Moon Studios CEO says playing Ori and the Blind Forest on Xbox Game Pass doesn't help the studio

Starbuck2907 said:
Well, I get to play a ton of games for cheap and the leaks from 2023 showed that Microsoft is paying 10's of millions of dollars to publishers to put games on there, and they even may be paying over $100 million in some cases. They wanted Jedi Survivor but they figured EA would want $300 million. It was on their list so it was a fake that was at least on their radar.

Moon seems to have signed a console exclusive deal with Microsoft, which likely means that Microsoft can put it on there without paying them much, or anything. MS probably owns the game outright if they paid for the development. But hey, at least they did find it and give us a great pair of games.
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and that's the disconnect some people are having.
 
I am guessing when these games were in development Gamepass was something new and a big question mark. Now the developer probably is probably locked into a "get payed for the amount of time played type of deal" and he sees it sucks, especially for older titles that are not exactly fresh anymore. Buying the game on Steam is better for the developer overall. And for those saying you can buy it on Gamepass, not realistic if you played it first. (For the majority of players).
Gamepass is the best deal in gaming (but not for the developer) LOL!!!
 
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The guy was just being honest.

Yes, he was already paid for the Xbox gamepass release. That doesn't change the fact that you are not giving him any money by playing on Gamepass. Both can be, and is, true.

He was asked what would be the best way to support his game, and he replied honestly. He offered the option that would get him the most new funds that he doesn't already get. What is there to be confused about?

The whole point is that Gamepass disconnects the gamer from the classic commercial reward of giving developers money for titles they like. A gamepass gamer just pay the monthly bill and unless they buy micro-transactions, have no real way to reward a developer. Their payment is just sent to Microsoft. This is similar to how you couldn't support your favorite show on Netflix, causing Netflix to kill otherwise popular shows after 2 or 3 seasons.

Consumer's greatest tool is our wallets. How we send our money determine what gets made and what we could buy. Spending money isn't a flaw, it is a feature. Money is how we vote for our favorite franchises. If Bayonetta sold more it would never have been forced to become a Nintendo exclusive.
 
Loomy said:
It's a Microsoft published game. They can put all their games on Gamepass. I doubt Moon got extra money for the game being on gamepass since they don't own the IP.
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I'm sure they are compensated "Generously" for putting the games on GP & also MS covered all expenses for creating two Ori games.
After all, they signed contract for easy fast cash when they didn't think game will have this lv of success. I'm sure they will do it again with "No Rest for the Wicked" when MS will slap them in the face with 50 million $ or more 😂
 
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Sorcerer said:
I am guessing when these games were in development Gamepass was something new and a big question mark. Now the developer probably is probably locked into a "get payed for the amount of time played type of deal" and he sees it sucks, especially for older titles that are not exactly fresh anymore. Buying the game on Steam is better for the developer overall. And for those saying you can buy it on Gamepass, not realistic if you played it first. (For the majority of players).
Gamepass is the best deal in gaming (but not for the developer) LOL!!!
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A whole lot of weird assumptions in this post.

Microsoft published both Ori games. They funded the studio to make the games, and without them Moon or Ori wouldn't exist. The dev admits this. GamePass wasn't a deal they were suckered into like you assume. It was part and parcel of the publishing deal, and they were well paid for this.

But those were one-time payments. What he's clearly saying now is that the best way to give them money would be to buy the games right now. That's clear, incremental revenue. There's no 'hindsight' view where they'd have had a better outcome…because they likely wouldn't even exist as a studio otherwise.
 
Pancakes and Sausage said:
Did the Moon Studios CEO not negotiate a contract with Microsoft in the first place? Did that contract not involve lots of money? 💰

If not then why did you sign such a contract with Microsoft?
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Pancakes and Sausage said:
Did the Moon Studios CEO not negotiate a contract with Microsoft in the first place? Did that contract not involve lots of money? 💰

If not then why did you sign such a contract with Microsoft?
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I hope Sony and Xbox don't allow him to bring his game to PS platforms. You signed the deal now live with it.
 
There's nothing controversial here. It's not about "GP isn't helping".

The actual message: We already got the money from the GP contract, so if you want to give money to the studio, RIGHT NOW, you should buy the game (which you can also do in GP..).

Simple as that.
 
