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Games will take 6-12 months (and sometimes longer) to come to GamePass Standard

Three

Member
Of course and this move is going to make that behavior more popular. Sub, immediately cancel, play what you subbed for, add another month when you find you want to play something else and cancel immediately.
I think that behaviour was already popular hence some of the changes. You would be forcing them to rent the game for $20 now or wait 6-12 months longer to get a lower one. Question is would people pay $20 to rent a release.
 
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Kataploom

Gold Member
The above post truly is the embodiment of this GIF:

Nothing To See Here GIF by Giphy QA
I really need to understand people when they get mad at something like this, some reacted with triggered or funny and I reread the thing and still don't see what's it supposedly so bad about a lower tier plan with less benefits... I'm gonna stay thinking it's just some kind of digital mass hysteria or something
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
Are there other services that have a tier like this?

Ubisoft plus, ea, playstation plus extra.

Do they have a clear understanding of when their games will come to the service?
 

Ozriel

M$FT
Not really.
Games with gold is dead, and there’s no guarantees the day 1 games will be replaced with anything.

Day 1 isn’t getting replaced with anything. Looks like it’s gonna be the same third party additions, and then a delayed drop of first party games. No EA Play or cloud streaming.

So just like Plus Extra.
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
Day 1 isn’t getting replaced with anything. Looks like it’s gonna be the same third party additions, and then a delayed drop of first party games. No EA Play or cloud streaming.

So just like Plus Extra.

How much is PS plus extra compared to this. If they are not comparable then thats an oof from MS.
 

MrRibeye

Member
Gaming is a cheap hobby and I can't sympathize with the outrage about Game Pass prices, unless you live in an economically poor country, in which case Xbox is most likely not officially supported anyway.
 

Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
I honestly don't see how this is going to do anything other than make them lose subscriptions by the bucket load, absolutely bizarre decision
They will lose subscribers for sure, but they are at a point where they can't afford more operating losses. So they are going to squeeze their console users as much as they can until their next consoles are revealed.

They have made console GP worse in comparison to PC Game Pass, so more people will shift towards that.

Then Microsoft will reveal that their next consoles are just Windows-based handhelds, and the Xbox OS/consoles are dead. Gamers wouldn't mind the PC Game Pass option at that point and would jump on that.

Of course, after people have bought their new PC-based handheld, Microsoft will then start squeezing them for more money by raising the prices of PC Game Pass.
 

Mephisto40

Member
They will lose subscribers for sure, but they are at a point where they can't afford more operating losses. So they are going to squeeze their console users as much as they can until their next consoles are revealed.

They have made console GP worse in comparison to PC Game Pass, so more people will shift towards that.

Then Microsoft will reveal that their next consoles are just Windows-based handhelds, and the Xbox OS/consoles are dead. Gamers wouldn't mind the PC Game Pass option at that point and would jump on that.

Of course, after people have bought their new PC-based handheld, Microsoft will then start squeezing them for more money by raising the prices of PC Game Pass.
AT this rate, there isn't going to be a new console
 

Mr.Phoenix

Member
Exact same $14.99 per month for both.
There are differences though... You can only sub for this gamepass tier (and all others too) for 1 month at $15/month or 3 months at best at for what I reckon will be $40. Because the 3-month ultimate plan is $50.

That puts this gamepass tier at $160/year but PS+extra is $135/year. PS+ is still cheaper. But that's not even the issue... I think the issue is that MS clearly seems to be all over the place not just with what they are doing but their messaging.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
We know from the FTC leaks that around 11.8m of those are “Game Pass Core” users that just got rolled into their metrics when they renamed Gold to Game Pass. So we know at least a full third of those 34m are console only.

That was a 2022 figure, just like 25m game pass subs with 70~80% on GPU.
 

