Larian Studios' Director of Publishing, Michael Douse, has taken to Twitter to comment on a recent article about weaker subscription deals hitting indie devs.
Earlier this week, GamesIndustry.biz published an article regarding a drop in share prices for Devolver and TinyBuild. According to an analyst from broking firm GoodBody, this is mainly due to weaker subscription deals. "The cheques coming from Sony and Microsoft are just not as big as they were", the analyst said. "And that creates problems if you're concentrated on that side of the market."
On Twitter, Douse has now expressed his thoughts about these smaller deals coming from major companies when it comes to indie developers. According to Larian's Director of Publishing, the best way to support publishers and developers remains buying their games. "I’ve always been empathetic to folks who need this to turn a profit on games, but at the same time we’ve all been asking “what happens when the money dries up?”. The best way to support developers and publishers you like is to buy their games, if you can afford it", Douse wrote.
In some follow-up tweets, Douse also sort of praised Steam for offering a varied assortment of titles, which isn't how most of the other stores work. "People give Steam a lot of shit, but if you’re interested in some bizarre mix of genres and sub-genres and the game is good, there’s a high chance you’ll be exposed to it on Steam", he said. "This is how stores should work. They do not, right now. They’re ancient."
The Publishing Director also said that it's essential for smaller studios to keep making games that are worth buying and building an audience who wants those games. "To anyone who says (which is common in my experience) “it’s ok for him, he shipped Baldur’s Gate 3” I spent 14 years of my life working on B games and indies. Have been consistent on this my entire career. Make the content worth buying, build an audience who wants to buy it."
Interestingly, both Microsoft and Sony have now raised the prices of their gaming subscription services - Microsoft announced a price hike for Game Pass back in June of this year, and Sony did the same yesterday for all PlayStation Plus tiers.
What are your thoughts on this? Do you agree with Larian's Director of Publishing? Should fans buy more games instead of 'renting' them via subscription services, and what about his comments on Steam? Hit the comments below.
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