like how I treat anime on Netflix. If I can watch the shows I genuinely want to keep up with for free on sites like Anime Twist, why would I sub to Netflix or Crunchyroll just for Devilman Crybaby and Kakegurui

@JayJ Sony’s approach isn’t much better £70 for first party games on release, no thanks. At least with Gamepass if something catches your eye you can subscribe for the month and check it out. We got The Medium this month, a game I enjoyed and only ended up paying my monthly subscription for. It is better value in that regard.

Please don’t promote this man. Just his games.

@TownYsend You nailed it. I played (and enjoyed) AWO with my brother thanks to Game Pass.

Anyway, he is not wrong. I hope for more story-driven games in Xbox. PlayStation has captured a lot of attention with solid products in that neighborhood.

@Bdbrady It's shocking we haven't gotten another Champions of Norrath game. I'm not a big fan of Sony' "3rd Person Adventure" titles of late, but something like a new Champions would really be awesome.

@gollumb82 Can't disagree there. Obviously a lot of Sony's games are of extremely high quality regardless of how similar they are now, but it's not like Sony isn't relying on a ton of existing IPs now. A lot of their recently released and upcoming titles are mostly sequels of franchises they have relied on for generations, or a couple of sequels from last generation new IPs like Horizon and eventually Ghost of Tsushima). Miles Morales is a very good game, but it's exactly the same as the first one gameplay wise and is very similar to other open world action games of their's like Infamous. This is kind of what Xbox was getting criticized for back in the day until they completely forgot about 1st party and eventually more than earned the criticism.

I'd argue that there's been some heavy hitters on there already and that they have at least one first party killer app in Gears 5. Granted some of the heavy hitters were only on there for a limited time (like GTA5 and Red Dead 2), but this director's comment about there being no games can't be exactly what he meant since that would mean he thinks there aren't any games on there at all and there are plenty of good ones.

He’s sort of correct but will obviously upset people with this comment. Sony exclusives last gen are generally big hitters and varied and it obviously worked. From platformers like sack boy / lbp, ratchet, Astro bot to rpgs like FFVII, HZD 3rd person like LOU, UC, GOW, Spider-Man, Last guardian, bloodborne sports like MLB, gran turismo and other creative gems like Dreams - these are big hitters of high quality and varied in style.
I’d personally love These type of quality games to be included in game pass but right now they are quite there. I think he means this sort of quality needs to come with the quantity and is unsure if that will ever happen.
I do think the Bethesda deal is the start of MS trying to do that and these games will come over time. I’m lucky to have missed the last gen of Xbox so game pass is great for me but few years down the line I’ll be wanting the new games mentioned above to start coming in to keep me hooked to GPU. I’m strapped in and ready for MS to deliver....

@LtSarge The example of "Mandalorian" is spot on because it single-handedly carried Disney+. Thing is, I personally think GP and Xbox alongside it will start to properly compete when these 3 things are taken care of:

1. Supply is good and console is widely available everywhere
2. At least 3 big exclusives that showcase the console (with Halo and possibly FH5 coming in the fall it isn't that far)
3. Actual gameplay footage of several AAA titles is shown.

There is ignorance in this comment "I mean, if there’s no games that makes no sense. Doesn’t matter, you know?" This week alone I was able to play Medium, Control and Star Wars : Fallen Order. Not to mention I also got to try out some indie games. I liked Spiritfarer so much , I ended up supporting them by buying it on the Switch. All of these games make sense to me. What Xbox Game Pass does is, it gives me access to AAA games that I couldn't afford to support in the past and it lets me try out indie games that I end up supporting .

If Microsoft went the same route as Sony I honestly don't think I would have bought a Series X. This is by far my favorite generation of consoles. All 3 companies are giving us something different. If it was all more or less the same I would have no desire to own all 3 consoles .

Big fan of gamepass and the only reason I upgraded my one x was for flight sim coming to gp in the summer. Great value service

I wouldn't have played this guy's game if it wasn't for Game Pass.
I imagine the same for many people.

I can see his point from the Sony narrative driven games, but there's no real variety. Most of them are 3rd person action games.
It's as if they are scared to take risks with genres because actual game sales are what drives their games and budgets.
We haven't had an FPS game from Sony since Killzone in 2013, and that is probably THE most popular genre of game arguably.

