“Not everything needs a season pass” Former Xbox executive wants more varied video games at a lower cost

The reality of the video game industry today is that it has crashed head-on into rising production costs and it is nearly impossible to stay on the upward trend that demands more size, more quality, more design, more in every aspect. Ambitious games that take 5 or more years in development are an increasingly risky bet and there are those who are calling for a change that benefits everyone, including an Xbox legend.

Major Nelson also thinks that the AAA model is in crisis and there must be changes.

Through a post on his X account, Larry Hryb, better known as Major Nelson during all the years he worked for the Microsoft video game brand, joined those calling for changes in the game offering. His request was a response to a debate between Tom Henderson of Insider-Gaming and Paul Tassi of Forbes regarding the future of the industry now that single-player AAAs cost hundreds of millions of dollars and if they don’t sell enough they are a failure.

In this regard, journalists think that will increase the number of short, but focused games that will provide between 15 and 20 hoursalthough they will maintain the $70 USD standard, which would be questionable to some.

In that sense, Major Nelson pointed out that the industry needs more variety in its video game offering, but a price reduction must also be considered if there is not as much content, something that seems difficult given the financial demands of the companies. Likewise, the former Xbox executive criticized that there are more and more video games that rely on the season pass model and pointed out that not all titles should have it, this as a proposal for there to be new progression models for the user and monetization for developers and editors.

Recently, and in the context of what seems to be a turning point for the development of video games, Techland, creators of Dying Lightpointed out that the future of the industry is in games that last at most 20 hours, that get to the point and have focused but high-quality content. On the other hand, even FromSoftware, through its director Hidetaka Miyazaki, acknowledged that its limit is ELDEN RING and they have no plans to make a bigger game because it would be, from their perspective, counterproductive.

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