Raphaël Colantonio, the founder and former president of Arkane Studios, which is known for its critically acclaimed titles, has voiced serious concerns about the impact of Microsoft’s Game Pass service on the gaming industry. Colantonio, who played a pivotal role in co-directing the original Dishonored game before leaving the studio in 2019, took to social media to express his worries after Microsoft announced substantial layoffs across several of its game studios.

In a provocative post, he questioned why the gaming community isn’t addressing what he referred to as the "elephant in the room." He specifically highlighted Game Pass, stating, “I think Game Pass is an unsustainable model that has been increasingly damaging the industry for a decade, subsidized by MS’s ‘infinite money.’ However, at some point, reality has to hit. I don’t think Game Pass can co-exist with other models; they’ll either kill everyone else or give up.”

Colantonio didn’t shy away from expressing his frustration, saying he is “fed up with all the bs [Xbox] fed us” regarding claims that Game Pass does not negatively affect premium game sales. He elaborated that the business model could disrupt the entire ecosystem of the gaming industry. “Only the gamers like it because the offer is too good to be true, but eventually even gamers will hate it when they realize the effects on the games,” he warned.

This criticism comes in light of significant cuts within Microsoft, which included the cancellation of several games and the layoffs of numerous employees. Phil Spencer, Microsoft’s head of gaming, addressed these cuts in a message to staff, explaining that they were intended to “end or decrease work in certain areas of the business and follow Microsoft’s lead in removing layers of management to increase agility and effectiveness.” This restructuring has raised questions about the sustainability of projects under the Game Pass model.

Despite the criticism, not all voices in the industry share Colantonio’s viewpoint. Jason Kingsley, the CEO of Rebellion, recently praised the Game Pass model, stating that launching their survival action game Atomfall on Xbox Game Pass had been a “huge success.” He expressed gratitude for Microsoft’s partnership, noting that the support they received significantly contributed to the success of their project. “They brought their skills and their scale to bear on our small project, and it’s done really, really well for them, so they got a good deal, we got a good deal out of it as well,” Kingsley remarked.

Furthermore, Xbox has reported that the number of hours gamers spend playing on their platform is “continuing to grow fairly substantially,” which they attribute partly to the allure of Game Pass.