“Era of Game Pass has been a huge boon so far” say Another Crab’s Treasure devs

It’s almost time for the Another Crab’s Treasure achievements to arrive, as the Soulslike adventure game about a hermit crab is fast approaching on our list of upcoming Game Pass games. We had the chance to chat to Aggro Crab Games, with studio head Nick Kaman and creative director Caelan Pollock sharing their thoughts for our Another Crab’s Treasure Game Pass interview!Another Crab’s Treasure submerges us in the trials of Kril the hermit crab as he fights to regain his repossessed shell and explore the mysteries of the ocean. The game is set to scuttle onto Xbox Game Pass as a day-one addition on April 25, and we asked Aggro Crab to tell us a little more about how the partnership with Microsoft to bring Another Crab’s Treasure to Xbox Game Pass came about.

“We have Seattle dev privilege so once we reached out about Game Pass they drove across the 520 bridge and visited our office to play the demo,” Kaman and Pollock say. “Somehow, the boss fight we showed them happened to be perfectly balanced at the time to really impress them. The rest is history!”

We’re always hoping to hear from devs themselves about what it’s like to bring a game to Game Pass, and their thoughts on the benefits of the service in general. “It’s great for developers because you can secure a lot of income from your game on day one! It’s great for players cause you get to play a ton of games for cheap,” Kaman and Pollock continue.

We’ve been lucky enough to get to talk to a number of developers about Game Pass and subscription services. The general impression is a highly positive one, and one which Kaman and Pollock seem to share, even as they point out that there could be room for concern in the future. “For most devs it’s one piece of a multi-pronged approach, so it’s not meant to totally replace raw sales. There’s concern around the industry moving towards a place where the majority of games are locked up behind a subscription service. Should the benefits for developers including their games in services like this start to wane, then I’ll begin to get concerned as well. But for now, the sheer number of games that otherwise wouldn’t have reached critical mass without the boost Game Pass gave them is overwhelming. As far as I’m concerned, the era of Game Pass has been a huge boon so far, for devs and players alike.”

If you’re looking to read more about Kril, his repossessed shell, and how on earth he landed himself in this situation, check out our Another Crab’s Treasure interview about gameplay, story, achievement design, and more!