Indie Devs Are Concerned About the Microsoft's Deal to Buy Activision

Indie studios are worried that small games which are not released on Game Pass will face difficulties gaining audiences while having to compete with the industry giant. The BBC reported the possible problems for independent studios following Microsoft's deal to purchase Activision Blizzard. Indie developers spoke out on the issue. 

The creator of Boyfriend Dungeon Tanya Short shared that the recent Microsoft acquisition "strikes fear" in the community expressing her concern that the company's games would dominate over riskier unusual indie titles. According to the game designer, due to consolidation and constant acquisitions, the only effective way to distribute indie games may be Game Pass. And if developers prefer not to add their title to the service's library, sales will become significantly lower.

Yuria Zhdanovich, the head of the Belarusian Sad Cat Studios also commented on the situation. When the studio's cyberpunk game Replaced will be released this year, among the other platforms, it will also appear on Game Pass. Although Zhdanovich is satisfied with working with Microsoft, he is still worried about how the company will work with indie developers in the future, when it will have even more AAA studios at its disposal.

Piers Harding-Rolls, an analyst at Ampere Analysis also noted that games outside of the Game Pass will sell worse. "Conceivably, indie games outside of these services might lose engagement as subscribers focus most of their attention on games they can access for free within the service," he said.

In a conversation with the BBC, a representative from Microsoft, Sarah Bond, stated that the company would continue to invest in indie studios and cooperate with them saying that the deal with Activision would not turn the company into a monopolist.

Microsoft and Activision Blizzard plan to close the deal by June 30, 2023. Until then, the companies will continue to work independently.