The biggest Xbox Game Pass bombshell of the year so far has undoubtedly been the addition of Sony's MLB The Show 21 at launch back in April, and Microsoft has confirmed today that the release was a massive success all around.
In a post over at Xbox Wire, it was noted that during launch week, MLB The Show 21 was the "biggest sports game of the past year on Xbox," and the "second biggest sports game of all time on Xbox." Pretty impressive!
In addition, Xbox Game Pass was said to have added "millions of new fans" as a result of the baseball sim being added to the service, while it also "grew Major League Baseball’s player base significantly. "
But perhaps the most interesting bit of news is that despite its Xbox Game Pass addition, MLB The Show 21 was the "#1 selling paid game on Xbox for the month of April," proving that Game Pass titles can still sell in very high numbers.
Have you been enjoying MLB The Show 21 with Xbox Game Pass? Let us know down in the comments.
Comments 18
They should bring it to the switch next, take in even more money
This is my most Played game on xbox series x. Played nearly 30 hours of this.
Always wanted to know how game pass works with a developer.
Is each time the game gets downloaded the developer gets some money?
Is there a flat rate you get for putting your game on game pass?
Are you paid by the hourly rate of how long your game has been played?
Any ideas anyone, just curious.
@Dezzy70 no one knows for sure but most think it’s a negotiated flat rate.
What’s interesting is multiple developers have said that after going on gamepass it actually increased sales, as opposed to what everyone thought would happen, which would be to see less sales. I’m sure this wouldn’t work for mega titles that sell millions anyway, but for smaller developers who get (probably?) a flat rate and many seeing increased sales on top of that due to exposure, it’s a pretty good proposition!
Surprised with Sony's new commitment to PC that this wasn't given a Steam port right off the bat
Seems like a no brainer to me
That's all well and good but MS never posts actual figures so there's no way to fact check any of this.
Like if it was the highest selling game in April, compared to what? Was it a large amount more than the second place or just a little?
@xMightyMatt14x
Yes for smaller less known titles game pass probably does well for them.
It’s say when you get a 5 million seller game that game pass may not work.
But it depends how much you get for putting your game on game pass.
Microsoft own in house games is a different very financial calculation I would think.
If halo Infinite sold 5 million at full price £60 would game pass ever recoup that total.
Remembering also recouping all the costs of all the other in house games on game pass as well.
There must be some account somewhere working it all out.
But either way probably only Microsoft at this early stage could only afford to do this and take the risk.
@Dezzy70 it's a different deal for each game and for each publisher. Some games get a lump sum, others are paid based on how much they were played by users, others yet get a combination of both.
@Magabro
I guess as long as it works for all that’s a great thing.
@Dezzy70 if you want all the details, there is a very in depth article about that in Eurogamer called "Is Xbox Game Pass too good to be true?".
@Magabro
I use that website a lot, will check it out. Cheers.
@Dezzy70 The details are all NDA embargoed like all publishing contracts. I think we can gather no two contracts have the same terms. Lump sums, engagement time, unique users, some equivalent of "CPI", are probably all on the table. If there's one thing we learned from Epic v Apple it's how complex these publishing contracts can get, with PlayStation getting that clause about revenue share from other platforms if more IAP is sold on other platforms, while PlayStation has the larger engagement time share. That's probably the tip of the iceberg with crazy vine-like tendrils in these contracts.
@Chaudy That's because that's how long Road to the Show takes to gain a level....
I guess Xbox gamers are hungry for Sony's games after all. Now imagine if Spiderman or The Last of Us came over... Halo who?
@WCB Either that or it confirms the Xbox = Sports games stereotype
@NEStalgia I'm amazed a baseball game is bigger than Fifa and Madden games.
@WCB Or NBA2K. That's true. It might just be for the season though. And Sony's apparent FIFA exclusive marketing in Europe probably guaranteed that Xbox isn't the top place to play FIFA games. Madden though....that's surprising. Maybe it's just because it's a sports game not tied to EA's "same game new roster" releases, while there hasn't really been a new big MLB game on XB, well, ever?
I always giggle when I remember NHL was the giveaway with Gold one month and mostly it received 1 star reviews by people saying it was free and they paid too much.
"MLB The Show 21 was the "#1 selling paid game on Xbox for the month of April..." 🤔
Lots of winners in this, MLB probably the biggest, I saw a lot of people saying they never got into baseball and gave this game a chance because it was included in gamepass.
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