Cooking Simulator, developed and published byBig Cheese Studio, was first released in 2019 exclusively on PC. It was then released for Xbox and other platforms in August 2020. It has found moderate success since its launch but wasn’t a viral hit by any means. Nevertheless, this past week Xbox Game Pass announcedCooking Simulatorwould be joining the platform. It’s currently offered for PC, Cloud, and Xbox consoles.
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As part of its financial reporting in Poland, where Big Cheese Studio is based, theCooking Simulatordeveloper shared some financial information regarding its deal with Microsoft. According to this reporting, Microsoft delivered an up-front payment of $600,000 to secureCooking Simulator’s release on Xbox Game Pass. The payment makes up for approximately 22% of Big Cheese Studio’s net profits for the past financial year, showing that it was a significant benefit to the company.
In the years sinceCooking Simulator’s release, Big Cheese Studio has focused on capitalizing on the game’s success rather than working on other full releases. Between 2019 and now, Big Cheese Studio has released five premium DLCs as well as avirtual realityversion ofCooking Simulator. This likely played into the studio’s decision to go to Xbox Game Pass, too. Since the DLC isn’t included in the Xbox Game Pass release, players on the subscription service will likely spend money for the additional content that’s already available.
Exactly whyCooking Simulatorwas chosen for Xbox Game Pass over other titles isn’t clear. It also isn’t clear how the $600,000 payment forCooking Simulatorcompares to what Microsoft has paid for other games. With the news now public, however, the number should help otherindie game developerswith their negotiations in the future.
Cooking Simulatorwas officially released for Xbox Game Pass on August 11. It was one of three games released on the same day, withCooking SimulatorjoiningExpeditions: RomeandOffworld Trading Companyon the subscription service.
