Sniper Elite and Zombie Army developer Rebellion launched a new IP last month in the form of Atomfall, a wonderfully bizarre new open world survival action title that has seen solid critical acclaim and player numbers to match. Earlier this month, Rebellion announced that the game had crossed 2 million players since release, and the studio now says that its day and date release on Game Pass for PC and Xbox has had a big hand to play in that success.
Speaking with GamesIndustry, Rebellion CEO Jason Kingsley called Atomfall’s Game Pass launch a “huge success,” calling it a “really good deal” for both the British studio and Microsoft, who, according to Kingsley, have “been a fantastic partner to work with.”
“It’s been a huge success,” he said. “Microsoft has been a fantastic partner to work with, they’ve really leaned in to helping us. They brought their skills and their scale to bear on our small project, and it’s done really, really well for them, so they got a good deal, we got a good deal out of it as well.”
Speaking specifically about how Microsoft’s subscription service has helped the game, Kingsley touched on the exposure the service provides to games and new IP in particular, and how that lowers the barrier to entry.
“With Game Pass, you can get people to try it, then as a result of those people trying it, they like it, and they then tell their mates on social media, ‘I found this game on Game Pass, I really enjoyed it, you should have a go,’” he said. “And then some of them are on Game Pass, and will [play] it. But some of them aren’t on Game Pass, and will also want to be part of that conversation. So, they’ll go and buy it.
“At least, that’s our theory – we don’t have the data in for that. But Chris [Kingsley, co-founderand CTO] and I both feel, one of the biggest challenges for a company like us is discovery. And Game Pass has allowed for a lot of discovery for our game.”
Kingsley added that Game Pass helped the studio “mitigate risk.” He admitted that launching on the service does perhaps cannibalize sales, but as per the Rebellion CEO, the tradeoff makes it worth it.
“Yes, it does mitigate risk, because without going into details, they guarantee you a certain level of income, regardless of what it will sell for,” he said. “But it potentially has a knock-on effect. Places like Xbox sales, for example. You could argue that all the hardcore are on Game Pass, and they’re the ones that might buy a new IP like this, so therefore, are you cannibalising one section of the audience? And I think, perhaps, yes, a little bit. But what you gain from that cost is disproportionate.”
Atomfall is available on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Read our review of the game through here.