@Tarps my cousin and i did the same thing tried a way out and loved it, but it was a 1 play through type game i saw no redeeming quality to owning it so I’m glad i was able to experience the game...but with that said gamepass has got me to by and dons for a ton of those games, like Forza(i would have never owned it otherwise). City Skylines is another game i would never have bought if it wasn’t for gamepass...and I’ve seen what GPU has done for the player count in Rainbow 6... As for games on there that have story well there’s plenty of that there too, hellblade is one I’m currently playing through, and with Bethesda games coming to GPU and there already there’s a lot there....as for the PlayStation games like Uncharted God of war, and so on, they are all the same essentially, story type is different but they are all the exact same genre action adventure...i look at this way if you love single player storylines PlayStation is where you go, if you want solid online play xbox live is way better then PSN and the one thing that drove me away from PlayStation this gen was the ps4 toxic player base.

I swear, every time this guy pops up in media, he's making himself look like a fool, by blabbering imprudent garbage. I think, he should just keep his mouth shut ...

Played A Way Out, only because it was on the Game Pass. Would never have bought it, even though it sounded somewhat interesting. With Game Pass I simply don't have to make so many blind bargains any longer. On several occassions I even bought a game after playing it on GP, because I then knew what I was in for. Not to mention, payed DLCs are much more bearable, without a noteworthy "entry fee".

Btw. this whole thing influences other platforms as well. E.g. some games I try on GP and then feel like it would play great on my Switch in handheld mode - so, I buy it there, after I'm certain.

People saying he should keep his mouth shut, he was likely asked a question and gave his thoughts. Now PureXbox is reporting on what he’s said. Isn’t this what happens with journalism?

Seems like people don’t understand how interviews, and reporting on interviews works 😂

Can’t say he’s that completely wrong imo, but to some degree he is, as some people, like the first guy, would not have played his game without EA joining GP 🤷🏻‍♂️

@Jacko11 Even if he is asked a question, I think, he should just keep his mouth shut ... Nothing of value seems to come out of his mouth.

The topic journalism wasn't touched.

@lokozar but why should he? He’s free to speak as he pleases.

If he wants to answer a question honestly he should do that.

What do you mean “The topic journalism wasn't touched”

@TownYsend i played a way out with kefka and it was a great game. Wouldn't have tried it if not for gamepass. I really only played a limited amount of games before because it's so expensive to buy them all and you don't spend it on a random game. Now i just try it all and see what stick's. I don't think I've been this much into gaming since I was a kid and bought an N64 off if my older brothers friend.

@Jacko11 Don't give me that. Just because you can and are allowed to do something, doesn't mean you should always do it. If he wants to talk rubbish all day and throw around unsolicited opinions, he can do this like any other decent person and use forums ... or comment sections ... You know, ... like we both do ...

"for me its not about consoles" goes further to praise PS5 🤣
Its just fanboy talk.

@lokozar but he was being interviewed and asked a question so he answered it 😂

I don’t understand your beef.

“like any other decent person”? Do other decent people get interviewed and say “actually I think I won’t answer this question this reporter has asked me, instead i’ll do a forum post”. Is that what you wanted him to do?

Even if he did a forum post, or tweet, or Reddit AMA, it would likely have still been reported. Still commented on in an article here on PureXbox and you’d still be here saying the same thing. He’s gets highlighted because he’s a developer, someone “important” in the industry.

So? Should he nor anyone else in notable postion ever talk now and answer a question with an opinion 😂😂 should Phil Spencer keep his mouth shut too? Or Reggie, or Shu?

Where does it end 😂

@Jacko11 I do wonder what people would think of Fares if he was constantly saying nice things about Xbox. Would they still say that he should keep his mouth shut? Or are people just automatically hating on him regardless of what he's saying because he's said provocative stuff in the past? Because in all fairness, these statements were much more well-put compared to the other ones he made regarding the Series X/S naming convention where he swore literally every other sentence, lol.

It does seem like hate for a person, company etc. lingers for a very long time. Wherever you go, people will hate on for example EA, Ubisoft, key people from different companies and so on even if they say or do something reasonable. I guess it's just human nature to only remember what they've done in the past.

(Which is kinda hypocritical considering we're on an Xbox site and we all remember how Microsoft completely messed up Xbox One back in 2013 yet we're all willing to overlook that now )

When Fortnite is making both Sony and Microsoft more money than any of their own games, and it has nearly no story at all, I'm sure everyone is paying a LOT of attention to "that guy that swore at the game awards that one time" when he says it's all about being story-heavy.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a huge fan of some of Sony's 1st party story games (even if they are all sort of cookie-cutter and templatized at this point) but seriously, this sounds like the film directors that decried Netflix years ago, only to find themselves without work that didn't involve Steven Seagal.

