Xbox Game Pass could be a boon for indie developers

When Xbox Game Pass is discussed, it's often in terms of the value it presents to consumers: Halo Infinite, Psychonauts 2, Hellblade 2, and many more besides, all for one monthly payment.
What it means for third-party developers remains mysterious, however. While the bulk of the Game Pass catalogue is composed of games made by developers that don't belong to Xbox Game Studios, it isn't obvious how a publisher like, say, Square Enix makes the decision to put an otherwise saleable product into a subscription catalogue.
And if Game Pass means one thing to a huge company like Square Enix, it will mean something very different to a person like Davionne Gooden, the sole employee of Studio Zevere and the creator of the promising indie title, She Dreams Elsewhere.
"Look out for the unique money," Gooden advised other indie developers at the end of a talk at GDC Summer this week. "[Money] that's very specific to your situation, rather the standard publishing deals or crowdfunding or stuff like that."

"Look out for the unique money... [Money] that's very specific to your situation"

For Gooden, that meant a deal to put She Dreams Elsewhere on Xbox Game Pass, long before the game was finished and had a chance to stand on its own in the marketplace. In his talk, Gooden described the long gestation of the project, and finding the unique voice that drew our attention when we met him at PAX East at the start of this year.

https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...die-developers