![\"\"](\"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-6-1024x576.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nOn LinkedIn, former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden agreed, stressing the real question is not whether the service is profitable for Microsoft, but whether it is \u201chealthy and helpful for the developer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Now, former Xbox Game Studios VP Shannon Loftis, who spent nearly three decades at Microsoft before retiring in 2022, has echoed the concerns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\u201cAs a longtime first-party Xbox developer, I can attest that Pete is correct,\u201d Loftis wrote. \u201cWhile Game Pass can claim a few victories with games that otherwise would have sunk beneath the waves (Human Fall Flat<\/em>, for example), the majority of game adoption comes at the expense of retail revenue \u2014 unless the game is engineered from the ground up for post-release monetization. I could (and may someday) write pages on the weird inner tensions this creates.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
A recurring debate<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
The suggestion that Game Pass cannibalizes traditional game sales is not new. Microsoft admitted in 2023 that subscription growth could impact retail revenue, though it maintains that the service is profitable overall. In June, the company reported that Game Pass had hit a record $5 billion in annual revenue, boosted by high-profile launches like Oblivion Remastered, Doom: The Dark Ages, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Still, the chorus of dissent is growing. Earlier this summer, Arkane Studios founder Raphael Colantonio branded Game Pass \u201cunsustainable,\u201d arguing it has been damaging the industry for a decade and is only viable because of Microsoft\u2019s deep pockets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And during last year\u2019s high-profile FTC trial over Microsoft\u2019s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, then-PlayStation chief Jim Ryan<\/strong> claimed publishers \u201cunanimously\u201d disliked Game Pass, calling it \u201cvalue destructive.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Microsoft\u2019s stance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Xbox chief Phil Spencer has consistently pushed back, insisting Game Pass is not a cash-burning exercise but a \u201cvery sustainable\u201d business that continues to grow. Microsoft points to its expanding library, day-one first-party releases, and subscriber milestones as evidence of success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For now, Game Pass remains one of the most powerful forces in modern gaming \u2014 but the questions around who truly benefits from the model, and at what cost, show no signs of going away.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft\u2019s flagship gaming subscription service, is once again under scrutiny after another veteran industry figure questioned its long-term impact on developers. Last week, former Bethesda senior VP Pete Hines described services like Game Pass as \u201cworth jack s***\u201d if they fail to properly support the creators who provide content. His comments quickly […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4122,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_eb_attr":"","_gspb_post_css":"","pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-games"],"blocksy_meta":[],"featured_image_url":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-6-150x150.png","medium":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-6-300x169.png","medium_large":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-6-768x432.png","large":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-6-1024x576.png","1536x1536":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-6.png","2048x2048":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-6.png","trp-custom-language-flag":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/image-6-18x10.png"},"post_author":"Astra","assigned_categories":"Games","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4121\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/geeksace.com\/ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}