Mike Brown says Xbox Game Pass never attracted enough subscribers to make the service financially sustainable. Despite this, the former director of Forza Horizon 5 still considers the subscription model and its diverse selection of games a good idea.

For months, Xbox has accumulated numerous pieces of negative news pointing in the same direction: mass layoffs, game cancellations, and the departure of several studios following the dismissal of 3,200 employees. It is evident that Microsoft’s video game strategy has not worked as expected, and a significant part of the problem could be connected to Xbox Game Pass, which has not grown as anticipated over the last few years. Mike Brown, former director of Forza Horizon 5, has now offered his opinion on the subject.

The Forza Horizon 5 Director Does Not Consider Xbox Game Pass Viable

Mike Brown, who directed Forza Horizon 5 and left Playground Games in 2023, stated in an interview with MinnMax that Xbox Game Pass is “not viable” because it never managed to attract enough subscribers at the price the company needed to charge for the service. “The reality is that there aren’t enough subscribers for the business to be viable,” Brown said. The developer was also asked about the wave of layoffs affecting Xbox, and he did not hesitate to identify a phenomenon that he believes will continue over the coming years.

The British developer believes that some of the cuts carried out by Xbox are the result of Game Pass failing to work as it should have. “We’re going to see studios closed or spun off, and a lot of people are going to lose their jobs. And honestly, that is the result of an Xbox Game Pass idea designed for the player that, fundamentally, never quite came together,” he explained. Despite this, Brown still considers Game Pass a “good idea” because he believes the service “offers a very diverse selection of titles.”

The current director of Clutch at Maverick Games, whose new title could become a future competitor to Forza Horizon, also spoke about Sarah Bond, who previously served as president of Xbox for a period of time. “Every time she spoke, she was so insightful, intelligent, and impressive. She’s one of those people you can almost relax a little while listening to because you feel somewhat reassured by how competent she is,” Brown said. In related news, Jason Schreier commented a few days earlier that Game Pass has many detractors within Xbox and that some game directors believe the service destroys the value of their games.

Source: 3DJuegos