The Callisto Protocol developer, Striking Distance Studios, considered adding its upcoming horror game to Xbox Game Pass, but “as a single-player linear game, it’s really hard to be successful in those types of services.”Xbox Game Pass is a service that has taken the world by storm since it launched in 2017, but in a recent interview with Striking Distance Studios’ chief technology officer Mark James, we were told that the service is a difficult place for independent linear single-player games like The Callisto Protocol, so don’t expect it to make our list of titles coming to Xbox Game Pass in 2022 and 2023.The Callisto Protocol won’t be coming to Xbox Game PassThe Callisto Protocol is a single-player, third-person linear horror game coming from Striking Distance Studios and the minds behind Dead Space. The title was given a fresh gameplay trailer during Gamescom 2022, which you can see above, and while we were at the show we asked the studios’ CTO, Mark James about the possibility of seeing a title like The Callisto Protocol joining Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass service. While the team “think about it,” they suggest that ultimately the service isn’t the right place for a single-player game from an independent studio to thrive. You play through once [in The Callisto Protocol]. I think those services are built towards some of the open-world style and repetitive multiplayer games. I think games [like that] survive well on that service.Of course, that’s not saying that no single-player games can thrive on the service, as Microsoft launches all of its first-party titles into Xbox Game Pass on day one, but as an independent studio, it sounds like it’s not the most profitable scenario. “Microsoft has their own single-player games within the service, and I still think you’re going to see the platform holder studios provide single-player games in them; I’m just saying [that] as a financial model, it’s a difficult one to make work as an independent studio,” James said. “I think you’re going to see single-player games, but it will probably come from the hardware companies.””As an independent, third-party, it’s really hard to make a linear third-person game work within those services. I’m not saying never; it’s hard financially to make that work,” James concludes. We’ll be dropping plenty of interviews and impressions articles from our time at Gamescom in the coming days. For now, we would love to know your thoughts on this one. Do you think independent single-player games can thrive on Xbox Game Pass at launch? Drop a comment below and let us know!
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