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nemiroff said:
There's nothing controversial here. It's not about "GP isn't helping".

The actual message: We already got the money from the GP contract, so if you want to give money to the studio, RIGHT NOW, you should buy the game (which you can also do in GP..).

Simple as that.
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No. He would NOT get paid any extra for you playing on GP. That is the point.
 
DeltaPolarBear said:
No. He would NOT get paid any extra for you playing on GP. That is the point.
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Parks And Recreation Reaction GIF


Are you ok..? I mean, that's pretty much exactly what I wrote..

If you want to "help" the studio, now, obviously you need to buy the game or give them money somehow more directly.

But it's not GP specific per se. If you bought the game a month ago f.ex., the developer already got that money.., so if you play the game after that you're simply not giving them more money (either). The only way to give them money is to keep giving them money..
 
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John Wick said:
I hope Sony and Xbox don't allow him to bring his game to PS platforms. You signed the deal now live with it.
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Why would you hope less people are able to play a couple of the best games of all time? Also how is he not "living with it"?

A lot of posts in the thread including yours make it seem as if he is bitter or regretting the games being on GamePass. That's not what the tweet was. He was asked what the best way to support the studio is, he answered buying on Steam. It's very simple.
 
Bumblebeetuna said:
Why would you hope less people are able to play a couple of the best games of all time? Also how is he not "living with it"?

A lot of posts in the thread including yours make it seem as if he is bitter or regretting the games being on GamePass. That's not what the tweet was. He was asked what the best way to support the studio is, he answered buying on Steam. It's very simple.
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Exactly. Op is clearly making this into something it isn't. But I don't blame people for misunderstanding the context when the context is so purposefully hidden.
 
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Personally I played the Ori games on GP & after 3 or 4 months made the decision to get them on sale with full packages. I bet I'm not the only one who did this.
 
UltimaKilo said:
Yeah, odd statement. I played on Switch even though I have GamePass because it was a great game to play in bed. Am I missing something?
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I think he's telling us the terms of the contract are that all sales on through the xbox storefront do not result in a percentage to the dev - it is accounted for in the terms of the gamepass & development arrangement. So they made the game for MS, got a one time fee and MS keeps the revenue from their storefront.
 
Del_X said:
This studio honestly seems like a bunch of whiny hard-to-work-with cunts. They had some other drama a couple years back.
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There is nothing dramatic or whiny about what he said. Just simple to understand facts.

He is happy people like their game and still want to support it. By playing it on GP it does not support the actual game makers, though, since that deal is obviously in the past, but he also said, that that is basically supporting the enabler. So of course money for himself is selfishly better for him, but he also acknowdledges MS's important role so will also defend MS even if he may or may not feel ripped off a bit.

Clickbait, often even twisted inaccurate reporting, social media hiveminds and people who want to see drama in everything really ruined the climate for discussion in gaming (and in other more important areas certainly as well)
 
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Bumblebeetuna said:
Why would you hope less people are able to play a couple of the best games of all time? Also how is he not "living with it"?

A lot of posts in the thread including yours make it seem as if he is bitter or regretting the games being on GamePass. That's not what the tweet was. He was asked what the best way to support the studio is, he answered buying on Steam. It's very simple.
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He shouldn't be asking consumers to be begging MS to release the game on PS systems. He made the deal didn't he? So why doesn't he himself go and make that deal with MS to allow the game on other platforms.
He shouldn't be telling consumers now after making his deal that oh by it on steam now so we can get more money.
Maybe instead of being a greedy cunt at the time he should of negotiated a much better deal for his games with the long term in mind rather than short term goals.
 
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John Wick said:
He shouldn't be asking consumers to be begging MS to release the game on PS systems. He made the deal didn't he? So why doesn't he himself go and make that deal with MS to allow the game on other platforms.
He shouldn't be telling consumers now after making his deal that oh by it on steam now so we can get more money.
Maybe instead of being a greedy cunt at the time he should of negotiated a much better deal for his games with the long term in mind rather than short term goals.
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Yeah.....at that time sweet fast cash looked good......not so now when he did the math.
A lesson learned.....I hope so....
 