@LtSarge I didn't like either of his games and I think his immature method of knocking pretty much everything is sort of tired at this point.

MS has a better long term business model but Sony currently publishes a broader (and larger) selection of first and third party games.

@Jacko11 I think you're reading a bit much into this. I don't have any beef with this guy. He wasn't even on my radar before his Xbox naming rant. It is MY OPINION, that this guy spouts some nonsense in any mic hold under his nose, which is why I THINK (must be the third time I use this), he should refrain from it. You do realize, this "freedom of speech" thingy works in both directions?

It doesn't change my opinion that he was asked a question. AND YES, if I am being asked a question and know, I cannot provide a meaningful answer or am biased heavily, I will tell the interviewer, that I shouldn't answer his questions, because of aforementioned reasons.

As for the forum/comment section angle, ... you don't seem to understand irony, and criticism between lines. Okay! ... Let's just leave it at that, because it's starting to eat up a lot more time than I originally planned to invest in this topic.

@LtSarge you’re completely right. It’s like whenever EA do something good, people immediately jump to critique them further.

Ubisoft get a Star Wars gig, and everyone immediately jumps to criticise them. Despite the fact that this could potentially be and incredible partnership but instead it’s “HeRe CoMeS cLiMbInG At-At’S tO eAgLe ViSiOn ThE mAp WiTh IcOnS aNd TaSkS”. Get a grip. 😂

@lokozar I’ve read into it as far as you’ve brought the conversation. By your own words you’ve suggested that he, a developer or person with maybe some clout in the industry, essentially should only provide opinions when it suits.

Yes you have stated it’s YOUR OPINION (read your comment and laughed cause of the meme tbh), so why when I question you on your opinion, you don’t like it when I’m making sense. It’s almost like you should have just kept quiet should this have ate “up a lot more time than I originally planned to invest”.

Fact is, the guy had an opinion which he was asked for, that you see as biased. But, are most opinions not objectively biased made by anyone? Was the question asked of him not looking for a biased answer? I prefer Apples to Pears, maybe because I eat Apples more, but can I not state I prefer Apples and describe why Pears are inferior? Or would I be told to keep my mouth shut, or would you agree and allow it?

Honestly if you don’t want to engage in a dialogue about a topic and possibly come to a serviceable middle ground, whats the point? Are these sections not for engaged dialogue?

Maybe that’s why I prefer PushSquare in most cases. “MY OPINION”. As people over there, whether agreeing or disagreeing, will actually engage in a dialogue rather than over here where it’s a “You’re wrong, there’s no reasoning, i’ve had enough of you and this conversation MUTED” response.

Disappointing to say the least because there is great discussion to be had sometimes.

@TownYsend Excellent

@Jacko11 Hmkay, I indulge you a bit further. There is so much to unpack here ... Where to start?

We both have two different mindsets about this topic. You seem to think everyone should speak his mind, especially when asked. I on the other hand believe, everyone should think before speaking or answering - and if there is nothing of value to add, or because of heavy bias only crap talk would come out - they should just not throw anything out and maybe just point out they are probably the wrong person to ask right now. This comes down to self knowledge, self-awareness, which is a skill most people lack dearly. This fact is something that ticks me off, and this guy is just a reminder to it. So, if I have any beef then it is with a quirk of the human species.

Again, I hold myself to this standard. In real life I really refrain from giving opinions or answering questions, if I know nothing good can come out of this. This way I'm not only avoiding to embarass myself, but also don't force other people to react and open up a spiral that could very well lead to anger at some point down the discussion.

Want an example that proves my point? Just look at us here. There is already such a spiral pointing towards an abyss. I tried to disrupt this, to no avail. Now, I am aware, that I basically opened this possibility up in the first place. But as I mentioned, I hold internet forums and comment sections as a kind of landfill everyone can and will use to dump nonsense once in a while. Maybe like a playground, to work something off, or a laboratory to experiment in.

That's the way I read peoples opinions on the net, and that's the way I use it myself. So, naturally my advice would be to be careful in real life, while you can be lax on the interwebz. I don't need some random guy's garbage in the news. That's not the fault of PureXbox, and not the fault of the original interviewer, but the fault of this developer, for not thinking things through in real life. Of course something can slip any time, but I for one would own up to this and clarify after, possibly even apologise for not thinking first. You probably won't see this with guys of this caliber, which is just another thing that drives me bananas about humans ...

