Support NeoGAF

[isoRhythm]

I honestly wonder how Gamepass saves people money. Obviously using promotional offers I understand.

Most people don't finish games. The number of people I know with 100s of games on their accounts and little to no playtime is insane. It's even worse on Steam where games are highly accessible and cheap, people don't even have the achievements you get within the 1st hour for some games.

 

[Hawking Radiation]

Most people don't finish games. The number of people I know with 100s of games on their accounts and little to no playtime is insane. It's even worse on Steam where games are highly accessible and cheap, people don't even have the achievements you get within the 1st hour for some games.

Games are expensive and will look to get even more so with next gen games needing more investment than past gens.

A subscription model is my preferred method of enjoying this hobby. You get access to most if not all games on your preferred platform for a low monthly fee. I also prefer multiplayer shooters or racing games which are drop in, drop out kind of affairs since my playing time is limited these days. Works out for me and I would assume most people my age who don't have that much gaming time as they used to.

I'm not going to fork out $70 for a game that I likely won't finish and won't be able to sell on when I'm done with it. I'd be living in a cardboard box under a bridge if I did

GamePass, Ubisoft Connect, EA Play etc are all welcome services who provides us older crowd with a good cost efficient alternative to enjoying this hobby.
I hope Sony offers a similar service in the future. I'm actually positive there will eventually be such a service as GamePass continues to grow.

 

[Three]

Your other points are similarly misleading. You think Forza Horizon 5 didn't do well at retail because it didn't outsell Spiderman Miles Morales? The default game that people get when they pick up a PS5? The game based on an extremely popular IP?




'popular' as in today, not ancient history. I didn't mention 'successful' or any other thing that relates to lifetime franchise sales.

Forza Horizon didnt outsell Far Cry 6 let alone Miles Morales. Forza is never a big seller on NPD anyway though even if people make a big fuss about it like it's some huge franchise. It's a racing game which does racing game numbers there. Where it's aimed at is the UK and Europe.

 

[kingfey]

I honestly wonder how Gamepass saves people money. Obviously using promotional offers I understand. I'm talking about regular Gamepass. Is Gamepass only for hardcore gamers who play 40 games a year minimum. Games are not like music and TV where you can binge through a ton of content. A game like Monster Hunter World I spent probably 200 hours. And that's just a single game.

Monster Hunter World took me around 6 months to get the most out of. And that game cost me £40. If I subbed that, it would be around £70 for 6 months. And after 6 months I wouldn't own it and would have to continue to sub on Gamepass. Where as my physical copy of Monster Hunter World I bought for £40 I can resell for £25.

Like seriously do you guys just have a ton of time to play that many games, even if I had all the time in the world I don't think I can play that many game to make use of a sub. I have other things in my life. Don't none of you have wives, kids, jobs, other hobbies, family and friends etc. I just can't wrap my head around someone being able to use Gamepass to save money. Hell because I can only play a handful of games a year I always go back and grab games I never got to play before for under £10.

Games cost 60$-70$ on day1. You can be a pleb and wait for sales, or you can sub to this service for 15$, and play day1 games. 1 year sub fees is 3 full day1 game price. You also have access to games, which you wont spend money on it. These games are when you are bored with your main game.

People have short attention span. They wont sit down and complete a game. They will go a head and buy, what is the hottest in the market. You are just exception.

I havent even finished my playstation games, because I have been busy playing alot of games. And if you like playing alot of games, you spend money buying those games. Some games dont have a good gameplay, so you toss them out, and never play them again. This is where gamepass becomes handy. You dont have to worry about running out of games to play.

 

[MacReady13]

Demos are rare these days and if you like a demo you have to buy the game. With Gamepass, you just have it.

Demos should never have gone away. Game Pass doesn't allow you to own the game. You still need to pay to play.

 

[cireza]

this seems to be the ONLY way many would ever play these game

I don't think anybody said that.

when companies released demos of games! I tried them, for free

Demos have always been pretty few. Not many games had one, and they were only demos. Not full games.

I don't get the appeal at all!

You don't get the appeal of being able to play whatever games you want in a huge list, from start to end, for a fraction of the price of a single game ? OK.

This month cost me only 1$
I have completed
Myst
The Forgotten City
Luna Nights
Halo Infinite in progress
Deedlit in Wonderland pretty soon

For 1$. And you don't see the appeal ? Even for 10$ it would be a steal.

