Finji, the publisher of the indie hit Tunic, has expressed concerns over gaming subscription services and what they could imply for the industry's future. Subscription services have been growing in popularity in recent years with gamers gaining access to a variety of titles ranging from indie games like Tunic all the way to Assassin's Creed, at a fraction of the price. But publishers like Finji wonder how the landscape will take shape amid these subscription services, particularly with regard to indie developers.
Finji itself isn't new to subscription services. The publisher has released Chicory on PlayStation Plus, Overland in Apple Arcade, and three other games on Xbox Game Pass, which included the highly successful Tunic. So far, the likes of Game Pass have helped boost the company's indie titles to popularity. In fact, Tunic is currently nominated for four accolades at the latest DICE Awards event. Though despite the success, Finji shares a cautious view when it comes to subscription services and indies in general, according to the company's Chief Executive.
In an interview with GamesIndustry.biz, Finji CEO Bekah Saltsman mentions her fear over the possibility of indie developers being left out of subscription services in the future. She shares that the concern lies with the fact that since these "libraries are so big and the companies are so prolific with huge user bases" the services may no longer need indie developers. In a situation where the majority of players spend time on a single game and services like Game Pass perform better with live-service titles, would the companies be able to justify a budget for another project with a "fraction of a fraction of a fraction of players compared to something doing a huge portion of numbers on the service?" asks Saltsman.
Of course, subscription services only appear to be growing as more gamers look for affordable options with more choices, particularly as more titles ship with higher price tags. Recently, it was rumored that Ubisoft+ may be coming to consoles, which indicates other publishers could be looking to capitalize on the subscription space dominated by the likes of Game Pass and PlayStation Plus. Whether this growing interest will pay off for big-budget developers as well as the smaller indie teams, time will tell.
Though eyes continue to focus on the subscription space, some stakeholders claim the bigger opportunity lies with live-service games. Back in May 2022, PlayStation CEO Jim Ryan stated that he believes live-service games will overtake subscription services. This is already true for companies like EA, where the publisher accounts for over 70% of its revenues from live-service titles. Even so, it's unlikely that the demand for subscription services will die down anytime soon, especially considering the value proposition. As Tunic publisher Finji's CEO puts it, what the industry could hope for is that players will continue to "keep paying for the work that the teams do in a way that doesn't hurt them."
Source: GamesIndustry.biz (via Pure Xbox)