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GamePass isn't for everyone and that's something alot of people don't get

Humdinger

Member
I agree, OP. My reasons for not being interested in Gamepass are as follows:

- I spend maybe $300 on games a year (I buy a lot on discount). Assuming $10/mo for GP, that means GP would save me $180/yr. -- not bad. However, two problems wipe out that savings:

- First, it assumes all the games I want to play are on GP, but that won't be true. I'm guessing only about half of them would be. So if I'm still buying half my games, that means I'm not saving money; I'm actually spending $20 more than I was before.

- Further, if I buy a $500 console to get access (I don't game on PC), that means I'm down $500+. GP needs to make that up somehow, or I'm in the hole.

- One of MS's main draws for GP is the opportunity to get their first-party games for "free," on the day of release. However, I am not interested in any of MS's first-party games. I might be interested in 3 years, but not now.

- I find subscription services to be time-sinks. I value my time, and I like to spend it wisely. I don't always do that, ha, but I try. With Netflix, I often found myself wasting time browsing menus, looking for something to watch, then watching things that weren't all that great, just because. There was the occasional hidden gem, but for the most part, it was mediocre stuff. So I ended up feeling as if my time was wasted. I think the same thing would happen with GP -- in fact it has happened, when I've subbed in the past to GP or to PS Now. I end up wasting time on stuff I wouldn't normally bother with, just because it's there.

- If I own a game, I can play it whenever I want. I can also sell it and recoup some costs, if I feel like doing that.

- If I buy and own a game, I tend to invest more in it. When I play under subscription models, I have a more superficial, piecemeal experience -- a little of this, a little of that. I like committing to one game at a time better, and I think buying facilitates that.


I understand GP appeals to a lot of people who spend more time and money on gaming than I do, or who don't have a lot of financial latitude, or whatever. That's fine. I get that. Enjoy GP. It's just not for me.
 
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Yes, I agree. Game Pass really isn't for everyone, and it's something I've been saying for a while:

  • As a collector game pass doesn't entice me at all. I want to have my games physically.
  • I have a huge backlog too, so it makes no sense to add to that pile.
  • Related to the previous point and the OP, I have a limited amount of time to play games, so I just play the games I really want to play.
  • Most of the games I'd like to play from game pass I already own.
  • It really means nothing that your 1st party games are there if they are subpar or don't interest me (with some exceptions, but nothing of what they showed made me feel like this would be a good value for me, I'd rather just get the two or three games I'm interested in).

I really think Microsoft is making a huge mistake by offering all their exclusive games on game pass. It devalues their games and since they are also coming to PC there is absolutely no point for someone that has one to want an Xbox series X. I just don't get why they would to this to themselves, why even spend billions creating the new hardware if they don't want to sell it.
 
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Hezekiah

Banned
Yes, I agree. Game Pass really isn't for everyone, and it's something I've been saying for a while:

  • As a collector game pass doesn't entice me at all. I want to have my games physically.
Tbf the next generation of consoles might not even have disc drives.
 
I dont use Game pass, and dont think I will.
I want to own the games I want to play.
But I cant deny the value of GP.
Someone can buy the XSX and pay $10 a month and have 200 games to play.
Buy a PS5, and one game for $60, or XSX for 6 months with 200 games to play including every single MS first party game?
Hey, cant blame people for using it. And its probably something Sony are going to have to match at some point, which is great for Sony peeps.
Did you know you could buy the games available on game pass for a discount? Wanting to own your games is not a knock against game pass.
 

FunkMiller

Member
Does anyone have any profitability figures for GamePass? Would be interesting to know.

Note for clarity: I mean profit, not revenue. The two are very different!
 
I think it’s a nice idea, I just don’t get why it’s such a huge exciting talking point? Surely individual games should be stealing that oxygen. It’s like constantly banging on about what good value Amazon Prime is but without ever saying what shows it actually offers that makes it worthwhile.
 
I very much agree it's not for everyone.

Sony and MS draw from a pool of roughly 170 million gamers and Nintendo of roughly 100 million or so if the economy in the West (US+Europe) is good. Out of that MS is only drawing in about 40-50 million, of which 10 million are supposedly Gamepass subscribers... with a large amount of them having subsidized subscriptions right now.

