Game Pass Is Unsustainable and Harmful to the Industry, Warns Arkane Founder Raphael Colantonio

As Microsoft’s sweeping layoffs impact more than 9,000 employees, including developers from its Xbox-owned studios, industry veteran Raphael Colantonio, founder of Arkane Studios, has taken to social media to voice a sharply critical opinion about Xbox Game Pass, describing the subscription service as “unsustainable” and “increasingly damaging” to the gaming industry.

“Why is no one talking about the elephant in the room? Cough cough (Game Pass). I think Game Pass is an unsustainable model that has been increasingly damaging the industry for a decade, subsidized by Microsoft’s ‘infinite money,’ but at some point, reality has to hit. I don’t think GP can co-exist with other models; they’ll either kill everyone else or give up.”

Colantonio warns of a grim future if Microsoft's subscription model dominates the market. He argues that once competitors are pushed out, Game Pass quality could decline while prices rise, as Microsoft will no longer need to subsidize it to attract users:

“What might happen once Microsoft has won: the games will start to suck and your sub will go up. Why? Because the current amazing deal you have is subsidized by Microsoft bleeding money into it with the hope they’ll kill the competition.”

He later clarified that the only scenario where Game Pass could responsibly co-exist with traditional models is by focusing exclusively on back-catalogue content, echoing the more cautious model Sony employs with its PlayStation Plus subscription. He added:

“The only way Game Pass can co-exist without hurting everyone is for the back catalogue. I’m fed up with all the BS they fed us at first, like ‘don’t worry, it doesn’t impact the sales,’ only to admit years later that it totally does. No shit it does! Really?”

Colantonio’s comments align with recent insights from Rhys Elliott, Head of Market Analysis at Alinea, who suggested Microsoft may have overcommitted to Game Pass. Elliott noted that games, unlike music or films, require significant time investment and aren’t consumed in the same volume or frequency, making the subscription model harder to sustain profitably.

Despite aggressive efforts to expand the platform—by including high-profile franchises like Call of Duty, Diablo, Elder Scrolls, Fallout, and DOOM—Xbox Game Pass is estimated to have around 35 million subscribers, which is well below Microsoft’s internal expectations.

Colantonio, now at WolfEye Studios, is working on a retro sci-fi first-person RPG published by NEOWIZ, following the studio’s release of Weird West. His critique is not new—he previously expressed disappointment after Arkane Austin, the studio he co-founded, was shuttered by Microsoft in 2023. This latest critique further underscores his skepticism toward Microsoft's long-term vision for the gaming industry.

Do you agree with Colantonio's concerns about Game Pass? Can subscription models truly support AAA game development in the long term, or are we heading toward a breaking point? Let us know your thoughts below.