Microsoft has never disclosed any financial information about Game Pass deals. However, a games industry expert stated that the company could have paid between $5 and $10 million to bring Guardians of the Galaxy to its subscription service.
MST Financial senior analyst David Gibson shared the information when discussing Sony’s upcoming subscription service codenamed Spartacus on Twitter.
He noted that Spartacus won’t go head-to-head with Game Pass, considering that first-party games won’t appear on PlayStation’s service day one.
“Keep in mind that [Microsoft] paid about $5-10m for Guardians of the Galaxy to be on Games Pass,” Gibson wrote. “That is like $2 per game when retail is $29. Ok that is all profit but not too many publishers will be doing that given the low economics from Game Pass.”
Keep in mind that MSFT paid about US$5-$10m for Guardians of the Galaxy to be on Games Pass… that is like $2 per game when retail is $29. Ok that is all profit but not too many publishers will be doing that given the low economics from Game Pass.
— David Gibson (@gibbogame) March 26, 2022
Although these numbers haven’t been officially confirmed, the MST analyst said that he has been covering Square Enix data for 15 years. So this estimate is based on “discussions with Square Enix and others.”
Guardians of the Galaxy, developed by Eidos Montreal, came out in October 2021. Despite warm reviews, it undershot Square Enix’s expectations. However, the game’s addition to Game Pass boosted its popularity and helped it take 12th place among the most played Xbox titles.