Indiana Jones and the Great Circle proved a big hit for Xbox Game Pass when it released in December 2024, although one developer has discussed the difficulties of building for Game Pass in a new interview with The Game Business.
Jens Andersson, the design director on Bethesda's Indy adventure, explained that designing for the service required a "hard balance" of trying to appeal to newcomers, those with a short attention span, and players who wanted to see it through to the end.
Specifically, he pointed out how important the onboarding experience was in the opening section of the game:
“It's on Game Pass. There's going to be a lot of people trying this genre for the first time. It was very, very important to make the onboarding stronger and better than other titles. That was a big focus."
Andersson talked about how launching on Xbox Game Pass was a "very difficult proposition" for all of these reasons, requiring it to be the most accessible MachineGames title so far.
And, in a quote that's hitting the headlines this week, he spoke about how players engage with Xbox Game Pass - saying that people tend to drop in and out very quickly - again highlighting the need for a good onboarding experience:
“As for Game Pass… We know the behavior of players. They jump in for five minutes and they drop out. You can take a certain amount of decisions based on that, but at the same time, you don't want to make too many concessions."
Ultimately, he concluded by saying that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle needed to be a good game for everyone, including those who wanted to reach the credits, and admitted that although his team could have worried even more about how to appeal to certain Xbox Game Pass members, they also cared about the "grand scheme of things".
It seems to have worked out well in the end, anyway, with Indiana Jones and the Great Circle becoming one of the most beloved Xbox Game Pass titles of recent times - and don't forget the brand-new DLC is releasing today!