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Could Sony get away with a $19.99/month GamePass type price?

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How many games do they make? ND makes like 2 games per gen if they are lucky.

I wouldn't sub to that service. Microsoft knows this and went up to 23 studios. Sony doesn't have the studios to feed a service like that. Neither do they have the money to feed it substantial third party games unless they want to stop moneyhatting games.
And their first first-party release was a flop (The Medium). Problem is, by the time next Bethesda game comes (especially TES VI since Fallout brand is severely damaged) there could be huge gap in sales between the two consoles (nobody wants Series S I hear). PS5 is already off to an early lead and consoles haven’t even arrived to shelves. They need major (and critically acclaimed) blockbusters before next GoW, FF XVI and GT 7 arrive.
 

RGB'D

Member
They would need a lot more support than just first party. Gamepass is full of 3rd party output in addition to all their 1st party studios. While their first party exclusives are better than Xbox so far, it's not like someone would pay 240$ a year for 2-3 AAA games? Would be cheaper to just buy them even with the price hike. I think 20$ is pushing it for either company...
 
How many games do they make? ND makes like 2 games per gen if they are lucky.

I wouldn't sub to that service. Microsoft knows this and went up to 23 studios. Sony doesn't have the studios to feed a service like that. Neither do they have the money to feed it substantial third party games unless they want to stop moneyhatting games.

Gabbie,

MS going up to so many studios will take a long time to generate content. Additionally the content they produce is not if the same quality as Sony first party

there is more to Sony than ND
 
Charging too much is not the way to go with a service like gamepass.

You need people to keep the subscription. Idea is to get as many subscribers on board as possible.

Once it reaches a critical mass, it generates a ton of cash, Sony could fund one AAA per month or more.
 
I'd definitely sub for a month or two whenever a new major title that I'm interested in is released. But to keep the sub running? No way. And I think $15 is the max they can get away with in general.
 
And their first first-party release was a flop (The Medium). Problem is, by the time next Bethesda game comes (especially TES VI since Fallout brand is severely damaged) there could be huge gap in sales between the two consoles (nobody wants Series S I hear). PS5 is already off to an early lead and consoles haven’t even arrived to shelves. They need major (and critically acclaimed) blockbusters before next GoW, FF XVI and GT 7 arrive.
Medium wasn't first party and Starfield is rumored for a 2021 release.

We will have a clearer picture after E3 but as long as they turtle it out with third party releases, it doesn't really matter how long they take. Avowed should be 2022 (according to sponger) so its not that far off.
Gabbie,

MS going up to so many studios will take a long time to generate content. Additionally the content they produce is not if the same quality as Sony first party

there is more to Sony than ND
Subjective. Sucker Punch was middling... until they weren't. Same as Guerilla.

Only takes 1 good game to shift perception and with 23 studios, they are bound to hit some home runs.
 

MrS

Banned
Would depend on the offering, obviously. What 3rd party stuff would be on there. Service needs to be great if its twice the price of netflix
 
Charging too much is not the way to go with a service like gamepass.

You need people to keep the subscription. Idea is to get as many subscribers on board as possible.

Once it reaches a critical mass, it generates a ton of cash, Sony could fund one AAA per month or more.

MS is losing lots of money in the meantime subsidizing GamePass

eventually they will be forced to raise prices after the subscription base is high enough

Im suggesting Sony offer the real price for such a service from the start to still be profitable, and with their superior first party they could immediately justify that price
 

MonarchJT

Banned
Sony has arguably the strongest first party in the business.

Would you sign up for 19.99/month to get access to every exclusive game day and date?

that’s $240/yr per customer. Close to 3.5 fully priced $70 games per year, which is honestly pretty close to what they typically release each year (2 big AAAs and maybe a handful of smaller budget titles).

I would subscribe, but I wonder if Sony would be concerned about it seeming expensive compared to MS GamePass (justified by better exclusives)
they will do probably the same as xbox 9.99 all games
 
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DaGwaphics

Member
If it came to PC, with first party Playstation games day and date (basically PC Gampass), then No i wouldnt. Not at that price.
$9.99 and i would be all over it.

