Descenders Dev Says Xbox Game Pass Helped The Game Sell 'A Ton'

We always see games going onto Xbox Game Pass, but do we ever stop to think how developers are benefiting from having their game readily available in a subscription package? The founder of the studio, No More Robots, has explained how their games even sell "a ton" of copies despite being included for 'free' with Game Pass.

The company founder, Mike Rose, spoke to Forbes about the Xbox Game Pass model, and how pleased he is with the results of multiple titles being on the service. This is particularly the case for downhill online biking game Descenders, which is not only receiving huge numbers of players, but is still selling really well on Xbox.

"The effect that we see is that people are playing on Game Pass, they're telling their friends: ‘hey come play this game with me’, they don't want another subscription, so they just go buy the game. We end up getting a ton of players on Game Pass, and we sell a ton as well."

"The main thing for us is that sales didn't go down. You worry that you make the thing free and no one will buy it anymore: that didn't happen."

Lots of other developers have echoed positive thoughts about Xbox Game Pass in recent months, with one indie developer saying it was "the biggest financial deal" they ever received. We also had a comment from a Microsoft executive that subscribers are generally paying 20% more on games after joining Game Pass. With the amount of content we get and the developers who are seeing profits on their games, it seems like everyone is a winner.

Do you have any thoughts on the Game Pass model? Let us know in the comments below.