 

[Kenpachii]

So how does gamepass even work.

If a publisher signs up with microsoft for a 30 dollar AA game, will they get a lower amount then a 60 dollar AAA game?

Because i honestly have the feeling that prices of some titles are just stupidly high pushed out in traditional release solutions whenever they also launch on gamepass. age of empire 4 is a good example.

 

[Chukhopops]

Like seriously do you guys just have a ton of time to play that many games, even if I had all the time in the world I don't think I can play that many game to make use of a sub

You need to play three full price games a year to break even on GPU and that's if you pay full price for it. Three games a year isn't exactly insane pace.

If you grind just one or two games at a time then yeah you don't need a subscription, that's just common sense. You don't need Pornhub Premium if you use the same swimsuit catalog as source material since 1996.

So how does gamepass even work.

If a publisher signs up with microsoft for a 30 dollar AA game, will they get a lower amount then a 60 dollar AAA game?

Because i honestly have the feeling that prices of some titles are just stupidly high pushed out in traditional release solutions whenever they also launch on gamepass. age of empire 4 is a good example.

You think AoE 4 shouldn't be a full price game?

 

[Kenpachii]

You need to play three full price games a year to break even on GPU and that's if you pay full price for it. Three games a year isn't exactly insane pace.

If you grind just one or two games at a time then yeah you don't need a subscription, that's just common sense. You don't need Pornhub Premium if you use the same swimsuit catalog as source material since 1996.


You think AoE 4 shouldn't be a full price game?

Felt like a 40 buck game not a full 60 one. RTS games in general don't sell for much.

 

[reksveks]

So how does gamepass even work.

If a publisher signs up with microsoft for a 30 dollar AA game, will they get a lower amount then a 60 dollar AAA game?

Because i honestly have the feeling that prices of some titles are just stupidly high pushed out in traditional release solutions whenever they also launch on gamepass. age of empire 4 is a good example.

Nope, a brand new AoE has always been a full price aka 60 gbp game.

The deal for publishers is on a game by game basis so obviously the assumed revenue of the game will be a factor in terms of the deal but you can't just price your new AA game at 70 gbp and then tell Microsoft that you expect a bigger upfront fee or better revenue split especially if your last X games have been priced at 30 gbp.

 

[Kenpachii]

Nope, a brand new AoE has always been a full price aka 60 gbp game.

The deal for publishers is on a game by game basis so obviously the assumed revenue of the game will be a factor in terms of the deal but you can't just price your new AA game at 70 gbp and then tell Microsoft that you expect a bigger upfront fee or better revenue split especially if your last X games have been priced at 30 gbp.

I get probably 90% of the rts games that release from any significant level and i can tell you, rts prices are usually around the 20-30 level. The buggy shitshow that age of empire 4 is, isn't even remotely worth the price they are asking for. And that's from somebody that has 200 hours in the game.

 

[reksveks]

I get probably 90% of the rts games that release from any significant level and i can tell you, rts prices are usually around the 20-30 level. The buggy shitshow that age of empire 4 is, isn't even remotely worth the price they are asking for. And that's from somebody that has 200 hours in the game.

Name of those games? There are sadly very few games with the following of AoE. The rest all kind of died out in 2000/2010's. That's probably more inflated the price.

 

[Augusto Pinochet]

Age of Empires 4 is amazing and it works like a charm. Im playing it write now. Never encountered any bug whatsoever.

 

[Kenpachii]

Name of those games? There are sadly very few games with the following of AoE. The rest all kind of died out in 2000/2010's. That's probably more inflated the price.

riftbreaker, they are billions,Age of Darkness, forgot the other one with the little machines, just a few i bought in the last year or so.

Age of Empires 4 is amazing and it works like a charm. Im playing it write now. Never encountered any bug whatsoever.

talking about the multiplayer solution which basically is the reason many people buy it.

 

[reksveks]

riftbreaker, they are billions,Age of Darkness, forgot the other one with the little machines, just a few i bought in the last year or so.

I think the price difference is more related to the name following personally. Although not in the same genre, the TW and Crusader King games still go for 50-60 gbp.

 

[MacReady13]

I don't think anybody said that.



