Former Arkane Studios Boss Slams Xbox Game Pass As Damaging And Unsustainable

Microsoft’s Xbox gaming division took the brunt of the most recent round of layoffs, which resulted in 9,000 job cuts. It has lead many to question every aspect of the Xbox business, including the future of CEO Phil Spencer. More fuel has been added to the fire after a prominent game developer sounded off on Xbox Game Pass.

Raphael Colantonio, founder of Arkane Studios, took to social media to air some of his grievances about the service. “I think Game Pass is an unsustainable model that has been increasingly damaging the industry for a decade, subsidized by Microsoft’s ‘infinite money’, but at some point, reality has to hit. I don’t think GP can co-exist with other models; they’ll either kill everyone else or give up.”


While Colantonio clearly isn’t a fan of the way Game Pass currently works, he does think there’s a path forward that doesn’t hurt the game industry. He believes that the service can be a way for gamers to explore back catalogue titles. Although, it’s difficult seeing players continuing to subscribe after losing access to any AAA games at launch, which is something they’ve become accustomed to.

The team at Xbox can't be happy with an industry veteran such as Colantonio so fiercely railing against Game Pass. It has been one of the pillars of Xbox’s strategy, where the focus is on providing players access to its service regardless of platform. If developers think they’re getting a raw deal then it will be difficult to get new content, which could threaten the whole of the Xbox business.

Microsoft has its work cut out for it if it wants to win back the minds and hearts of gamers and developers. At this point, it’s difficult to see how the company is going to pull it off.