If I want to support a developer, do I need to buy the game or is downloading it on GamePass enough?

Kacho said:
Game Pass is the best way to support developers. The second best is Game Fly.
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Topher...go to bed...you're drunk
Dog Morning GIF
 
Skifi28 said:
Engagement is the most important metric, apparently.
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I'm questioning what counts as success after the report of Tango game works missing sales + engagement metrics.

Which begs the question of what exactly keeps Microsoft studios open now but wtf do I know? I'm the one who watched my favorite studio die even though I paid money for their last 2 games.
 
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Since this is MS stay on Game Pass and get the Digital Deluxe upgrade. If you play for more than 4 months you have already covered the cost of the game and more.
 
Staying subscribed to gamepass is what Microsoft want, you don't need to purchase the game separately.
 
While I'm sure downloading and playing on GamePass helps - I'm even more sure that buying the game itself is a much bigger boon to the studio. If you already have Gamepass and are going to buy the game due to this, I'd still recommend hoping on with GamePass just to give it both nudges.
 
OP, if you have gamepass, just use gamepass. If the developer put their game on gamepass, it is to limit some risk as Microsoft is probably promising a minimum paiement. So it helps.
But more importantly, save your money. If you already have gamepass and you plan to keep it, use it.
 
dottme said:
OP, if you have gamepass, just use gamepass. If the developer put their game on gamepass, it is to limit some risk as Microsoft is probably promising a minimum paiement. So it helps.
But more importantly, save your money. If you already have gamepass and you plan to keep it, use it.
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This is Microsoft.
Third party buying the game will help more. For first party games - if you aren't hitting some internal gamepass metrics then I think you will be in trouble even with half decent sales.
 
Unknown Soldier said:
MS is the world's 2nd largest company on Earth with a market valuation of $2.88 Trillion

That's $2,880,000,000,000

To understand a number this large, realize that $1 million ($1,000,000) is 0.000034% of $2.88 Trillion

To think you need to "support" a company with kind of value is fucking hilarious
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Yeah but a great game is a great game if you think so, and I certainly would still show my appreciation by buying a great game outright, regardless of the companies market cap.
 
Well, if you really support the devs - buy their goodies. T shirts, mugs, whatever. Or DLC.

Many Japanese underground idols make money off from merchandise goodies, not album sales or sometimes even concerts. ;)

Seriously though. Yes, buying a game at launch price and not buying a used copy would be best way to support the dev at the get go, I assume.

But it's their choice to put the game on the game pass to appeal a wide audience. So I wouldn't feel bad for playing it on Game Pass. Most devs would rather want you to enjoy their fruits of labor even at lower cost, than nothing, or pirating - as long as they get their cut. Used game doesn't get as much criticism like game pass though- I wonder why?

Well, play on Game Pass and buy another copy on Steam or PS5, if you are really into them. But as a consumer - it's your choice how you spend your money and time.
 
ChorizoPicozo said:
he is not talking about MS. he is talking about the devs
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And Tony Hawk is a Microsoft IP.

If the game isn't a Microsoft IP sure I guess, but they also took a large payment to put those titles on gamepass they have been paid.

I purchase the Yakuza titles for some reason in physical but I don't see Sega ever slowing that output.
 
Reality is, your supporting the publisher more than the developer. In the end the publisher decides what part of the profits go to the actual dev team. It also depends what metrics or goals the developers has signed off on. 250K, $500K, $1M sales. Maybe their bonus is tied to ratings or maybe it's tied to streaming oxygen engagement. We have no idea on the contracts and conditions signed.

But don't be fooled, the developers have already move onto the next title and pretty much received the bulk of their pay. It's like trying support a team within UBISOFT. Your supporting UBISOFT and they might share it with the actual dev team. No different with Microsoft, Nintendo or Sony.

If their game does well, they might not be given much more money than already paid. But they might get some accolades, bonuses or maybe get to fucking keep their jobs (not always).
 
That's a question i ask myself all the time when i buy a Key from Key sellers. I know they don't get a big cut out of it...but the games are so cheap, godammit.
 
If you want to support Xbox, gamepass subscription is enough. If you want to support individual dev, I believe buying something like expansion pass works.
 