There really would need to be a bulk discount of some kind. The idea being you don't need to recoup the full amount for every game you release each year on the service, because your group will be larger than the single sales for any one game, no retailers, etc. Plus, not everyone will subscribe so individual sales will still exist. The Nintendo clan is the only group I can see paying $20 a month, maybe more. :messenger_tears_of_joy:
 

Chessmate

Banned
What games do they want to include? They basically focus on their five big studios that drop 1-2 games a year. Sony would have to make exclusive deals with big publishers or straight up buy them to secure a steady stream of content in their service.

Just like MS did with the acquisition of Bethesda and numerous other studios, EA Play, which is part of Gamepass or their efforts to bring third party titles to the service day one. Sony can't shut down one studio after another and try to compete with Microsoft whose gaming branch is growing like never before.

In short, Sony would have to massively invest if they want to be competitive in this market. And we all know Microsoft has a shit ton of money to lure Sony into a never ending downwards spiral of ruinous investment.
 

RGB'D

Member
I think including movies/tv would be entirely unsuccessful as well. They should release a SONY Gamepass, a SONY Netflix, and a SONY hybrid that includes both (20$?). That might work at that pricepoint, but if they try to lump in tv/movies with gaming without an option for either, better start digging the grave now..
 

sainraja

Member
calm down there Jim Ryan, I really think people underestimate how many people want to go back to relive old titles, especially during dry seasons much like this. A lot of people online, podcasts etc have stated they are playing legacy titles right now because there isn't anything else to play. Plus it also helps preserve their history by allowing and having those titles on said service. Sure people will be on the service for new games, but the older titles which at times can give the newer ones a run for their money when it comes to quality and storytelling can be unmatched as well and are a welcomed addition to a service.
Only during the launch year is when they matter the most and if going forward both companies allow backwards compatibility with the last generation, they'll most likely be okay.
Wait! Gamepass is $20 a month? Lol
$15 if you go with Ultimate. Otherwise, it's like $10.
 
Medium wasn't first party and Starfield is rumored for a 2021 release.

We will have a clearer picture after E3 but as long as they turtle it out with third party releases, it doesn't really matter how long they take. Avowed should be 2022 (according to sponger) so its not that far off.

Subjective. Sucker Punch was middling... until they weren't. Same as Guerilla.

Only takes 1 good game to shift perception and with 23 studios, they are bound to hit some home runs.

not really subjective, sales of Sony first party are wayyyyyy higher

not saying MS can’t grow into an equivalent power house but it’s not happening overnight
 

Godot25

Banned
Lol no. Sony's first party is not worth 20$ per month day one

Or maybe yes. Since most of them are one-and-done type of games i would sub, beat them and unsub. It would be like buying physical copy from store and then returning it after game was beaten...
 

Gone

Banned
They said they won't release their 1st party games on such service so no it's not worth it.
 

Iced Arcade

Member
I think the most important part of it is, what are the pay scales and such for developers and are they able to match that.

Obviously, MS is paying devs good money to put games on its service.
 

NickFire

Member
Is there really a huge market to spend 240 a year and own nothing from it? We're talking video games, not movies you watch in 90-120 minutes.
 

DaGwaphics

Member
MS is losing lots of money in the meantime subsidizing GamePass

eventually they will be forced to raise prices after the subscription base is high enough

Im suggesting Sony offer the real price for such a service from the start to still be profitable, and with their superior first party they could immediately justify that price

You should add up all the known sales for every first-party title in the PS4 gen. Wildly overestimate the revenue by assuming every sales was $60 and direct to Sony and then divide that by 840 (the revenue from one $10/mo. subscriber over 7 years) and see how many subscribers it would take to equalize that. Probably not as many as you'd think. And then you'd need to add some more subscribers to cover any third-party inclusions. Or you could just do 5yrs at $600 to stack the odds a bit.
 

Ten_Fold

Member
Bro yall Sony fans make a new thread about the same thing every other day. No Sony can’t do that when they can sell you god of war for $70 an sell 5 million copies in the first month. Microsoft got MUCH more money and resources to burn it’s just that simple.
 

Dr Bass

Member
Bro yall Sony fans make a new thread about the same thing every other day. No Sony can’t do that when they can sell you god of war for $70 an sell 5 million copies in the first month. Microsoft got MUCH more money and resources to burn it’s just that simple.

