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Game Pass’ Massive Growth Is Bringing Developers Some Surprises

The_Mike

I cry about SonyGaf from my chair in Redmond, WA
Only for indie developers. Do you ever wonder why best selling franchises like CoD or GTA is never on Gamepass? Because Activision or Rockstar won’t be bribed for few quids that may sway indie developers.
Yeah rockstar are so much against getting bribed that they gave gta v for free on epic game store.
 

cireza

Banned
Those games were not made with GamePass in mind. Once games started being developed from conception to release with the GamePass day and date model in mind, I don't see it being possible to have games that are "one and done" with a monstrous budget being made.
Then these types of games will never exist, and GamePass will be an opportunity to reinvigorate sales after the initial launch ? Looks good for everybody to me.
 
When you have words, but no numbers.
Genuine question, why do you care if it's profitable or not?

I mean, we are talking about a trillion dollar company here. If they can take the losses while they build their userbase, why would I care? I'll just enjoy the games. If they one day decide to increase the price to an amount I am not comfortable with, I will simply unsubscribe and look for alternatives.
 

mejin

Member
Genuine question, why do you care if it's profitable or not?

I mean, we are talking about a trillion dollar company here. If they can take the losses while they build their userbase, why would I care? I'll just enjoy the games. If they one day decide to increase the price to an amount I am not comfortable with, I will simply unsubscribe and look for alternatives.

That's not what I meant. I agree 100% with you.

When you see an article with that kind of title you should at least have concrete info to sustain your points.
 

wolffy71

Banned
so,the same people who are scrapping to save 5 dollars using ms rewards and brag abouyt spending 1 dollar to have the service now are the big spenders? sorry but until i see numbers i dont believe this,xbox games sales on my country have plumetted,people dont buy shit
You just have to understand the word "average". Every customer doesn't need to spend more. The average customer spends more, thus the revenue increase. A few examples of people spending $1 isnt gonna change the math too much.
 

Leyasu

Banned
I mean it's not really FUD when that's what Xbox execs seemed to indicate in interviews lol. But time will tell. I don't see 100 million+ budget for traditional single-player only projects happening once GamePass is in full swing
Yep, all of Microsoft’s studios including all of their new acquisitions are transitioning to low budget shovelware as we speak.

The rumour is that starfield will be three hours tops ....
 

Hendrick's

If only my penis was as big as my GamerScore!
so,the same people who are scrapping to save 5 dollars using ms rewards and brag abouyt spending 1 dollar to have the service now are the big spenders? sorry but until i see numbers i dont believe this,xbox games sales on my country have plumetted,people dont buy shit
I've been paying full $15 Ultimate price for months and no regrets. I also still buy games and DLC, though GP has undoubtedly saved me money overall.
 

sinnergy

Member
Yep, all of Microsoft’s studios including all of their new acquisitions are transitioning to low budget shovelware as we speak.

The rumour is that starfield will be three hours tops ....
Much like Netflix that produced shit series like House of cards 🤣
 

sn0man

Member
I bet Indie devs in paticular are profiting from this because i could imagine a lot of gamers playing certain Indies on Gamepass, games they would never usually buy, end up loving the game, and buy it because of that.
I know i have bought 3 or 4 games from Steam after loving them on Gamepass (Carrion for example).
I am going another way. I’m looking at Apple Arcade free trial to try a few games that have physical releases. I like to collect but have no clue if the games are enough for me. It’s a cheap way to see if I’m interested and our local rental store just went under.
 

Edgelord79

Gold Member
Of course they spend more. That's the whole point of Games as a Service, which is basically what GamePass is all about. It's free-to-play games locked behind a monthly rental subscription before you can start getting charged for endless microtransactions.
You claim you have all the services, yet you can speak intelligently about none of them. Your post alone requires fact checking of Trunpesque proportions.
 