Demos have always been pretty few. Not many games had one, and they were only demos. Not full games.



You don't get the appeal of being able to play whatever games you want in a huge list, from start to end, for a fraction of the price of a single game ? OK.

This month cost me only 1$
I have completed
Myst
The Forgotten City
Luna Nights
Halo Infinite in progress
Deedlit in Wonderland pretty soon

For 1$. And you don't see the appeal ? Even for 10$ it would be a steal.

No. I don't get the appeal of spending a set amount each month to rent games. And demos were huge in the PS3/360 days. they were free trials to see whether or not we liked a game then we would buy said games. I seriously wonder how ANY of you played games before Game Pass came along. Did you buy ANY games?
And that list of games doesn't appeal to me at all. I'm happy buying a game, finishing it, then moving on to the next game. My time doesn't allow me to sit there and play hundreds of games a month. Talk about devaluing games today... sheesh! It used to be so good earning money and buying that 1 game i'd saved up my money for. Now everyone wants every fucking game available straight away on a platter.
Anyway, you do you. I'm happy buying and owning my games. I just hope this sub service bullshit dies a slow horrible death in video games...

 

[cireza]

I'm happy buying a game, finishing it, then moving on to the next game.

People do exactly this with Gamepass. The difference is that they pay 10$ and play their games, while you pay 60$ for every single game.

And by the way, I preferred demos back then during the Saturn and Dreamcast days. They were something really special. Nice discs full of content.

I still buy my games by the way, but you obviously don't see the appeal because you don't want to.

 

[MacReady13]

I still buy my games by the way, but you obviously don't see the appeal because you don't want to.

No I definitely see the short term appeal. What I don't like is the appeal of this today but then the long term STRONG possibility of every publisher adopting the same type of sub services.
Then instead of the many games on an Xbox console being on Game Pass like they are now, Capcom/already EA/already Ubisoft/Nintendo/Sony etc will ALL want a piece of the pie and we will be paying monthly subscription service fees to play the games we used to be able to buy! And instead we will be effectively renting all our games! Yes, I hear the same things all the time- "but you can still buy movies/tv shows etc... so the same will apply for games! No one is taking the games away from you to buy". Blu Ray/4K Blu Ray sales have dived drastically to the point companies are holding off or not releasing stuff on physical media, and if you don't think this will eventually happen iin the gaming circle then you aren't paying close enough attention.
If that is the future you want, then great. Keep spruiking the benefits of this type of crap. I for 1 see what has happened with film/tv and all the glorious sub services (which keep increasing in price every few months) which has now become a pretty expensive thing to keep them all activated! Just imagine that with gaming and consider how much you'll be saving then.

 

[cireza]

If that is the future you want

Never said this, and I don't want this. I buy all of my games. I am simply enjoying Gamepass when there is a 1$ month, and even though this is not how I want to spend my money in gaming, I still have the objectivity to admit that it is great value.

I am not subscribed to anything in terms of music or series (never put a single dollar in any of this), and I actually buy blurays when I want to see a movie. Some go to the theater, others wait for TV, others have subscriptions. I also buy CDs for music.

You sound like you are rejecting evolution because you disagree with it. Ok that's awesome, but you know, at some point, if the vast majority of people want this, and you don't, then maybe that you should move to something else ? Rather than complaining all the time.

 

[MacReady13]

Never said this, and I don't want this. I buy all of my games. I am simply enjoying Gamepass when there a 1$ month, and even though this is not how I want to spend my money in gaming, I still have the objectivity to admit that it is great value.

I am not subscribed to anything in terms of music or series, and I actually buy blurays when I want to see a movie. Some go the theater, others wait for TV, others have subscriptions. I also buy CDs for music.

You sound like you are rejecting evolution because you disagree with it. Ok that's awesome, but you know, at some point, if the vast majority of people want this, and you don't, then maybe that you should move to something else ? Rather than complaining all the time.

I'm complaining because the future of gaming going to subscriptions is not what I want. That's me. And if that is the future then I'm out! Simple! I'm not telling anyone what to do but you gotta admit- for the supposed good deal that Game Pass is, a hell of a lot of people REALLY want a PS5 over Xbox...

