Microsoft paid an indie studio a major sum of money in order to add its game to the Xbox Game Pass library. It seems to have turned out to be a very good deal for said studio.
The game in question is Cooking Simulator. Originally released on Steam back in 2019, the game will now be added to the Xbox Game Pass catalog. In its report, developer Big Cheese Studio has revealed the exact amount of money it has received from Microsoft in return for putting the game on its service.
The software giant made a one-time payment of $600,000 to the Cooking Simulator creators in order to include the game on Game Pass. Big Cheese Studio got a terrific bargain because the sum received from Microsoft is about equal to 22% of its revenue from the previous fiscal year.
After Cooking Simulator is added to the Game Pass library, anyone subscribers to the service will have access to the game. Given that the game’s audience has significantly diminished since its debut, according to the SteamDB statistics, this is unlikely to have a detrimental effect on the title’s sales. Currently, the game’s 24-hour peak player count is less than 300 players.
More than 700,000 copies of Cooking Simulator have been sold overall, Big Cheese Studio revealed. Additionally, the studio have sold over 400 000 copies of various add-ons.
In addition to making lucrative Game Pass offers to indie game developers and publishers alike, Microsoft is also introducing a more affordable Xbox Game Pass Family Plan for consumers. Currently, residents of Colombia and Ireland who have purchased the “Xbox Game Pass – Insider Preview” Game Pass plan via the Microsoft Store are eligible to preview the new Family Plan, which will allow multiple people to share Game Pass Ultimate benefits.
According to Xbox, the initiative will make it easier for subscribers to play Game Pass games with their friends and family across console, PC, and cloud by enabling them to add up to four people to their subscription, all with their own unique access to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate games, content, and benefits.
