‘Game Pass Could’ve Worked’: Ori Director Blasts Xbox for Pushing ‘Mediocre Content’ Over Hits

Ori series director Thomas Mahler has publicly criticised Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass strategy, arguing that the platform’s disappointing growth and recent subscriber losses are caused by an overabundance of “mediocre content” and a lack of standout titles, citing the failure to deliver major hits as a key issue.

Moon Studios CEO Thomas Mahler, known for directing both acclaimed Ori titles, has delivered a scathing assessment of Xbox Game Pass, saying, “The Gamepass strategy could’ve worked if people would’ve shown up for it. Problem is: They didn’t and the software catalogue was just nowhere near good enough to make people happily pay the subscription every month.” The remarks come as Microsoft faces mounting pressure over its subscription model, with reports of “significant cuts across its gaming business” and the potential shutdown of at least three studios, including Double Fine, Compulsion, and Ninja Theory, following the company’s aggressive acquisition push aimed at strengthening Game Pass.

Game Pass last reported 34 million subscribers in February 2024. However, growth has slowed, and a recent price increase reportedly led to the loss of “millions of subscribers” within months, according to Xbox. The business model drew further criticism from Mahler, who compared it to film streaming services but pointed out a critical difference:

“It’s the same as with streaming in the film business: I’ll happily pay my HBO sub cause HBO has amazing content that I want to watch. I’d keep that sub just to binge Sopranos, The Wire, GoT, etc. But with games, ‘NEW’ for some reason is very, very important to players. And if your new content doesn’t even remotely match the quality of the old content, you’ve got a problem.”

Xbox’s Struggle to Deliver Hit Games Fuels Game Pass Weakness

Mahler says Xbox has failed to create must-play first-party titles in recent years, undermining Game Pass’s core value. He wrote: “But what was the big Xbox game in recent years that was just delightfully good? That game doesn’t exist. Almost every single first-party studio in recent years has been floundering. You’d want Bethesda to create a ‘Skyrim in Space’ that ought to be better than Skyrim was cause that was an old game: But we got Starfield instead.”

According to Mahler, Xbox studios have not understood, “deeply, fundamentally… what’s a good game and what’s a mediocre game,” nor have they established “good deals with devs so developers are actively incentivized to produce massive hits, not just slop out mediocre content like a factory.”

Describing Game Pass as having become “a little like Communism” for its weak creative incentives, Mahler argued, “it had not given developers ‘a strong incentive to roll up their sleeves and go the extra mile.’ And if you then don’t get the quality you need, it all comes crashing down cause players will not pay up unless you basically force them to by making content that’s so good that they feel like they miss out if they don’t check it out.”

Data: Xbox Performance and Game Pass Impact

• Game Pass Subscribers: 34 million reported in February 2024, growth slowing since.
• Price Increase: Led to “millions” of lost subscribers within a few months, per Xbox admission.
• Studio Closures: Microsoft reportedly plans to close at least three acquired studios: Double Fine, Compulsion, Ninja Theory.
• Metacritic Publisher Rank (Microsoft):
  • 2025: #5
  • 2024 (Bethesda): #8
  • 2023: Not top 10
  • 2022: Not top 10
  • 2021: #1 (Helped by Forza Horizon 5, Psychonauts 2, Microsoft Flight Simulator)

In response to concern about Microsoft’s “overbuying” of studios to feed its Game Pass ambitions, Mahler’s comments suggest that the focus on consistent content pipelines has instead led to a sense of “factory” production, not the breakout hits required to attract and retain a steadily paying audience. This is supported by industry data: after brief momentum in 2021, Microsoft has failed to consistently rank among the top publishers for quality output, according to Metacritic’s annual reviews.

Mahler described players’ attitudes succinctly: “With games, ‘NEW’ for some reason is very, very important to players. And if your new content doesn’t even remotely match the quality of the old content, you’ve got a problem.” As the Xbox ecosystem faces cuts, shrinking subscriber numbers, and public criticism from celebrated developers, the platform’s future success likely depends on its ability to deliver high-quality, must-play titles—a metric where, according to Mahler, “that game doesn’t exist” today.

Key Quotes: Thomas Mahler on Game Pass and Xbox Strategy

• On Game Pass Quality: “The Gamepass strategy could’ve worked if people would’ve shown up for it. Problem is: They didn’t and the software catalogue was just nowhere near good enough to make people happily pay the subscription every month.”
  
• On New Content: “With games, ‘NEW’ for some reason is very, very important to players. And if your new content doesn’t even remotely match the quality of the old content, you’ve got a problem.”
  
• On Xbox’s Recent Output: “But what was the big Xbox game in recent years that was just delightfully good? That game doesn’t exist.”
  
• On Starfield: “You’d want Bethesda to create a ‘Skyrim in Space’ that ought to be better than Skyrim was cause that was an old game: But we got Starfield instead.”
  
• On Incentives: “They’d need to have good deals with devs so developers are actively incentivized to produce massive hits, not just slop out mediocre content like a factory.”
  
• On Game Pass as Creative Model: “Game Pass had become ‘a little like Communism’ because it had not given developers ‘a strong incentive to roll up their sleeves and go the extra mile’.”
  

These statements underscore the recurring criticism levelled at Game Pass: that quantity has overtaken quality, with few recent Xbox exclusives resonating in the way hits like Ori, Forza Horizon 5, or Psychonauts 2 did. For Game Pass—and Xbox as a platform—to regain momentum, Mahler argues it needs an injection of exceptional releases that compel players to subscribe not out of obligation, but out of excitement for must-play content.