There’s an ongoing debate as to whether Microsoft’s Game Pass hurts or helps sales of titles that are available on the service. But as far as id Software co-founder and Doom co-creator John Romero is concerned, Game Pass is beneficial to the video game industry.
Via True Achievements, Romero was recently interviewed by Xbox Expansion Pass, and he was effusive with his praise for Game Pass.
“I love it,” said Romero. “I mean, who doesn’t love Game Pass? It’s Netflix for games; who doesn’t want that? It’s great because it’s try before you buy… one thing after another thing. Really the barrier for people to play games is just access to those games. Even free-to-play games, it’s like, knowing that those games exist, and Game Pass is like ‘Here they are!'”
Romero went on to add that Game Pass “doesn’t hurt the game companies that made those games,” because players get to experience titles more quickly even if they don’t keep them. It’s unclear if Romero feels this way even about games that launch on Game Pass at the same time that they hit stores. Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 was seemingly unaffected by its availability on Game Pass, and it was the top-selling game in America for 2024. Conversely, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle only debuted at No. 14 on December 2024’s list of best-selling games. That game may have also been hampered by the fact that its PlayStation 5 port won’t arrive until later this spring.
Although Romero didn’t work on Doom: The Dark Ages, that title will be a day-one release on Game Pass when it arrives on May 15. And unlike Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, it will also be hitting PlayStation 5 at the same time as its debut on Xbox Series X|S.