 

[IntentionalPun]

I'm complaining because the future of gaming going to subscriptions is not what I want. That's me. And if that is the future then I'm out! Simple! I'm not telling anyone what to do but you gotta admit- for the supposed good deal that Game Pass is, a hell of a lot of people REALLY want a PS5 over Xbox...

Nothing "is the future of games" other than having lots of options.

Nobody is going to stop selling games just because subscriptions exist.

These subscriptions aren't even designed to cover everything.. and most games are temporary.. AKA they are hoping you BUY the game when it leaves.

 

[MacReady13]

Nothing "is the future of games" other than having lots of options.

Nobody is going to stop selling games just because subscriptions exist.

These subscriptions aren't even designed to cover everything.. and most games are temporary.. AKA they are hoping you BUY the game when it leaves.

You know the future of gaming as much as I do. I'm just guessing that that is what will happen, and I'm hoping it doesn't. If that is the future the majority wants then count me out! Simple!

 

[IntentionalPun]

You know the future of gaming as much as I do. I'm just guessing that that is what will happen, and I'm hoping it doesn't. If that is the future the majority wants then count me out! Simple!

Sure, nobody "knows."

We can make educated guesses; if you think anyone wants to take away your right to pay $60-70 for a game.. I'm not sure what to tell you lol

 

[MacReady13]

Sure, nobody "knows."

We can make educated guesses; if you think anyone wants to take away your right to pay $60-70 for a game.. I'm not sure what to tell you lol

I'm sure movie companies are salivating at the fact movies cost (here in Australia) upwards of $40 a pop for new 4K releases, but instead they will abandon that to release their films on Netflix. I'm sure they want cinemas to go out of fashion so they lose all that little money they make from the box office and instead release their movies only for Netflix/Amazon Prime etc...

You say they'll go where the market dictates and I say we shall wait and see. There is more money in physical and digital sales but we will see if all companies take up this sub service shit.

 

[cireza]

for the supposed good deal that Game Pass is, a hell of a lot of people REALLY want a PS5 over Xbox...

Who cares ? Great if it makes you feel better.

 

[kingfey]

I'm complaining because the future of gaming going to subscriptions is not what I want. That's me. And if that is the future then I'm out! Simple! I'm not telling anyone what to do but you gotta admit- for the supposed good deal that Game Pass is, a hell of a lot of people REALLY want a PS5 over Xbox...

Well go cry to your corner then.

Movies went to subscription, and gaming will go that way.

People didnt want mtx, and here we are with full 60$ games having mtx in them.

Majority of gamers want those subscription service. Its we are having alot of them.

If you dont like it, then there is the old consoles, which you can play them.

 

[MacReady13]

Well go cry to your corner then.

Movies went to subscription, and gaming will go that way.

People didnt want mtx, and here we are with full 60$ games having mtx in them.

Majority of gamers want those subscription service. Its we are having alot of them.

If you dont like it, then there is the old consoles, which you can play them.

Majority of gamers seem to want Nintendo and Sony, not Xbox. Says to me maybe your sub service (which for some reason so many people are passionate in defending) isn't as popular as you might think.

 

[Stooky]

Nothing "is the future of games" other than having lots of options.

Nobody is going to stop selling games just because subscriptions exist.

These subscriptions aren't even designed to cover everything.. and most games are temporary.. AKA they are hoping you BUY the game when it leaves.

Really depends on how costumers react to streaming vs a sale. Our current streaming examples are Movie studios get more on theatre releases, so they will do everything possible to make sure that revenue stays. Music streaming, Labels are making money but the artist aren't, Labels were making a lot more money previous to streaming . I think streaming for games will be timed releases for streaming vs physical digital day 1. Just based on big budget games I still don't see how this works. Expanding the market vs revenue. Music has industry has expanded their market but aren't making more money especially compared to the 90's....... well spotify is making money.

 

[kingfey]

Majority of gamers seem to want Nintendo and Sony, not Xbox. Says to me maybe your sub service (which for some reason so many people are passionate in defending) isn't as popular as you might think.

You think majority of gamers care what you think? You know the ones, that are ready to spend 100$ of money on collector edition?

They dont care about your feeling. Hell even Sony and Nintendo has those services. Ps+ is a sub service. Nintendo online is a sub service. You know the ones every gamer on those 2 console pay? That is a sub service kid.