It's really hard to live with so many of your kind on the same planet, y'know? ...

@lokozar now that my friend, is the dialogue I kinda wish you had used in your first two responses.

I find that people in the video game industry, especially forward facing ones, are more prone to give their opinions when they do have a passionate case they want to put forward, which Fares has done. Obviously one we sit on opposite sides of the fence with.

As for real life with real people, I see your point. I too like to think before I speak on certain topics, do I feel this was one he needed to do so with? Not really, but hey that’s why we’re here right?

I feel like the biggest issue with modern society whether it’s in politics, daily lives or simply on a gaming site like this, too many are unwilling to engage in a conversation with somebody they don’t agree with. And too often that results in things escalating to the point it has as you’ve eluded to.

I don’t blame anyone in this situation tbh. Controversy/outrage can be interpreted differently amongst different people.

Journalists will provoke those in higher positions to stir controversy or conversation in a certain way. Always have and always will, you see it everyday. It’s just about how we perceive the answers/opinions given and what we do with that information. So scratch above, I guess I actually blame the interviewer. Though you obviously blame Faras. And that’s clear now from both of us.

The guy isn’t going to apologise, and I don’t believe he should. People will play his games regardless, especially considering they’ll likely be on GP anyway.

Thank you for the proper dialogue good sir.

@Jacko11 You're welcome, human.

@lokozar much obliged, human.

Film director prefers game publisher that focuses on narrative game design. Halt the presses, this is a revelation!

The guy elected to publish via EA. His decision making and reasoning are suspect by default.

I do find it funny though that the guy is saying he doesn't get Game Pass and it has "no games"....... while it is offering his game. I know that's the publisher's handling and he's not necessarily a part of that planning and doesn't "need" to get it, but it's still funny to hear him basically disparage his own game and declare it part of a low value pool of content.

@Deadcow Yeah, and that's a newer shift in Sony in some ways. I always end up arguing with some of the Sony faithful because it's clear that new Sony fans have very different tastes than old Sony fans. I don't buy Playstations for games like HzD and GoW. They're good games. I like them. They're sitting in my backlog still. How are multiple "games of the generation" still in my backlog? Because while they're good their pacing and presentation rarely excites me to play them. I also watch basically zero TV or movies, preferring games for that time use by a wide margin. I buy Playstation for the unique games they used to make but area clearly moving away from to focus on what the mass market wants which is more 3rd person cinematic action adventure. HzD and GoW and the like "I'll get around to it eventually", and I'll like them. But even on PS, FFVIIR and P5 are on my list before either of them. They excite me more. Know what I'm playing on my PS5 currently? Gravity Rush 2 that's been in my backlog for ever and I've wanted so much to get around to it. It looks like a launch PS4 game and uses no advantage of PS5. But those are the games I buy Playstations for. They don't make many of those anymore.

@Trmn8r That's a fantastic point I've thought about as well after some conversations on other forums where devs participated, and their views seemed pretty detached from consumer thinking. They seem so fixated on what provides the most obvious funding for what they want to create, not what the consumer actually wants. And there's that creative genius mentality of "the consumer thinks they know what they want, but they don't, we know what they want, and they need to give us more money so we can give it to them!" No, they're giving us what excites them to make, and then telling us what we want. They don't get the consumer space. Whis is probably why the suits exist in the publishing departments....much as we gripe about their money grubbing they can keep devs grounded with the actual market.

@blinx01 that's exactly it. Sony blows $100M+ on these games. They rely on recouping that money via direct sales and increased platform install. They can not afford any game to fail to recoup investment. Each expense is high risk so the risk of failure needs to be entirely negated. So like with Sony Pictures, every title needs to be a box office hit, and that's an easy target to hit, as the market will always financially support in numbers something that looks shiny, feels familiar, and is entirely inoffensive. As long as they stay in that safe zone, failure is nearly impossible. So there's no incentive to ever leave it. It's the same strategy their (and most other) motion picture company employs as well. It's not that the product isn't high quality, it's that it can be fairly uninteresting by being generic and predictable as a primary feature. I miss the older games they used to make mostly out of Japan Studio. It was always weird experimental stuff and half of it was solid gold. The other half lost millions.