Nydius

Member
Any subsequent evidence that there was a drastic change in the proportion since then?
Of course not. He’s just going to keep giving his “they don’t give official breakdowns” copium spin. Which is true but any one with any sense knows PC-only makes a small portion of those numbers simply by virtue of competition on PC and the lackluster performance of Windows Store.

Regardless of split, the reality is subscriptions plateaued back in 2022 at 34m and has, by their own statement back in February, remained there despite a year of supposedly high profile games. So, as you posted above, they’re attempting to squeeze their whales as much as possible until the whole thing goes bust.
 

Clear

CliffyB's Cock Holster
This was always inevitable, and so should not have come as a surprise to anyone.

Logic is simple: If first party production costs increase, then revenue from subs also needs to increase such that costs are covered.

GP is not showing growth close to what's required to cover the relative cost of these massive acquisitions. And I mean running cost, not only the investment in M&A.

Good guy Phil snookered himself with his "promise" (actually pitch, because its non-binding) that all first party games would be day#1 on GP. Leaving him with no choice but to backtrack and eat shit for being deceptive, OR to adjust the subscription model in such a way as to try and cover the shortfall.

Everyone's first thought was a new high-band price tier for CoD, which they've done in effect (albeit in a somewhat sneaky way) by raising the price of the former ultimate tier and offering limited versions at lower price-points to make it seem like the value prop hasn't been drastically altered.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Any subsequent evidence that there was a drastic change in the proportion since then?

No, no evidence in either direction, so if the 20m GPU estimate remains flat, it would still account for roughly 60% of all game pass subs being on the Ultimate tier.
 

Topher

Identifies as young
No, no evidence in either direction, so if the 20m GPU estimate remains flat, it would still account for roughly 60% of all game pass subs being on the Ultimate tier.

No, it would not. If we are going to use 2022 numbers then the total subscribers (GP + XLG) at the time was 36.7 (25 + 11.7). 20 million GPU from a total of 36.7 means the GPU range (70-80%) is between 47.6% and 55%.
 
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adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
No, it would not. If we are going to use 2022 numbers then the total subscribers (GP + XLG) at the time was 36.7 (25 + 11.7). 20 million GPU from a total of 36.7 means the GPU range (70-80%) is between 47.6% and 55%.

Obviously that 80% estimate is from before they merged Gold. When they reported game pass total subs at 25m, pre Core.

We've already gone over this.

The current total they gave was 34 million earlier this year, if the 20m gpu has remained static that's where that roughly 60% figure (58.8) comes from.
 
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Topher

Identifies as young
Obviously that 80% estimate is from before they merged Gold. When they reported game pass total subs at 25m, pre Core.

We've already gone over this.

The current total they gave was 34 million earlier this year, if the 20m gpu has remained static that's where that roughly 60% figure (58.8) comes from.

Again, if you are going to use 2022 numbers for total XLG subs and 2022 numbers for total GPU subs then you have to use the total number of subscribers from 2022 as well. That is 36.7, not 34. And so your rounded up 60% number is wrong.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Again, if you are going to use 2022 numbers for total XLG subs and 2022 numbers for total GPU subs then you have to use the total number of subscribers from 2022 as well. That is 36.7, not 34. And so your rounded up 60% number is wrong.

But XBLG wasn't a part of game pass in '22, adding its numbers to game pass makes no sense. We know from official documents what the ratio of subs who were on the Ultimate tier was for that reporting.

We don't know if it has gone up or down since merging with Core. We can only make educated guesses and I'm estimating it assuming it has remained static.

Hence the ~60% with the latest official reported tally of 34m earlier this year.
 
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Topher

Identifies as young
But XBLG wasn't a part of game pass in '22, adding its numbers to game pass makes no sense. We know from official documents what the ratio of subs who were on the Ultimate tier was for that reporting.

We don't know if it has gone up or down since merging with Core. We can only make educated guesses and I'm estimating it assuming it has remained static.

Hence the ~60% with the latest official reported tally of 34m earlier this year.