So stop your console bullshit blindness, and face the reality. Those gamers are what decides your future gaming. If you got a problem with these service, fight these people first, before you come to xbox. At least xbox gamers accepted that future. Its your turn forum kids to face the new reality of gaming.

 

[IntentionalPun]

Really depends on how costumers react to streaming vs a sale. Our current streaming examples are Movie studios get more on theatre releases, so they will do everything possible to make sure that revenue stays. Music streaming, Labels are making money but the artist aren't, Labels were making a lot more money previous to streaming . I think streaming for games will be timed releases for streaming vs physical digital day 1. Just based on big budget games I still don't see how this works. Expanding the market vs revenue. Music has industry has expanded their market but aren't making more money especially compared to the 90's....... well spotify is making money.

Games aren't movies or music.

But get this.. you can still buy CDs.. you can still buy MP3s to download.. you can still buy movies on blu-ray too, or to download instead of "Stream."

 

[bushwookie]

Majority of gamers seem to want Nintendo and Sony, not Xbox. Says to me maybe your sub service (which for some reason so many people are passionate in defending) isn't as popular as you might think.

Majority of gamers seem to want all three at the moment. As for sub services... I believe Gamepass is far more popular than Sony's comparable sub service. (Although it's not really all that comparable)

When it comes to subscriptions that allow you to play a library of game titles, it seems to be the most popular.

 

[Stooky]

Games aren't movies or music.

But get this.. you can still buy CDs.. you can still buy MP3s to download.. you can still buy movies on blu-ray too, or to download instead of "Stream."

that was my point. But i cant ignore the similar outcomes of both industries. Music is just further along that path, it was first. Nobody is buying CDS mp3 anymore, blu ray retail floor space has been shrinking every year. Online blu ray sales are shrinking and its mostly videophiles thats buying them. We will eventually see the same thing in games. Everything will be streaming i just dont know what the effect on budgets and quality will be.

 

[kingfey]

Really depends on how costumers react to streaming vs a sale. Our current streaming examples are Movie studios get more on theatre releases, so they will do everything possible to make sure that revenue stays. Music streaming, Labels are making money but the artist aren't, Labels were making a lot more money previous to streaming . I think streaming for games will be timed releases for streaming vs physical digital day 1. Just based on big budget games I still don't see how this works. Expanding the market vs revenue. Music has industry has expanded their market but aren't making more money especially compared to the 90's....... well spotify is making money.

industry is much bigger, compared to the past.
Theatre had monopoly, because people never had a choice. It was either go to the theatre, or be lucky and buy the movie from the store. Now people buy things digital, industry is getting bigger. We are seeing day1 movies in streaming service.

We saw warner bros put their day1 movies in their service. I got to watch Godzilla vs King Kong for cheap, while watching other contents.

Max | Stream Series and Movies

Stream iconic series, hit movies, fresh originals, family favorites, breaking news, and live sports. Plans start at $9.99/month.

www.hbomax.com

Music was the same. The market share is growing bigger and bigger. Problem with music service is the same issues between publisher and devs cut.

Free Your Music - How much does Spotify pay per stream?

How much does Spotify pay per stream? It’s one of the most searched, (and misunderstood), questions in the music industry today. In 2025, with streaming dominating revenue for artists, understanding payouts from Spotify, Apple Music, TIDAL, and YouTube Music is essential if you want to make...

freeyourmusic.com

Its the case of who has more rights to the music, and royalty, which gets more money. Normal plebs wont be making alot of money. But its something, compared to having to compete with local musicians.

For gaming, this is where it gets tricky.

The forum hates this service. But what they dont understand is the issues gamers have these days.

We are getting games not complete, broken games, buggy games, and games filled with mtx and all kind of shit monetization. You as a gamer, will pay 60$ day1 for these games. How long can you tolerate these behaviors?

Another problem is the cost. Most games dont take that long to finish. Spiderman is 18 hour to finish normally, or 34 hour for completion. if you play 2 hour every week, that is 1 week, and 2 days to complete the game.

HowLongToBeat.com | Game Lengths, Backlogs and more!