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DR3AM said:
I want to support MS and play THPS3+4. What's the best way for me to keep the studio alive?
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Vicarious has already been moved to being a support studio for Call of Duty. Iron Galaxy the listed developer of THPS 3 & 4 isnt going anywhere they are independent are used by many companys for support and port work.

Best you can do is play the game so they can "claim" high playerbase and maybe it convinces them to free Vicarious to go back to developing other projects instead of being a purely support studio.
 
You can't. But chances of truly meaning anything to a developer is to just buy the game and talking about it.
 
baphomet said:
Ask Tango about that.
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Tango was shuttered due to the senior team leaving when you read what Matt Booty said.

I think the thing to be considered is that for us, it's as much a forward-looking situation as much as it is looking back at one certain game... There are a lot of things that go into success for a game," he said.

"What leadership do you have? What creative leadership do you have? Is the team the same team that shipped something successful previously?

"And we have to look at all of those things together and then ask ourselves, are we set up for success going forward? And while there may have been factors and situations that previously led to success, they may not all still be in place as you look at what you're doing going forward."
 
Why does Netflix cancel somewhat popular shows after 3 seasons?

It's because the show has done as much as it is going to do with key metrics: Getting new people to sign up for the service, retaining people, and overall engagement.

Once a show hits 3 seasons, it's no longer bringing new people in, nor is it really retaining people in most cases.

Microsoft pays for games on GamePass or they fund games (internally). That game isn't going to recoup its own costs, so what Microsoft is measuring is how well it performs before deciding to greenlight the next game.

If engagement is too low, the risk is too high. Games take way longer to make than tv shows and thus that risk calculation needs to be done far in advance and it needs to be made based on current subscription revenue and future trends.

If I want to greenlight 8 games based on 15% annual growth in the subscription service, what do I do when there is only 4% annual growth or worse the growth is flat.

What happened with MoviePass was no matter how much they grew, their costs only grew with them. Microsoft took on Bethesda and ABK, massively increasing their operating costs, capsizing GamePass by including their games.

Unless you're subscribing to GamePass AND buying their games outright, you're not going to be able to really support individual devs. And you have to keep your GamePass year round. Canceling GamePass and signing up for a month or two just when a game you want to play comes out, doesn't support the dev.

Where the dev expected 70 dollars worth of revenue generation, two months of GamePass is only 40 dollars, and that doesn't go directly to the dev, since it's spread across all of GamePass.

The only way GamePass works by itself is if it can generate enough subscribers that more than encompass the collective development costs + B2P sales. That's why they're releasing games on PC, PS5, and Switch, because like many said early on, that math isn't mathing.

Microsoft expected they'd have 100 million subscribers by 2030... They're probably at 30-35 million right now with flat growth... they're never going to reach 50 million let alone 100 million.
 
Support yourself first.

Employees leave or, as we've seen, get let go so swiftly what does it matter that you "support" any dev in particular anymore outside of a 1 or 2 man indie game? I used to be the same, f that. Got my own mouth to feed.
 
Devs need to support themselves by making good games. They already have it pretty good since most sales are digital and GameStop isn't making money off of their products by reselling used games. How often are good to great games not enough for developers to be successful? If they die, they probably had it coming.
 
You can't support them. When it comes to the biggest publisher in the world and one of the richest companies in the world, the performance of their studios doesn't really matter. They can axe one if it succeeds, they can keep investing in it if it fails horribly.

It's just entertainment. Don't overthink it. Just buy/play your games wherever its cheapest.
 
The deals are probably different for each studio. Some may get a one-time payment, others additional "royalties" depending on download numbers. First party studios may stay alive or die based on popularity.

At the end of the day the best way is just to buy the game. And preferably not on Xbox as the future of this platform and its digital store is uncertain. ;)
 
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Game pass works better for gages you will play for a long time. In that case they should make more money than a one time buy.

Short games it's always better to buy. Game pass would act as a smaller revenue from the people who would never buy it.
 
Buy it, but then put it on a shelf and play it on Gamepass. Don't forget to buy the Ultimate edition on a different platform later as well.
 
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