XLG became Game Pass Core. It did not "merge" with Core. Every one of those 11.7 million XLG subscribers became Game Pass Core members so simply changing the name makes no difference at all.

"Xbox Live Gold is now Game Pass Core. On September 14, 2023, Xbox Live Gold members automatically became Game Pass Core members, with no change in pricing, and gained immediate access to a new catalog of high-quality games."

We don't know what any individual sub numbers went up or down except that the total went from 36.7 to 34 million. That's why your 60% makes no sense. You are literally using a 20/25(GPU/GP) million number for a total that was 36.7 million at the time against a 34 million total today.

For your 60% to be correct, 25 + 11.7 must equal 34. It doesn't.
 
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adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
XLG became Game Pass Core. It did not "merge" with Core. Every one of those 11.7 million XLG subscribers became Game Pass Core members so simply changing the name makes no difference at all.

"Xbox Live Gold is now Game Pass Core. On September 14, 2023, Xbox Live Gold members automatically became Game Pass Core members, with no change in pricing, and gained immediate access to a new catalog of high-quality games."

We don't know what any individual sub numbers went up or down except that the total went from 36.7 to 34 million. That's why your 60% makes no sense. You are literally using a 20/25(GPU/GP) million number for a total that was 36.7 million at the time against a 34 million total today.

For your 60% to be correct, 25 + 11.7 must equal 34. It doesn't.

It became Core a full year or more after that 11.7 figure was reported, that figure was not the number at the time Core was announced.

Core happened in September 23 and these Gold numbers were from Apr 22 if I'm not mistaken.

I'm going with the assumption that Gold is where most, if not all, of that 2 million drop happened between your 36.7 count and the reported GP numbers of 34 m earlier this year.
 
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Topher

Identifies as young
It became Core a full year or more after that 11.7 figure was reported, that figure was not the number at the time Core was announced.

Core happened in September 23 and these Gold numbers were from Apr 22 if I'm not mistaken.

And that 25 million wasn't the number when the 34 million total was announced.

I'm going with the assumption that Gold is where most, if not all, of that 2 million drop happened between your 36.7 count and the reported GP numbers of 34 m earlier this year.

Even if that were the case, the actual number would be between 51.4% and 58.8%. Your 60% number is bullshit either way.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
And that 25 million wasn't the number when the 34 million total was announced.

Right, it could have been higher. We just don't know and are only working off of available data for when it was presented.


Even if that were the case, the actual number would be between 51.4% and 58.8%. Your 60% number is bullshit either way.

Nah, rounding 58.8 to ~60 is hardly bullshit. It's completely inoffensive.
 
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Topher

Identifies as young
Right, it could have been higher. We just don't know and are only working off of available data for when it was presented.

Could have been lower too. The only complete set of data we have was presented in 2022.

Nah, rounding 58.8 to ~60 is hardly bullshit. It's completely inoffensive.

Then 50% is just as valid a number to use as 60% is. Nah....better to be accurate.
 

DonF

Member
PS never set the expectations for day 1 first party games, which is why relatively to what exists in the PS ecosystem, Extra is good value. The PR problem for Microsoft is that they have set the expectations and essentially trained their userbase to not buy games. So making that pivot is much more challenging than what PS experienced moving to the tier system.
this so much, I have friends who literally make fun of me for buying games, when they did the glitch/promotion/I dont know to get years of gamepass for like $1.

xbox gamers are used to getting everything with their cheap sub.
 
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Heisenberg007

Gold Journalism
Of course not. He’s just going to keep giving his “they don’t give official breakdowns” copium spin. Which is true but any one with any sense knows PC-only makes a small portion of those numbers simply by virtue of competition on PC and the lackluster performance of Windows Store.