John Wick said:
He shouldn't be asking consumers to be begging MS to release the game on PS systems. He made the deal didn't he? So why doesn't he himself go and make that deal with MS to allow the game on other platforms.
He shouldn't be telling consumers now after making his deal that oh by it on steam now so we can get more money.
Maybe instead of being a greedy cunt at the time he should of negotiated a much better deal for his games with the long term in mind rather than short term goals.
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Not sure that's a fair characterization.

Dude is running a studio. Has to make payroll. Has to make rent. Has no idea if the game will make enough money to cover all that.

Here comes MS with a check. It caps the upside, but limits the downside.

Seems like a very reasonable decision to make.

Or, he could have gambled with everyone's futures.
 
ToadMan said:
I think he's telling us the terms of the contract are that all sales on through the xbox storefront do not result in a percentage to the dev - it is accounted for in the terms of the gamepass & development arrangement. So they made the game for MS, got a one time fee and MS keeps the revenue from their storefront.
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I understand that, I just don't understand why they are pushing sales on PC, rather than consoles.
 
John Wick said:
He shouldn't be asking consumers to be begging MS to release the game on PS systems. He made the deal didn't he? So why doesn't he himself go and make that deal with MS to allow the game on other platforms.
He shouldn't be telling consumers now after making his deal that oh by it on steam now so we can get more money.
Maybe instead of being a greedy cunt at the time he should of negotiated a much better deal for his games with the long term in mind rather than short term goals.
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Greedy cunt? For making a deal that he says kept the studio afloat and existing? He shouldn't tell someone on Twitter asking what the best way to support the studio that the best way to support them is to buy their games in the storefront that nets them the most money?

Some of you get way too bitter about video games, man.
 
Companies are going to be itching to work with this studio with this level of professionalism on display. Great idea to come out with that statement.
 
simpatico said:
Companies are going to be itching to work with this studio with this level of professionalism on display. Great idea to come out with that statement.
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Someone said it earlier but this dude seems like an absolute nightmare to deal with professionally. His heart is in the right place though and his studio makes phenomenal games.
 
He signed the deal and now have to live with it. Its not our problem to play the game legitimately on a platform that offers us gamers the best value for money.
 
MayauMiao said:
He signed the deal and now have to live with it. Its not our problem to play the game legitimately on a platform that offers us gamers the best value for money.
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He was ASKED the question "How do we best support the game".
How would you have answered in his place then?
 
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He sounds a bit of a d*ck, if I have to say. It was an agreement after all. People...agree and then commit to do something.
Reminds me of the owner of my ex apartment, who wanted to change the contract after a couple of months.
 
Dude said nothing controversial.

Gamepass already helped the studio massively.

There's nothing wrong with telling people that now the best way to support is to… actually buy the game.

But thisisneogaf.com.
 
Raven117 said:
Not sure that's a fair characterization.

Dude is running a studio. Has to make payroll. Has to make rent. Has no idea if the game will make enough money to cover all that.

Here comes MS with a check. It caps the upside, but limits the downside.

Seems like a very reasonable decision to make.

Or, he could have gambled with everyone's futures.
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Or he could have gave MS 1 year or exclusivity and then made cash off other systems.
Why is he asking consumers to port beg MS???
Shouldn't he be approaching Phil and making a deal to get it out on PS systems??? Oh wait he fucked himself.
 
John Wick said:
Or he could have gave MS 1 year or exclusivity and then made cash off other systems.
Why is he asking consumers to port beg MS???
Shouldn't he be approaching Phil and making a deal to get it out on PS systems??? Oh wait he fucked himself.
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That is very easy to say in hindsight.

You are demonstrating that you have zero understanding of how businesses work and how deals are struck.
 
Bumblebeetuna said:
Greedy cunt? For making a deal that he says kept the studio afloat and existing? He shouldn't tell someone on Twitter asking what the best way to support the studio that the best way to support them is to buy their games in the storefront that nets them the most money?

Some of you get way too bitter about video games, man.
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I'm not bitter about anything. Should have made a better deal. No good telling PS consumers to port beg MS.
 
John Wick said:
He should have made a better deal end of.
MS didn't put a gun to his head.
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No. He just had a studio with many employees and their families along with outstanding capital costs (either through a loan or equity contributions that needed to be repaid/invested) that needed to be paid with no guarantee of success.

Come on dude. Grow up.
 
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