Solo developer behind The Falconeer and Bulwark explains why Game Pass is so great for indies: "If you get in it's generally a very positive thing for a dev."

The Falconeer
(Image credit: Tomas Sala)

Discussions about Game Pass typically revolve around the big titles like Black Ops 6, Starfield and more, but one solo dev has detailed why the service is such a good thing for indie games like theirs. 

During a recent Reddit AMA, Thomas Sala, the solo developer behind indie gems The Falconeer and Bulwark: Falconeer Chronicles, was asked to give his opinion on Xbox's Game Pass model. The Falconeer, Sala's first title, made its way onto Game Pass around a year after its initial release, and thanks to the attention it garnered there, he would love to be featured on the service again. 

"I'd be on Game Pass the moment they could fit me in, no questions asked," Sala begins. "Falconeer did about a million installs on Game Pass." He goes on to explain that, for him, making games is not about the money, and Game Pass was a great way for him to reach a new audience. "I'm a dev, I fucking want players, [I] don't care about the money, let folks play!"

Unfortunately, as Sala notes, getting your game onto Game Pass is not in the hands of developers or publishers, explaining that "Microsoft carefully curates Game Pass with a regular release cadence. If your game fits the schedule and meets expectations and you have signalled you're open to making a deal, Microsoft might offer you a slot."

That being said, Sala is still positive about the service and believes that for developers lucky enough to be given a slot, it can be hugely beneficial. "These things are up to the gods in Redmond and if you get in it's generally a very positive thing for a dev, especially in indie. They are more than fair in compensation and you get a huge audience."

If you're a subscriber, be sure to check out the best games on Game Pass right now.

Alex Raisbeck
Contributor

Alex has written all sorts of things for websites including VideoGamer, PCGamer, PCGamesN and more. He'll play anything from Tekken to Team Fortress 2, but you'll typically find him failing to churn through his backlog because he's too busy playing whatever weird and wonderful indie games have just come out.

Read more
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle - using the whip to travel down a cave wall
How PC Game Pass can help transform the way that you play
Palworld
Palworld dev says he's swamped with offers for Pocketpair's new publishing company, which is all about "giving devs the financial freedom to make games they want"
Xbox Game Pass
10 PC exclusives to play through PC Game Pass this year
Best Xbox Game Pass games - Hellblade 2 photo mode screenshot of protagonist Senua, with war paint and runes painted on her face.
The 25 best games on Game Pass for Xbox and PC
Frostpunk 2
We already picked our best games of the year, but here's the ones you can play through PC Game Pass today
The Doom Slayer standing in front of fire in the FPS game, Doom: The Dark Ages.
Xbox CEO Phil Spencer doesn't "want to see every game turn into some big live service," says Game Pass allows for more "games that have a beginning, middle and end"
Latest in City Builder
A screenshot of a castle in Manor Lords.
Manor Lords dev confirms "castles and sieges are now in the works" for the city builder, as well as a new map that could get its own game mode in the future
9 Kings armies at war in a green field
The hottest city builder in Steam Next Fest is actually a roguelike deck builder in disguise: "Break the game with thousands of insane builds"
Manor Lords
Manor Lords patch adds new maps and a city builder staple, bridge-building, and also makes it so "taverns realize ale isn't magic – it's just ale"
Screenshot from River Town, showing a top-down view of a little city with a river running across it.
Tetris some towns together in this cute city builder brought back to life by Kickstarter after the studio "had to let everyone go" last year
The Falconeer
Solo developer behind The Falconeer and Bulwark explains why Game Pass is so great for indies: "If you get in it's generally a very positive thing for a dev."
a medieval castle on a steep cliffside
Move over Manor Lords, this cozy medieval city builder is so good it "ruined other builders," and it's leaving early access very soon
Latest in News
The Rise of Skywalker
Despite those retirement reports, Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy is "very involved" in the Rey Star Wars movie, according to Daisy Ridley
Limbo
"You can't rewrite the past just because of a bad breakup": Legendary indie devs' feud is going public
Black Widow
Scarlett Johansson doubles down on never coming back as Black Widow: “Natasha is dead. She is dead. She’s dead. Okay?"
Image of the Blade Runner board game box
Rare Blade Runner board game prototype is being auctioned for over $500 but there’s a far cheaper way to bring the neo-noir classic to your tabletop
Monster Hunter Wilds
Monster Hunter Wilds dev says the game's success is thanks to an "emphasis on the story," but I think that's only a tiny aspect of it
Agricola: Dead Harvest zombie farming board game artwork
Legendary farming board game Agricola just announced a zombie-fueled horror standalone, but fans seem to think it's an early April Fools joke