Game Pass subscribers hoping that Baldur’s Gate 3 will be added to the Xbox subscription service will be disappointed by Larian CEO, Swen Vincke’s interview with IGN. Without ambiguity, Vincke said that Baldur’s Gate 3 will not be on Game Pass when asked how much Xbox offered them to get the game on Game Pass.
“These are sensitive questions,” Vincke said. “We always said from the get-go, it wasn’t going to be on Game Pass, it’s not going to be on Game Pass. We made a big game, so I think there’s a fair price to be paid for that, and I think that that is okay. We don’t charge you any micro-transactions on top of it, so you get what you pay for.”
Ideally, the decision should not come as a surprise to anyone familiar with Larian Studios. None of their other releases prior to Baldur’s Gate 3 has come to Game Pass. So, excluding Bladur’s Gate 3 should not be an outlier.
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According to Vincke, paying upfront for games provides studios with the funds they need to keep making other games. When it comes to Game Pass, opinions differ. While some vote in favor of having their games on Game Pass, others are skeptical about it.
The relevance of Game Pass continues to garner concerns and debates
For example, earlier this year, Jumpship and Playdead founder Dino Patti accused Game Pass of hampering the launch of its game, Somerville.
“I also think it hurts sales,” Patti said. “A lot of people just go in and try it and they don’t invest. If they don’t like the first 10 minutes? That’s it. Also, if you don’t make the first 10 minutes amazing, maybe it’s also a problem.”
Nevertheless, Patti’s claim that Game Pass hampered the launch of Somerville is debatable because the game had a mixed reception. On Metacritic, the game’s highest average score was 71 on PC. That figure dropped to 67 on Xbox Series X and 66 on PS5. However, Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick is one of those who has maintained skepticism over including their games on Game Pass.
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Game Pass makes more sense for small studios looking for exposure. Including the games on the subscription service can give it the desired exposure. For a game like Baldur’s Gate 3 that has amassed global recognition and bagged multiple awards, Larian would feel that Game Pass will offer no real value.
In contrast to that opinion, Starfield was available on Game Pass from launch and still yielded great returns for Bethesda. It was even the best-selling game of September 2023 in the United States. So, while Game Pass may not appeal to some developers, the same cannot be said from the consumer perspective.
Baldur’s Gate 3 CEO shares what he wanted to say at The Game Awards
Since the release of Baldur’s Gate 3 in August, the Larian boss has granted several interviews, the latest being the one with IGN. Last week, he wasn’t allowed to properly express himself after Baldur’s Gate 3 was announced The Game of the Year at The Game Awards. Vincke later published what he wanted to say.
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“Winning Game of the Year is a great honor and I want to first thank everyone that voted for us and I want to congratulate all the other nominees,” Vincke began in a lengthy thread.
He went on to thank the companies behind the other games nominated in that category. He also thanked Geoff Keighley and all the organizers of The Game Award. Vincke also explained his odd fashion sense which drew attention at the awards.
“I wore armor at the #gameawards because BG3 is a game that couldn’t exist without our player community and I wanted to pay tribute to how important they’ve been for the development,” he continued. “Making a game like this only works if you have an incredibly passionate and talented team and in that regard, I am incredibly lucky with the @larianstudio—they are some of the finest and they did a truly amazing job.”
Vincke ended the long thread with a reminder that most developers make games because of passion rather than money. According to him, money made from games is only the “fuel they need to create new and better games”. Finally, he announced the launch of Baldur’s Gate 3 on Xbox.
Do you think subscription services like Game Pass is a great or bad news for developers? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.