The essence of every great business ... burning resources and money.
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
No.

GamePass has 23 developers churning out games for it.

PlayStation Pass would only have 14 (minus the MLB team) churning out games for it.

That's a war of attrition Sony can't win.

Sony needs to bolster their 1st party stable via aquisition, or they need to pursue a non GamePass strategy.
 
Whatever, for all intents and purposes (didn’t release on PS consoles), it was. Can’t run away from this flop, sorry.
It didn't LAUNCH on PlayStation, just like their last game, Blair Witch.

Regardless, I beat it on GamePass. It's definitely not worth paying money for.
 

NickFire

Member
No.

GamePass has 23 developers churning out games for it.

PlayStation Pass would only have 14 (minus the MLB team) churning out games for it.

That's a war of attrition Sony can't win.

Sony needs to bolster their 1st party stable via aquisition, or they need to pursue a non GamePass strategy.
When does the war of attrition actually start, pray tell?
 

Ezquimacore

Banned
I don't think would be profitable, One or two months of Sony's gamepass and you can finish every playstation exclusive because their strong is single player blockbuster games.

So people would pay for a month of gamepass and move on. Add to that, they don't have the infrastructure and money to waste without being sure if they're going to get it back. Microsoft is microsoft and they didn't do this overnight, now gamepass is amazing but they have been doing this for a few years to be where they're right now.

I would say Nintendo has more chance to do a successful gamepass if they do something like their whole library from nes until the wii and a few switch/wiiu games.
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
When does the war of attrition actually start, pray tell?

Probably never. Them tripling the size of their first party over the last 2 years will probably not change anything for them.

I mean, games definitely don't take 3-5 years to make...
 

NickFire

Member
Probably never. Them tripling the size of their first party over the last 2 years will probably not change anything for them.

I mean, games definitely don't take 3-5 years to make...
I know they do, and over 3-5 years a lot of things can go wrong. Sorry not sorry, but I got my hopes up for Rare, and we know how that turned out. And their most recent 3-5 year project was laughed at so badly it got delayed a year. So yeah, I think we should wait for a release or or two before we make claims about the war of attrition. Buying studios just means they have money. Staying out of the studios way and getting AAA titles out the door is a whole different game.
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
I know they do, and over 3-5 years a lot of things can go wrong. Sorry not sorry, but I got my hopes up for Rare, and we know how that turned out. And their most recent 3-5 year project was laughed at so badly it got delayed a year. So yeah, I think we should wait for a release or or two before we make claims about the war of attrition. Buying studios just means they have money. Staying out of the studios way and getting AAA titles out the door is a whole different game.

This sounds an awful lot like underestimating your opponent.

It's probably best to assume your opponent is relatively competent.
 

NickFire

Member
This sounds an awful lot like underestimating your opponent.

It's probably best to assume your opponent is relatively competent.
You should 100% always assume your opponent is competent. I've seen way too many sure wins become losses from over-confidence. But what are you actually talking about? MS is not my opponent :)messenger_tears_of_joy:). I can practically guarantee I was an Xbox owner before 95% of this forum had one in 2001. If they recapture the magic of exclusives along the lines of KOTOR, Mass Effect 1, Halo 1 and 2, I would be all over that shit. I'm just not holding my breath for it.
 

Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
You should 100% always assume your opponent is competent. I've seen way too many sure wins become losses from over-confidence. But what are you actually talking about? MS is not my opponent :)messenger_tears_of_joy:). I can practically guarantee I was an Xbox owner before 95% of this forum had one in 2001. If they recapture the magic of exclusives along the lines of KOTOR, Mass Effect 1, Halo 1 and 2, I would be all over that shit. I'm just not holding my breath for it.

The thread is positioned as an exercise in assessing a market strategy.

The question was, can Sony and their 13 studios get away with charging $20/month when their direct competition has 23 studios and is charging $15/month?

The answer to that is no, imo. That's a losing strategy. Sony's counter to GamePass needs to be...

1) Buying more 1st party studios to compete with Microsoft.

Or

2) Choosing a different strategy entirely.

Microsoft is leveraging their strengths with GamePass. Sony has different strengths.
 
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