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Jaysen

Banned
so,the same people who are scrapping to save 5 dollars using ms rewards and brag abouyt spending 1 dollar to have the service now are the big spenders? sorry but until i see numbers i dont believe this,xbox games sales on my country have plumetted,people dont buy shit
Lol why are you so angry. Did Game Pass kill your favorite game? And you don’t have to scrape to get five bucks from rewards. Just using Game Pass will net you that in no time. I got 2 bucks last night just for getting a couple achievements. So harrrrrrd! I also tried Dead Cells and fell in love with it and immediately bought the DLC.
 
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Jaysen

Banned
I find it amusing when people claim they only paid $1 for 3 year Game Pass... when they actually paid a lot more.
I find it amusing when people find it amusing. I had Xbox live paid for, and then I saw a deal for GPU for a dollar, and then for that dollar MS converted all of the XBL time I was going to need for online gaming anyway into GPU for three years. It cost me a total of a dollar. There’s no reason to get so hilariously mad about people getting a great deal.
 
So this proves Gamepass gamers actually pay MORE for games?

Help me out here because all the evangelists tell me it’s a deal and they are getting free games.

Interesting that that’s mostly bunk and in fact they spend 20% more on games!

Another reason to not subscribe. I will save money AND actually own my games!
 
So this proves Gamepass gamers actually pay MORE for games?

Help me out here because all the evangelists tell me it’s a deal and they are getting free games.

Interesting that that’s mostly bunk and in fact they spend 20% more on games!

Another reason to not subscribe. I will save money AND actually own my games!
They spend more because that's the point of subscription rental services. To make people feel they're getting a deal, when they're really being taken for a ride.
 
So this proves Gamepass gamers actually pay MORE for games?

Help me out here because all the evangelists tell me it’s a deal and they are getting free games.

Interesting that that’s mostly bunk and in fact they spend 20% more on games!

Another reason to not subscribe. I will save money AND actually own my games!

It proves that as people try new games they might have never played (much less bought), they find they like them and some of those people want to keep those games even after they leave Game Pass so they buy them. They're not "paying more" for games, they're buying "more games". The average gamer doesn't buy that many games, so it could be the average gamer buying 3 games a year instead of 2, gaming enthusiasts like those on this site and other gaming forums are not the average gamer. Me personally, I've bought way less games since Game Pass, because I've been able to play most of the games I would've bought anyways, as part of the subscription, so it seems like you just want to take what you want out of this so you can resume your anti Game Pass stance, which to each their own
 

Chukhopops

Member
So this proves Gamepass gamers actually pay MORE for games?

Help me out here because all the evangelists tell me it’s a deal and they are getting free games.

Interesting that that’s mostly bunk and in fact they spend 20% more on games!

Another reason to not subscribe. I will save money AND actually own my games!
I will help you as you seem to struggle with reading:
- GP users spend more on average compared to non-GP users. This is obvious to me because ultra casual players play less (by definition) and don’t really need GP, that’s correlation not causation basically;
- If you play a lot and buy a lot of games, you are likely to spend less overall if you use GP (or other subscription services). This is also obvious since you’ll play GP games instead of some of the games you would otherwise buy.
 

supernova8

Banned
Seems good. It's like Amazon Prime I only pay the equivalent of about $5 a month for it (and I get free delivery with it of course) and then I get access to loads of music, movies and ebooks. I've watched so many TV shows/movies etc that I would never dream of paying full price for, so I can imagine Game Pass being similarly worth it.
 

Jaysen

Banned
They spend more because that's the point of subscription rental services. To make people feel they're getting a deal, when they're really being taken for a ride.
And what a wild, fun ride it is.

And thanks to putting Dead Cells on Game Pass, the devs just got me to purchase the game on iOS. That's just smart business.
 
