• Light/Dark
  • Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.

Rumor: Microsoft will lower cut to 12% for Xbox games; S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 is a 3-month console exclusive [Up: MS - No revenue change at this time]

Reader mode

stormfire

Member
Nov 26, 2018
2,846
Last week, Microsoft announced the introduction of a better revenue share for game developers on the PC Microsoft Store.

This document originally penned in January 2021 reveals that Microsoft plans to do the same for the Microsoft Store on Xbox. The timeframe of the announcement is the same as that for the Microsoft Store on PC, which could suggest the official news is incoming
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
microsoft_document_1-1920x1361.jpg


The documents also reveal that Microsoft had been planning to adopt this lower store rate on the PC side with an important caveat. "There is a proposal currently under Gaming Leadership Team consideration to adopt 88 / 12 as a public PC games revenue share for all games in exchange for the grant of streaming rights to Microsoft," reveals the document. We asked Microsoft whether this proposal went ahead, but the company refused to comment in time for publication. Microsoft is planning to cut its share of revenue for PC games to 12 percent in August, but it's not clear if the streaming rights clause is still included. The streaming rights clause would mean developers have to ensure games are available on xCloud for this improved revenue cut.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

QRSIzcT.png


In another internal Microsoft document labeled as 'Executive Portfolio Update', we also learned the exclusivity details for some ID@XBOX games. The most important is undoubtedly GSC Game World's S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2, which will be a console exclusive for three months

There's also an estimated release date window of Q4 2021, though this document is from August 2020, and a delay is far from unlikely. Furthermore, the slide below mentions a six-month exclusivity on 'connected updates' for Tetris Effect: Connected and a perpetual exclusive for The Gunk, which means that this game will never be released on other consoles.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

microsoft_document_2.jpg


wccftech.com

STALKER 2 Is a 3-Month Console Exclusive; Microsoft Considered Increasing Revenue Share for Xbox Games, Too [UPDATED]

New documents reveal Microsoft plans to increase revenue share for Xbox games, too. We learned the exclusivity length for STALKER 2 as well.
wccftech.com wccftech.com
www.theverge.com

Microsoft explored reducing its Xbox store cut to shake up console gaming

Microsoft had wanted to cut fees to just 12 percent
www.theverge.com www.theverge.com
 
Last edited:
Shirkelton

Shirkelton

Member
Aug 20, 2020
5,975
Has there ever been a timed exclusive that short? That seems very doubtful to me, but going purely off gut feeling.
 

Raigor

Member
May 14, 2020
15,130
There's no way STALKER is releasing this year, i just don't believe it.
 
BeeDog

BeeDog

Member
Oct 26, 2017
4,549
If that's indeed the case, quite sweet from my perspective (PS5-only owner for this gen). Either way, doubt the game will be out any time soon anyway.

On the smaller cut, that's really cool and I hope it has ripple effects throughout (e.g. Sony and Nintendo, though I don't know their cuts).
 

Deleted member 15973

User-requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
5,172
I wonder if they will pass the savings to us like Epic does or they will keep games at the same price. Great move Xbox.
 
Tora

Tora

The Enlightened Wise Ones
Member
Jun 17, 2018
8,637
Great way to encourage all third parties to get their games onto the system

I wonder what this means for the price of some games though; greed always wins but perhaps this might mean more 60 dollar games on that platform as opposed to 70 from some publishers going forward
 
Hamster Plugin

Hamster Plugin

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,840
iboshow said:
I wonder if they will pass the savings to us like Epic does or they will keep games at the same price. Great move Xbox.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...
What? Epic doesn't pass any savings to us, all their exclusive deals like Borderlands 3 and Hitman 3 have been full priced. Metro Exodus was also full price outside the USA so the price didn't change after getting removed from Steam.
 
FelipeMGM

FelipeMGM

#Skate4
Moderator
Oct 25, 2017
3,012
JustAnotherOne said:
This is big, would make second party exclusives deals to Sony/Nintendo harder to justify I guess.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

third-party exclusives you mean, like the ones mentioned in the document. ''Second-party'' deals are just first-party games made by third-party devs (like Returnal or Tell Me Why for example)

but yeah, would be a pretty big deal
 
Oregano

Oregano

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,878
That would be a pretty huge move and it makes sense for Microsoft. They don't care if they break the console model because their primary product is Game Pass now.
 
Richter1887

Richter1887

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
39,146
Hmm

The 12 percent cut could be really bad for the other platforms. MS can afford it (and it will probably lead to more developers putting their games on the platform) but the other two will get worse revenue for not much gain.

In any case, it would be good for developers so that isn't an issue for me.
 
Zem

Zem

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,969
United Kingdom
Would love to see what the competition would do if one of the big players like MS dropped the cut on consoles. Right now it's easy to ignore since it's mostly an EGS thing, but this would shake some things up.
 

Deleted member 68874

Account closed at user request
Banned
May 10, 2020
10,441
The store cut for the Xbox store is massive news if it ends up happening. Itd be great if it kept games at $60 on Xbox.

Hope it ends up happening and gets the other platform holders to follow.
 
Last edited:
Oregano

Oregano

One Winged Slayer
Member
Oct 25, 2017
22,878
Richter1887 said:
Hmm

The 12 percent cut could be really bad for the other platforms. MS can afford it (and it will probably lead to more developers putting their games on the platform) but the other two will get worse revenue for not much gain.

In any case, it would be good for developers so that isn't an issue for me.
Click to expand...
Click to shrink...

It would be significantly worse for Sony than Nintendo as well though, because Nintendo's primary revenue driver is their first party software(80% of their software revenue).
 
CliveLH

CliveLH

Member
Jun 22, 2019
2,225
I wonder if Microsoft would be willing to go even lower if the publisher go in the Game Pass.

I know Epic does this where if you use Unreal Engine the cut is lower on the Epic Game Store. Here if the publisher agrees to go on Game Pass, every sell through the Xbox Store would give higher % than usual. I think it could be a good deal.
 
Dust

Dust

C H A O S
Member
Oct 25, 2017
32,149
As for the cut it will be interesting since devs cannot ignore much larger PS/Nintendo install base than Xbox's but at the same time it's 30% vs 12% cut.
 

Deleted member 73507

Banned
Jul 1, 2020
327
Only taking a 12% cut would be massive and a great move from MS.
One thing that's weird is that The Gunk is gonna be a full Xbox/PC exclusive but it was revealed with "Console Launch Exclusive," which I always took to mean Timed Exclusive. If it doesn't mean Timed exclusive then what the fuck does it mean?
 
KefkaPalazzo

KefkaPalazzo

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,591
That's some potentially industry shaking news in the very best way. Playstation would have to respond and it's all to the benifet of creators. Hope it's true.
 
Scottoest

Scottoest

Member
Feb 4, 2020
11,319
Not sure if I buy it, but lowering their cut to 12% on CONSOLE would be a megaton for the business side of the industry.
 
SCUMMbag

SCUMMbag

Prophet of Truth - Chicken Chaser
Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,575
12% cut on a console would be wild. Great for developers if it happens.
 
get2sammyb

get2sammyb

Editor at Push Square
Verified
Oct 27, 2017
3,006
UK
Revenue share thing is obviously good news for developers, but could potentially be bad news for Sony. Seems Microsoft really is committed to outspending them and attempting to strangle them out of the market.
 
Reader mode
You must log in or register to reply here.