cross-posted from: https://yiffit.net/post/475688
Xbox Game Pass Core subscribers will get access to a small selection of the games available with the regular/higher tiers of Game Pass, starting with more than 25 games
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2 years ago I had to move to a temp place. First evening, I unpacked my PS3 which I hadn’t had time for for a long time. Lots of games on it (and on discs), so I could just sit and play Journey.
Had all my games had been this subscription sort, I’d have nothing.
Now I know you can still buy games - for now, anyway. But since these companies make you pay for multiplayer anyway, it’s an easy upsell for them. Just pay a bit more and you can play so many games… Just pay forever.
All of the games on gamepass are available for purchase at reasonable prices. Gamepass is a choice for people that want a wide variety of games to play right now for a reasonable price. Maybe one day sony or Microsoft first party games could become sub only but that seems very unlikely given the relatively high selling price of games compared to Blu rays, cds, books, etc… . It’s too profitable not to offer them for sale.
This is a very silly argument.
Just watch this silly argument become less silly as we first see indie games become exclusive to subs, then an odd MMO, until in 5 years the first MicroVisZard game will be exclusive. There will be outrage of course, but it will die down, people will become tired of protesting, and sub-only games will be the new standard. Just like it always is with every crap these companies pull.
You still didn’t provide any logical reason why anyone wouldn’t also sell the games outright. Please explain the business case for a third party developer to make their game subscription only. First party games I could see this happening with, maybe, although I still find it unlikely. For third party? What benefit would their be for either side of that deal? They would both be limiting their income stream.
The clear benefit is, because Microsoft (or Sony or Nintendo or whoever) will pay them a ton of money.
Just like it always is with any other exclusive contract.
It’s not like that’s not the case already. Stadia had 3rd party exclusives, Apple’s game subscription has exclusives.
You’re missing the entire point of these subscription services. They exist to to keep you paying regardless of whether you use them or not. For them, a one-time investment in a videogame developer is worth it if it marginally helps them to get enough people to forget to cancel.
If you’re not getting it, you’re not familiar with the subscription model, and not familiar with the videogame industry.
Like who do you think is going to decide which games will be sub-only, you? No, you’ll just find one day that a game you were looking forward to get announced as a subscription exclusive.
It’s pointless to argue about shit that’s happened time and time again. If in 5 years there will be less than 20 games exclusive to GamePass, you can come back and call me stupid.
I wish Memmy supported bookmarking a specific comment because this would be the first one. These predictions are made time and time again and they prove themselves every time. I absolutely believe we will have at least some subscription exclusive games within 5 years, if that.
Subscription only games already exist and have existed for a long time.
Ever heard of World of Warcraft, little known indie game
For now at least, I see it as what I used to do back in the good ol’days and rent games from blockbuster. What I don’t like is having to be connected online to play a game. Even though you buy a game online once that service disappears your screwed.
I see it as a library. I pay a fee, I read as many books as I want, I give them back when I am done, I can get them again if I want to.
What I see as a problem is preservation of games. One day they stop providing a download and then these games are gone for good. Books get preserved by the government(s), games rarely.
I also get free (not F2P) games a week on PC, more than I will ever be able to play in my life and good games too. There is no chance my PC will ever be an empty paperweight, especially not because of backwards compatibility and because legally DRM free games (GOG for example, itch.io etc.) exist that you can even download and store yourself so if your internet is down you can still install them.
Subscription services will start to become a problem once one business has a monopoly and Microsoft is on their way there maybe. But I guess it will work how it is with Netflix. First Netflix was good, then everyone wanted to make their own version of Netflix and now people decide more and more to set sail again, because one subscription might be ok, three or more are not anymore. Game Pass, Nintendo, Ubisoft+, EA, …
This is the way I look at it. I sub to Xbox game pass a couple times a year. It’s generally been a dollar but I think they changed that promo recently ish. But I play the game I want for like 3 hours then promptly forget I have game pass. But I always go in and cancel it after buying the first month so no harm no foul there.
The preservation thing is just a problem with all sources of digital media, it seems. Even video isn’t archived nearly as much as books and papers. There are physical copies of things that collectors have in their possession and could archive for historical purposes but don’t because they’re selfish and don’t want to “devalue” their collectible.
I blame Call of Duty & Gears of War & Halo. As soon as people accepted a fee for multiplayer, it was over. I remember thinking “PS3 is gonna win this; who’s gonna pay for Xbox live, no way,” and then people did it.
Admittedly, I like Game Pass lol. It’s awesome for trying out games: I got it to try Psychonauts 2, then bought it, also tried High on Life & decided to skip it.
Considering how few actual gamers seem to have become game devs, it’s only a matter of time before you’re right about not being able to buy games. Just like car seats not heating if you don’t subscribe.
I mean, something like Spotify is the same. I don’t really buy music anymore and if I stopped subscribing then I’d not have access to music… But the quality of the service is good enough and value good enough that I don’t really mind.
Its just a balance of are you getting more value out of it than you’d get just buying games when you want to play them
I’ve not been gaming on PC for a while so I won’t judge, but a few years ago it was often quite a nightmare. Has HAWX2 been cracked already? How’s the situation with playing cracked online (non-MMO) games? Can you play anything that comes out?
(I’m not trolling… I’m quite curious actually. I don’t know I’d have the nerves for it today.)
