In an era where subscription models like Xbox Game Pass dominate the world of gaming, Racoon Logic’s co-founder and creative director, Alex Hutchinson, has stepped forward with a comment that we didn’t expect to see so soon, but something many would still agree with.
In a recent barrage of tweets, which were more of a to-and-fro conversation with another gaming industry professional, the Revenge of the Savage Planet creator warned of the dangers posed by a growing industry trend: sacrificing traditional game launches in favour of subscription-based exposure. And in his eyes, Nintendo is the only major player left with the spine to resist.
Services like the Xbox Game Pass versus Nintendo: Where is the gaming industry headed?
In a June 2025 feature by Gamer Social Club, Alex Hutchinson detailed why subscription services such as Xbox Game Pass, which might help in getting more reach and appeal amongst gamers, might actually hurt developers more than they help. The major issue? These services make developers lose more players than they gain.
The hope was that the exposure would lead to people who got the game as part of their subscription to at least buy the little add on pack or to encourage a friend to buy it on another platform so they could play it together but we haven’t seen that, or at least not yet.
In the same conversation, the co-founder of Racoon Logic also called for all the developers in the industry to come together and agree to only release games on subscription services after they’ve been out for a year.
In a recent Twitter thread that was mentioned before, he also went over how everyone, except Nintendo, is in a race to ‘value content at zero‘, something that is not going to end well.
Everyone except Nintendo is also in a race to value content at zero which will end in tears.
— Alex Hutchinson (@BangBangClick) June 9, 2025
Gamers deserve better, and the Racoon Logic boss recognises and applauds Nintendo for doing so, placing the studio on a pedestal. The Japanese studio, despite its flaws, has been praised before for refusing to fully embrace the subscription model and maintaining its emphasis on standalone releases, something that every Nintendo fan must love.
To him, Nintendo’s approach ensures that big games still receive big fanfare, an art form he believes is being abandoned by the major industry players as they get busy chasing after the subscription profits instead.
Gaming Subscriptions like Xbox Game Pass and their effect on the gaming industry
The Xbox Game Pass and its alternative subscriptions have started to dominate the industry, thanks to the offered convenience for the players and widespread exposure for the game developers.
However, it is not always rainbows and giggles with the titles on these subscriptions. Specifically for smaller studios, their games are lost in the large sea rather than being celebrated. The earlier-mentioned quote by the Racoon Logic co-founder remains a testimony to this fact.
Nintendo’s consistent refusal to adopt a full-scale subscription service like Game Pass has often been seen as old-fashioned, but ironically, it has now become the one thing that might just save the gaming industry. After all, nobody knows if these subscription models aim to come on the right track in the future, or if they are going to embrace these flaws instead.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
