Take-Two doesn’t see any sense in that, but that’s because its business model is already well established.
Image Credit: Rockstar
He is in an interview in Jamespot That Strauss Zelnick, Director of Take-Two, is back on Game Pass and whether or not he’s interested in streaming a game there when it launches. “Our view has not changed. We think subscription can be useful for older games in the catalog. But that doesn’t make sense for titles.”
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Strauss Zelnick preaches to his diocese, however, Rockstar’s situation is very different from many of the publishers out there on Game Pass. Take-Two’s business model is more profitable by making unit sales for goodwill. When you release Take-Two GTA, it is guaranteed to reach millions of players. Neither Red Dead Redemption nor GTA has anything to prove and they are definitely planetary chests. On the other hand, when a small, little-known Swedish studio makes The Ascent, or when Square Enix Outriders launches out of nowhere, it’s hard to attract public trust and convert it into a purchase.
If GTA didn’t need a Game Pass, it was just the opposite for The Ascent and Outriders which served as a stepping stone.
On the contrary, games like The Ascent or Outriders that are not guaranteed to sell have an interest in being widely distributed so that the audience can realize their quality while playing. After that, Game Pass takes all its credit for these studios, including thanks to a lump sum from Microsoft that guarantees them to pay off a portion of the development. It’s always better than making a few thousand sales and seeing your game in a stalemate. Microsoft somewhat mitigates the risk for smaller publishers.
Finally, you’ll say that RDR2 was available on Game Pass, but that still goes into Strauss Zelnick’s comments. It’s become an old game in the Take-Two catalog and has pretty much paid for, not to mention that online play doesn’t rise as high as GTA. You might also take extra money provided by Microsoft, and put it into Game Pass in order to get access to the last of the fanatics.