So if we put that into perspective roughly 260 million gamers have no interest in getting Gamepass. It's not as good of a value proposition to them. It's not that big of a draw to excuse buying into the Xbox console ecosystem, or getting it in the PC ecosystem - this is true for the overwhelming majority of gamers. It's simply, as it stands, a cheap way of getting games - like Steam sales or what have you - just a different method of delivery that takes away ownership.
 
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The first 2 have been in GP and Spiderman is PS Exclusive
They were removed? How many people lost the ability to finish their playthrough? Funny thing is I pointed out this issue to someone in a different thread. Given how small the library is, I did not think that library rotations already started, I mean you do this when you have many more games...
 

DiegoAndrad

Member
The issue with gamepass is that It's only worth it if you have lots of time. Someone like me, that can only play for a few hours a week, ends up in a situation where the game gets removed in the middle of the playthrough and is forced to either pay a premium price at the Microsoft Store or buy at Steam/EGS and lose your save file.
 

Vaelka

Member
I don't really like a lot of games tbh, I am very picky about games and most mainstream ones don't tend to appeal to me.
But I find Gamepass to be pretty interesting because it'll let me try a lot of different games and play a lot of indie games too.

It's a matter of taste yes but this thread is about the masses. And factually Sony first party are critically acclaimed by the masses, not only reviewed well, nominated for game of the year and but sell a fuckton. The last Spiderman has outsold the last Halo.

And to disregard Sony games as having shit gameplay just because of production values, cinematics and great great graphics and focusing on story. God of War is a great action game with nice RPG elements, using the axe is so satisfying it's a joy to play. Spiderman people love swinging about with the character the mechanics are so good. I have not played Last of Us 2 or Ghost of Tsushima yet but I'm sure people love the gameplay in those games. These games are all varied. And the developers have just paid the groundwork all those studios have expanded since imagine there next game.

I don't think that Sony games are literally the same or have no variety at all.
But I do think that it's just objectively true that there is a '' Sony formula '' and I do think that it does make it feel like first party exclusives for Sony are quite samey and that their library of them lack diversity.
What comes to mind when you think of a first party Sony exclusive?
Open world full of open world tropes and shallow side activities, 3rd person with realistic graphics, tacked on RPG elements, heavy focus on being narrative-driven, action gameplay etc.
If you really think about it they're all the same '' genre '' that adopts a lot of popular trends and tropes in modern AAA games.
Just because you swing around as Spiderman instead of riding a horse or using a boat doesn't change what it is.

You might like the RPG elements in God of War, I am not saying that you can't but I do think that much like in AC games they're kinda just there for the sake of being there and not really necessary and feel a bit tacked on.
They feel more like they were just a part of a checklist for marketability, same with the open world elements.
There's not much depth to it at all.
 
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All Valid points but its also for a lot of people and that is great too. I'm so happy with the amount of money iv saved with gamepass and im playing games I normally wouldn't play like Carrion and to the moon and even red dead 2. Im also going to try life is strange. All games I would normally never spend money on.
 

supernova8

Banned
...well, you might possibly be right on the three or four years, but three or four years is a looooooong time in the games industry.

GamePass is a GREAT business model for existing customers, but not for customers who currently - and overwhelmingly - chose to buy a rival product.

Since they apparently stopped offering $60 annual XBL subscriptions, it looks like you're stuck paying $10 per month regardless (as having XBLGold is almost a sunk cost, you are not getting much out of your Xbox without XBLGold, same goes for PS Plus) so an extra $5 for unlimited access to over 200 games is a no-brainer.

BUT, as you point out, they have to entice people to buy into Xbox first. Judging by the current gen finishing stats, they kinda failed. Any Xbox owner who was already interested in Game Pass probably has it already.
 
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turtlepowa

Banned
While you are completely right, reading the posts downplaying it and trying to understand the mental gymnastics behind them is slightly entertaining.
Right? I love that too. Can't wait too see the same people explaining why this a good thing if Sony does it with PS Now and why Game Pass is still utter crap. Those people really are more creative than most their favorite games.
 
