Microsoft spent $2.3 million to bring ARK 2 to Xbox Game Pass day-one

We often wonder how much money changes hands when Microsoft or Sony sign a game up for one of their services, like Xbox Game Pass or PS+. The amount tends to differ per game as deals are negotiated on a case-by-case basis. Thanks to recent IPO filings for from Snail Games, the owner of Studio Wildcard, we now know how much Sony and Microsoft spent grabbing ARK: Survival Evolved for their respective services. 

ARK: Survival Evolved was offered to PS+ subscribers as a free monthly title back in March. As spotted by Kotaku reporter, Ethan Gach, and ARK-focused YouTuber, GP, recent SEC filings from Snail Games reveal that Sony spent $3.5 million on this deal.

On the other end of the spectrum, Microsoft spent $2.5 million to keep ARK: Survival Evolved on Xbox Game Pass long-term and spent an additional $2.3 million to secure ARK 2 as a day-one title for Game Pass. Interestingly, part of the document also reveals that ARK 2 will be on Game Pass for at least three years, but as we saw with the first game, these deals can be renegotiated and adjusted down the line. Both figures are revealed in a publicly available SEC filing, which is part of Snail Games' effort to transition into a publicly traded company with an IPO.

Typically, both Sony and Microsoft are secretive when it comes to these deals, preferring to keep specific terms and prices private. What is immediately clear is that Sony and Microsoft are able to craft better deals thanks to their positions as titans in the games industry. When it came to Stadia, Google had to spend tens of millions of dollars to get publishers to bring their games over to Stadia. Ultimately, that was not money well spent, as Google has now pulled out of the cloud gaming race and is shutting Stadia down.

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KitGuru Says: This news also follows the recent reveal that Xbox Game Pass generated around $3 billion in 2021, and that is only counting console subscriptions. Xbox Game Pass for PC likely adds a small bump to that. Sony still makes the most from its console online services though, in part due to its higher market share in the console space. 

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