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Redlancet

Banned
Lol why are you so angry. Did Game Pass kill your favorite game? And you don’t have to scrape to get five bucks from rewards. Just using Game Pass will net you that in no time. I got 2 bucks last night just for getting a couple achievements. So harrrrrrd! I also tried Dead Cells and fell in love with it and immediately bought the DLC.
Wellcome to the ignore list fella
 

Stuart360

Member
Wellcome to the ignore list fella
I dont know why you are so anti Xbox, i mean you own a XSX according to the 'Only reply if you own a PS5 and XSX' thread.
It seems very weird to me. Same with a lot of anti Xbox users on here that own a XSX according to that thread.
 
I dont know why you are so anti Xbox, i mean you own a XSX according to the 'Only reply if you own a PS5 and XSX' thread.
It seems very weird to me. Same with a lot of anti Xbox users on here that own a XSX according to that thread.
Says the most anti-PS guy around.
 
Case in point, you own a XSX according to that thread. Why buy something you hate?

Also i'm anti PS Shitposters, not Playstation itself. PS2 is probably my fave console ever.
Yes, I do own a Series X. Who said I hate it? Is it as good as PS5 or Switch? No, not even close. Is it worth owning? Yes.
 

nemiroff

Gold Member
One good example anecdote of this is that me and my six year old bought ALL the Xbox One version Lego games (although not at full price) after playing the ones released on Game Pass (bought those as well because we wanted to keep playing them without worrying about them disappearing). Wouldn't have happened without discovering them through GP, didn't know they were so fantastic for coop play.


I need to shill again while we at it, play Observation on GP. Especially those who want that Alien: Isolation experience.


I agree. It does take some getting used to (I guess it's a love it or hate it game), but if you put in the effort to get to know it there's a fantastic atmospheric experience in it.


It's profitable to devs because MS is paying all of it and giving cheques left and right to devs directly (like Epic). Square Enix got a fat cheque too.

I just did 1$ trick again until 2024. I'm glad the devs will get my penny lol

MS isn't stupid, they got their ~180 dollars plus whatever people spend in addition to that, like mentioned in the article. So the devs are for sure getting more out of it than a penny. It's obviously still a good deal for everyone because even though MS have been aware that people like you are "exploiting" the service for a long time, they still haven't closed the loophole AFAIK.
 
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THEAP99

Banned
Yep, all of Microsoft’s studios including all of their new acquisitions are transitioning to low budget shovelware as we speak.

The rumour is that starfield will be three hours tops ....
Starfield has been in development for many years without the gamepass model in mind so it doesn't count. I'm talking games from the beginning of development being made to release day one on gamepass
 

GhostOfTsu

Banned
I find it amusing when people claim they only paid $1 for 3 year Game Pass... when they actually paid a lot more.

I find it amusing when people find it amusing. I had Xbox live paid for, and then I saw a deal for GPU for a dollar, and then for that dollar MS converted all of the XBL time I was going to need for online gaming anyway into GPU for three years. It cost me a total of a dollar. There’s no reason to get so hilariously mad about people getting a great deal.
Paying for Gold and paying for Game Pass is not the same. I've been paying for Gold for like 10 years. Sure in the end MS is getting the money but they can't put that in the GP pile. So for me all I paid for GP is that 7 day trial, I'm not sure they even got that money tbh.

I never buy MTX or DLC. I might buy the complete edition on Steam or PS if I don't get it on PS plus.

I'm a pure loss for them until 2024 (I'm waiting a couple of months and then I will top it again, I'm maxed out). Feels good.
 

Stuart360

Member
Starfield has been in development for many years without the gamepass model in mind so it doesn't count. I'm talking games from the beginning of development being made to release day one on gamepass
I have never understood this thinking. Having great big budget games on Gamepass is going to pull more subs in than shovelwear. Plus there are 50+mil Xbox users, and 200 mil PC users, while Gamepass has 18mil subs, why would they do what you are suggesting?. I mean i predict Gamepass to hit 50mil subs by the end of the gen, but even then it will be like 20% of all Xbox and PC gamers.
 
