How developers are compensated for their games.
There are many mysteries of life. Where do the squirrels go during hurricanes? Why do I get a sixth sense for when the kettle is about to boil? More relevant to today’s topic; how does Microsoft pay developers for titles that go up on Game Pass? Is it up front? Based on downloads? The world may never know.
Except we do know. In an interview with The Verge, Phil Spencer gave his unequivocal and straightforward answer to that very question. The answer? It’s complicated. Actually there is no singular system by which Microsoft pays developers, but it’s decided pretty much case by case.
Our deals are, I’ll say, all over the place. That sounds unmanaged, but it’s really based on the developer’s need. One of the things that’s been cool to see is a developer, usually a smaller to mid-sized developer, might be starting a game and say, “hey, we’re willing to put this in Game Pass on our launch day if you guys will give us X dollars now.” What we can go do is, we’ll create a floor for them in terms of the success of their game. They know they’re going to get this return.
Spencer goes on to say that in some cases Microsoft covers cost of development, and in others developers may get cuts based on usage. Phil does talk about a lot more than just Game Pass in this lengthy interview, and we recommend reading the entire thing.
Source: The Verge
MMO Fallout 