Subscription services like Xbox Game Pass turn developers into 'wage slaves', says former PlayStation boss

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Not only is its profitability uncertain, but it's bad for creativity, says Shawn Layden.

SIE Worldwide Studios Chairman Shawn Layden speaks onstage at the PlayStation E3 2018 Media Showcase at LA Center Studios on June 11, 2018 in Los Angeles, California.
(Image credit: Charley Gallay / Stringer via Getty Images)

Former Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shawn Layden thinks subscription services like Xbox Game Pass are a "danger" to the industry, and that the model risks turning developers into "wage slaves".

In a wide ranging Games Industry interview on the state of the industry, Layden compared gaming subscription services unfavourably with music subscriptions services. While products like Spotify and Apple Music have dramatically undermined physical music sales, musicians—so Layden contends—at least have touring and merchandise as alternative income streams. "The problem with gaming is all we have is launch," Layden said. "That's it. No one wants to pay money to come into the studio and watch people code."

Developers have started to criticise the Game Pass model too. Founder of Arkane Studios Raphael Colantonio condemned the model in the wake of Microsoft's catastrophic mass layoffs in July. "I think Gamepass is an unsustainable model that has been increasingly damaging the industry for a decade, subsidized by MS’s 'infinite money', but at some point reality has to hit," he said. "I don’t think GP can co-exist with other models, they’ll either kill everyone else, or give up." Colantonio left Arkane in 2017, four years before Microsoft acquired it as part of ZeniMax Media.

Shaun Prescott
Shaun Prescott
Australian Editor

Shaun Prescott is the Australian editor of PC Gamer. With over ten years experience covering the games industry, his work has appeared on GamesRadar+, TechRadar, The Guardian, PLAY Magazine, the Sydney Morning Herald, and more. Specific interests include indie games, obscure Metroidvanias, speedrunning, experimental games and FPSs. He thinks Lulu by Metallica and Lou Reed is an all-time classic that will receive its due critical reappraisal one day.

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