In an interview for PC Gamer, developers of Slay the Spire and Darkest Dungeon shared their views on the current state of once-lucrative exclusive deals and the investment climate for indie games in general.
Mega Crit co-founder Casey Yano, the studio known for Slay the Spire, said at least five small indie teams he's spoken to have complained about funding and partnership cuts or cancellations. "We are definitely very privileged to be able to finance ourselves. Otherwise, I would be very, very afraid now," he added.
On the other side, Red Hook Studios co-founder and Darkest Dungeon creative director Chris Bourassa noted that offers to get games on Game Pass or exclusivity on the Epic Games Store have decreased in volume and become less meaningful for indie developers: “The gold rush is over. I come from the Northwest Territories. The town I'm from was built on gold, and then further north they found diamonds. We may be in for another paradigm shift, but I definitely think the volume of jobs I'm hearing about has been significantly reduced. We certainly got our Epic "job" at the right time," he said.
Over the years, Microsoft has partnered with hundreds of developers and publishers of all sizes to grow Game Pass subscribers. Some games are added to the service at launch, and the company spends millions, sometimes hundreds of millions, on these deals. For example, according to a raw court document leaked as part of the case FTC v. Microsoft, Xbox was willing to pay up to $300 million to add Star Wars Jedi: Survivor to Game Pass and even estimated a potential deal for Baldur's Gate 3 at just $5 million.
Epic Games has also invested heavily in exclusive contracts with development teams. They paid out minimum guarantees of $210 million during the first wave of Epic Games Store exclusives in August 2019. As a result, the store has remained unprofitable since November 2023, and the company has stated that its total loss could reach $965 million dollars until 2027.
These contracts have helped many independent developers secure guaranteed revenue for their games even before launch. Even studios within large corporations had the opportunity to develop less risky projects. For example, Obsidian's director of design, Josh Sawyer, pointed out that Pentiment owes its existence to Game Pass. Some creators, however, are skeptical of such services. David Szymanski, the creator of DUSK, says that “if or any similar subscription service took over the current model, I'm pretty sure it would be the end of the indie market as we know it today.”
Xbox and Epic seem to be getting less and less generous with their offers. Therefore, the creators of Darkest Dungeon, Slay the Spire, Vampire Survivors and other indie hits recently announced Triple-i Initiative, which will present digital showcase of 30+ titles to be held on April 10.
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