Starfield has been in development for many years without the gamepass model in mind so it doesn't count. I'm talking games from the beginning of development being made to release day one on gamepass

Games aren't being made "to release on Game Pass day one", they're just being made like normal and just happen to also release on Game Pass. There's no logic to why every one of Microsoft's studios will all of a sudden decide to massive change the way they make a video game just because some consumers will get it through a subscription, especially considering none of the games are (and likely never will be) exclusive to Game Pass, you can buy it normally on Xbox or PC. Sure games like Grounded will exist, but so will games like Avowed. Do you think Elder Scrolls 6 is going to be a massively different game because of Game Pass? I highly doubt any of the devs would put up with it if Microsoft told them they had to make "more Game Pass appropriate" games, whatever that means. The point of Game Pass is there are all types of games, single player, multiplayer, super long games, 2 hour games, basically every genre, if the games stop being high quality or WAY shorter, people will be less interested to continue subscribing
 

zcaa0g

Banned
Destiny 2 already free to play, Outriders made by some unknown developers who’s last game was a switch port, definitely not a AAA game. Every EA game will come to EA Play after it has been dried out. Not day 1. Good example is FIFA 21 NOT ON Gamepass, but will come right before FIFA 22. Also EA Play is available on Playstation.

Don't be a fanboy; it's rather pathetic and unbecoming. It's just a game console after all.
 

Gatox

Banned
I find it amusing when people find it amusing. I had Xbox live paid for, and then I saw a deal for GPU for a dollar, and then for that dollar MS converted all of the XBL time I was going to need for online gaming anyway into GPU for three years. It cost me a total of a dollar. There’s no reason to get so hilariously mad about people getting a great deal.
Right, I'll go slowly with this as you and some others are obviously hard of thinking. Would you have been able to get GPU for one dollar if you hadn't already paid for XBL? No, therefore the money you spent on XBL is factored in to what you needed to pay OVERALL to get that GPU deal....how do people find this so hard to understand.
 
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They spend more because that's the point of subscription rental services. To make people feel they're getting a deal, when they're really being taken for a ride.

Yeah instead of paying $30-$60 for these games I'm playing from Gamepass I have the next 3 years for $1. Never would have tried Yakuza and now I love the series. Would it be cheaper maybe if Microsoft made XBL free? Yes. I really don't think I'm being "taken for a ride" though.
 

Mmnow

Member
What happened to cinema? :messenger_hushed:
It's best not to get into these conversations, else you just end up getting "Endgame wouldn't have happened on Netflix" and "Amazon Prime doesn't have its own Fast and the Furious."

No judgement on the guy you're replying to, who may have a deeper argument, but the Gamepass/Netflix comparison conversation is fraught.
 

nemiroff

Gold Member
Paying for Gold and paying for Game Pass is not the same. I've been paying for Gold for like 10 years. Sure in the end MS is getting the money but they can't put that in the GP pile. So for me all I paid for GP is that 7 day trial, I'm not sure they even got that money tbh.

I never buy MTX or DLC. I might buy the complete edition on Steam or PS if I don't get it on PS plus.

I'm a pure loss for them until 2024 (I'm waiting a couple of months and then I will top it again, I'm maxed out). Feels good.

I'm sorry to break it to you but you're the one getting screwed over here. MS is basically getting hundreds of dollars of free money from someone who isn't a part of their target group. And that not counting screwing you over for thousands for ten fucking years for a service that should be free. Infrastructure is there already, a Playstation-centric guy or two trying to exploit the service to stick it to MS and paying them lots of money for Gold to do it is not a net loss for MS, not even close. It's a win-win for them, and a net loss for you. And that's why your post is funny to some of us.
 
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DaGwaphics

Member
so,the same people who are scrapping to save 5 dollars using ms rewards and brag abouyt spending 1 dollar to have the service now are the big spenders? sorry but until i see numbers i dont believe this,xbox games sales on my country have plumetted,people dont buy shit

Maybe Xbox just isn't popular in general in your country. They've been posting all-time best numbers in 3rd-party sales quarter after quarter after quarter, so people definitely still are buying shit.
 
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