Baldur's Gate 3 made its surprise debut on Xbox and many gamers expected it to make the jump straight to Game Pass. However, Larian Studios stated that their game will not be coming to the subscription service as they feel it is fairly priced for everything it offers.
The studio again criticized the subscription service model. This after Ubisoft revamped Ubisoft+ and stated that gamers should be comfortable with the idea that they don't own the games they enjoy.
Larian will not support subscription services for this reason
Swen Vincke, executive manager of Larian Studios, reacted to Ubisoft's statements and rebuked their stance. The executive knows that the subscription model has helped many developers bring their games to life; however, he believes their model is dangerous if it becomes the industry standard.
"It’s going to be a lot harder to get good content if subscription becomes the dominant model. Direct from developer to players is the way," the studio chief said.
He added that if the service model dominates, there may come a time when this will define what games will be created. For Vincke, this is an uncertain future that gamers would rather not know about. The reason? He believes that services will drive games focused on maximizing profits, which sooner or later will be a hindrance to creativity.
"Getting a board to O.K a project fueled by idealism is almost impossible, and idealism needs room to exist, even if it can lead to disaster. We are already all dependent on a select group of digital distribution platforms and discoverability is brutal. Should those platforms all switch to a subscription, it’ll become savage," added the developer.
Finally, Vincke stated that he has no problem with some developers betting everything on subscription services; however, he thinks it is important not to abandon the traditional model as he considers it very valuable.
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