Regardless of split, the reality is subscriptions plateaued back in 2022 at 34m and has, by their own statement back in February, remained there despite a year of supposedly high profile games. So, as you posted above, they’re attempting to squeeze their whales as much as possible until the whole thing goes bust.
Moreover, we know that Game Pass actually lost ~3 million subscribers between January 2022 and February 2024, when they decided to shift XBLG users to Game Pass by introducing GP Core.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Of course not. He’s just going to keep giving his “they don’t give official breakdowns” copium spin. Which is true but any one with any sense knows PC-only makes a small portion of those numbers simply by virtue of competition on PC and the lackluster performance of Windows Store.

'keep giving copium'

'which is true'

Steve Harvey Wow GIF by NBC



Also, I haven't even talked about PC only numbers, just about GPU. Which makes up the majority of the service's total user-base.


Could have been lower too. The only complete set of data we have was presented in 2022.

That is true. But I'm leaning more towards it being the same, or higher.

A couple of interesting points I noticed in recent articles relevant to the discussion.

Tom Warren:

GI.Biz:


Ampere's 74% is just for console but it's a lot higher than I expected beforehand.



Day 1 isn’t getting replaced with anything. Looks like it’s gonna be the same third party additions, and then a delayed drop of first party games. No EA Play or cloud streaming.

So just like Plus Extra.

If someone is continuing their original Console GP service, they still retain day 1 releases as well. This primarily effects new customers.
 
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Topher

Identifies as young
Also, I haven't even talked about PC only numbers, just about GPU. Which makes up the majority of the service's total user-base.




That is true. But I'm leaning more towards it being the same, or higher.

A couple of interesting points I noticed in recent articles relevant to the discussion.

Tom Warren:


GI.Biz:



Ampere's 74% is just for console but it's a lot higher than I expected beforehand.

That's fair. The only question is how many of the 34 million are on PC, but I don't think it is a significant amount.
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
That's fair. The only question is how many of the 34 million are on PC, but I don't think it is a significant amount.

That's the kind of stuff unfortunately we won't know until the next big FTC style expose.

But for reference, according to Statistica (I don't know how accurate this is), PC GP was at 3.1~ million in 2022.

They list Game Pass excluding PC at 21.9, this is when MS reported total at 25m.

 

Topher

Identifies as young
I bet it's a few million on PC at best.

I would imagine the number also goes up and down drastically based on releases.

Hard to say. PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass for consoles combined was somewhere between 5 and 7.5 million back in 2022, but I don't think we have any break down beyond that. If we split it down the middle and say PC has ~4 million or so then that means GPU is at 22-23 million or around 66-67% of 34 million Game Pass overall.

But yeah, I bet PC has a lot of movement.
 
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TrippleA345

Member
It's embarrassing to read the responses of some here and in other threads. Although the answers in past were already complete garbage, you could still laugh at the stupidity. But this is just complete and utter crocked madness.
 
If this is true, then that is insane. Ultimate is $23 plus tax here in Canada. That is $312 yearly in Ontario. Xbox users dislike buying game that much?
Thats still the price of about 3.5 games in canada (89.99). So assuming MS has at least 3 or more First party games per year you enjoy, game pass is still a cheaper alternative.
I dont like or want the price increase, but gamepass is still a net positive if you enjoy the xbox ecosystem and play their first party games without commitment.

edit: not related to your comment, but nothing is stopping people from buying what ever games they want even if they have gamepass. Infact, if you buy a game thats on gamepass, you do get a 10% discount, so you do get to save some money somewhere.
 
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Thats still the price of about 3.5 games in canada (89.99). So assuming MS has at least 3 or more First party games per year you enjoy, game pass is still a cheaper alternative.
The part that kills this comparison is that you are renting and have nothing of value in the end. If you bought 3.5 retail copies, you would have about 2 copies worth to trade back in towards other games.

Thanks to GameStop’s standing policy of 50% bonus towards preorders and purchases made with trade credit being tax free, I traded in 10 physical PS4/Switch games and have six PS5 preorders fully paid.
 
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