How long are your favorite video games? HowLongToBeat has the answer. Create a backlog, submit your game times and compete with your friends!

howlongtobeat.com

Here is the list of completion time.
So if you finish a game, you will need another game. You will have to buy a new game. If you finish 1 game every week, that is 52 games in 1 year. Just by playing 2 hour every day. or 26 games a year, if you play 1 hour every day, or 7 hours in the weekend. lets say you spend 20$ an average per game. At 52 games, you are seeing $1040 to play those 52 games, or $520 to play 26 games for that year.

Sub service with cheap cost will make sense for people to sub to. It saves them money on spending too much money. And also access to alot of games to play.

Now in to the game cost on these service. Most people complain about how these service will make money.
Its simple. Just like how consoles games do timed exclusive games.

FF7R was exclusive to PlayStation only. Pc players couldn't play that game on their console. Xbox players same. The game sold 5m on PlayStation until august 2020. It could have made more sales with pc and xbox. But square specifically put the game on playstation console.

Gamepass games is like timed exclusive games. unlike ff7r on PlayStation, non gamepass users will buy the game. So you got PC, Xbox, and gamepass users pay for these copies. That is how AAA make money from gamepass.
As long as people not subscribed to gamepass, they will buy the game. Just like how timed exclusive games sell.

 

[IntentionalPun]

that was my point. But i cant ignore the similar outcomes of both industries. Music is just further along that path, it was first. Nobody is buying CDS mp3 anymore, blu ray retail floor space has been shrinking every year. Online blu ray sales are shrinking and its mostly videophiles thats buying them. We will eventually see the same thing in games. Everything will be streaming i just dont know what the effect on budgets and quality will be.

And I disagree; I have huge doubts game streaming is going to take off like movies/music. It's a totally different medium. Consumers certainly aren't reacting to it the same way they did movies/music streaming, and their are totally different industry pressures happening as well. Everyone HAD to adopt streaming music because everyone was pirating for instance.

With game streaming instead it's tech giants trying hard to make it happen because they have billions sitting around and HOPE it becomes "the future of gaming." Really they all have their eyes on Apple's piece of the gaming pie.

Good luck making it profitable any time soon as well. There's a ton of catch 22's from a cost standpoint.

 

[MacReady13]

You think majority of gamers care what you think? You know the ones, that are ready to spend 100$ of money on collector edition?

They dont care about your feeling. Hell even Sony and Nintendo has those services. Ps+ is a sub service. Nintendo online is a sub service. You know the ones every gamer on those 2 console pay? That is a sub service kid.

So stop your console bullshit blindness, and face the reality. Those gamers are what decides your future gaming. If you got a problem with these service, fight these people first, before you come to xbox. At least xbox gamers accepted that future. Its your turn forum kids to face the new reality of gaming.

New reality of gaming!!! Ha ha ha. Fuck me some of you are delusional. I won't be saying ANYMORE on Game Pass but rest assured- when EVERYTHING that you wanna play is on a sub service and you end up paying more to play than you do now (exercise some restraint in not owning everything all at once) then we will see how all of you opine for the good old days of gaming.

Enjoy gaming everyone, no matter how you play.

 

[megreotsugua]

Subscription services will continue to be niche.

The reality of gaming is free-to-play games. And financial reports confirm that.

 

[kingfey]

New reality of gaming!!! Ha ha ha. Fuck me some of you are delusional. I won't be saying ANYMORE on Game Pass but rest assured- when EVERYTHING that you wanna play is on a sub service and you end up paying more to play than you do now (exercise some restraint in not owning everything all at once) then we will see how all of you opine for the good old days of gaming.

Enjoy gaming everyone, no matter how you play.

You sound like very smart, when you are completely ignoring the 60$-70$ price gaming these days.

Ubisoft+, EA play premium, and gamepass ultimate is 45$ a month, compared to 60$ for 1 game.

And those 3 service delivers you day1 games.

You can play 3 day1 for 45$, instead of 180$.

People will gladly welcome these service, considering they can play day1 games for cheap, and not miss out on anything.

I could have played battlefield 2042 day1 for 15$ for 1 month. And I wouldnt have lost anything.

You cant do that to me with that last sentence.

Hope everyone enjoys gaming too.

 

[Thirty7ven]

This guy keeps talking data without showing or specifying any data, and what started as only positives are now conditional positives.

Fact is MS is the only one pushing their tentoples into a day 1 subscription service, this after two years of the internet saying gamepass is the end game. Seems like it's the end game for MS and not necessarily for anyone else.