Dishonored & Prey Director Criticizes Xbox's Game Pass Subscription Service

Raphael Colantonio, the Founder of Arkane Studios and Director of such games as Prey, Dishonored, and Dark Messiah of Might and Magic, has shared his opinion on Xbox Game Pass, a subscription service that, in light of the growing game prices, has become a subject of numerous discussions, offering a perspective unexpected to see from a AAA developer by actually criticizing the model.

Over on Twitter, Colantonio addressed "the elephant in the room" he sees Game Pass as, revealing that he considers the service "an unsustainable model" that only exists thanks to Microsoft's subsidies, as it remains unprofitable after eight years and $100 billion invested. In his view, Game Pass has been "increasingly damaging the industry" since its inception and cannot coexist with other models: "They'll either kill everyone else, or give up."

He further acknowledged that gamers do enjoy the pay-12-bucks-for-a-70-dollar-game service but claimed that even they will "hate it when they realize the effects on the games," though, unfortunately, he didn't elaborate much on what those effects are.

Additionally, Colantonio expressed frustration with the Game Pass showrunners for initially claiming the service didn't impact game sales, only to later admit that – surprise, surprise – it actually does, something the developer would know firsthand, given that Weird West, a 2022 RPG produced by Colantonio's WolfEye Studios, was a Day One Game Pass release.

And what's your take on Xbox Game Pass? Is it a spawn of satan, gamers' last best hope in today's world of overpriced game titles, or something in between? Tell us in the comments!

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