An SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) filing has revealed that both Sony and Microsoft have paid millions of dollars to include Ark: Survival Evolved on their subscription services.
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Reportedly, Sony has paid $3.5 million to include the title owned by Studio Wildcard in PlayStation Plus. The game has been available on PlayStation 4 for free for the platform’s subscribers since March 2022.
Microsoft had made a deal with Snail Games, owner of Studio Wildcard, to have Ark: Survival Evolved feature on the Xbox Game Pass. This deal was only going to last until 2021 but was later renewed. Microsoft previously secured the game’s sequel, Ark 2, to be an Xbox-exclusive game as well.
The SEC filing included these sentences that explain the agreement between Microsoft and Snail Games:
“The agreement was subsequently amended in June 2020 to extend the Ark 1 Game Pass perpetually effective January 1, 2022, and to put Ark 2 on Game Pass for three years. The Company recognized $2.5 million in revenue related to Ark 1 perpetual license for the six months ended June 30, 2022, and deferred $2.3 million related to Ark 2 that is included in the long-term portion of deferred revenue.”
The report came from VGC, which commented that normally these transactions are secretive and this development tells a lot to the community. Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass has earned over $2.9 billion on console alone, and Sony PlayStation Plus may have made up to $4.2 Billion in 2021.