Despite a positive reception at launch, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy ‘undershot' sales expectations. Things have been improving this year though, thanks to continued sales and more recently, the game's inclusion to the Xbox Game Pass library.
Square Enix confirmed that the game didn't meet sales expectations earlier this year, although the publisher hoped that continued promotions would help the game's sales long-term. In March, the game was added to the Xbox Game Pass library for both consoles and PC, a deal that reportedly cost Microsoft around $10 million.
This week in an interview with Eurogamer, Guardians of the galaxy narrative director, Mary DeMarle, explained that Game Pass has meant that the game has begun finding a wider audience, and the developers at Eidos Montreal have enjoyed seeing new players coming in. Creative director, Jean-Francois Dugas, added that the game's slow sales start could be down to the fact that Guardians isn't a huge IP in the video game space.
“I have no regrets. We did everything we could but that’s the reality of the market… And let’s not forget it’s a new IP. Even though we say all ‘Guardians are known’, it’s still a new IP. It could be a lot of people don’t even know that the game is out yet, or they’re not sure exactly what it is.”
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KitGuru Says: We rarely get player numbers, or stats for games played through Game Pass, but I'd be willing to bet that Guardians is going to do well on the service.