So from the looks of things MS is pushing GP as their big feature this gen and not the hardware itself. Does this send the wrong message to 3rd party publishers who relly on hardware sales for their games fo sell?
 

gypsygib

Member
It's going to be funny when Xbox exclusives are as big or bigger games than PS exclusives. Grounded and Sea of Thieves are a good start. I think the era of Xbox lacking exclusives is coming to an end. Putting them on PC was very smart.
 

S0ULZB0URNE

Member
I don't expect it to (you never know), but retailers' physical games departments will be dead by then (it might take one or two years longer and I am excluding Nintendo here, they might be clinging to it).
LOL yeah right!!!

oh and they can't keep Gamepass
 

DavidGzz

Member
Game Pass is just the modern Blockbuster. It's rental in 2020 form with digital rather than physical. Instead of browsing a store and picking the titles you want on a per title basis, it's just now a monthly subscription for technically and practically the same thing.

Now the thing with rentals is being able to check out new releases or possibly checking out a game that you had an interest but not totally sold on or finding a hidden gem you may never have heard or or given the time of day.

But the otherside of that is the personal value of 'ownership'.
There are games as well as movies, tv shows and music that a person will want to own and have forever.
Things that won't even need to be previewed because it's literally a "day one purchase"
Some people will always want a 'collection' or a 'set' so as much as Game Pass is good on a commercial level, it's not all that on a consumer level if ownership matters to a person's game library.

So you "rent" it and then if you like it enough to own, you buy it at a discount. What's not to like?

I mean, I guess if you know exactly what games you are going to like and which you aren't, maybe you don't need gamepass. But I typically don't so its nice to be able to try out a bunch of different stuff and find something I enjoy.

Yep, it's awesome for that, also with Xcloud, you won't even have to download them if you want to try them without waiting on a download.
 
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JonnyMP3

Member
So you "rent" it and then if you like it enough to own, you buy it at a discount. What's not to like?
There nothing wrong about it as a service to go along with buying full games stand alone. But I think the original point was that GP isn't a system seller. And some people prefer day 1 releases rather than wait a 3-6 month period for games to then come onto GP.
 

ACESHIGH

Banned
Cinematic one and doners with run of the mill gameplay aren't for everyone either yet people don't start threads about it.
 
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DavidGzz

Member
There nothing wrong about it as a service to go along with buying full games stand alone. But I think the original point was that GP isn't a system seller. And some people prefer day 1 releases rather than wait a 3-6 month period for games to then come onto GP.

Oh, I get that when they are games we are looking forward to. Like Elden Ring, I would never wait. But there are plenty of gems that I wouldn't buy at full price that I discover on Game Pass. Also, the whole point of MS buying studios is that we won't have to wait for some pretty big games. I think they will be buying more as time passes. And I do think it is a system seller. There are 8 games that I will be playing at launch or within the launch window. I'll know for sure when they reveal an official launch/holiday release list.
 

teezzy

Banned
Game Pass serves it purpose best to complement your actual collection.

Yes, you could just play GP only, especially if MS exclusives are what interest you most (Hi, my name is TeezzyD nice to meet you) but ultimately it's not going to have everything you want.

Game Pass allows you access to a wide variety of titles which you can jump in and dip out at your leisure. You expose yourself totl titles this way which you wouldnt have otherwise, and thats a fantastic thing for the continued development of your interest in the hobby.

But yeah, I don't always game as much as I'd like and my Steam collection is at 400+ so Game Pass serves as a solid side piece.
 

zcaa0g

Banned
I use it mostly as a game demo evaluation to see if it's a game I want to buy and have in my library. That alone is worth it to me.
 

JonnyMP3

Member
Oh, I get that when they are games we are looking forward to. Like Elden Ring, I would never wait. But there are plenty of gems that I wouldn't buy at full price that I discover on Game Pass. Also, the whole point of MS buying studios is that we won't have to wait for some pretty big games. I think they will be buying more as time passes. And I do think it is a system seller. There are 8 games that I will be playing at launch or within the launch window. I'll know for sure when they reveal an official launch/holiday release list.
But that's what my point was originally lol.
That GP is a complimentary pass that you can have to go along with buying things outright.
That's why I said that it's the modern version of rental and Blockbuster. You can buy stuff you know you want or you can rent things to try them out and then decide if you want to buy it after, and the bonus of discovering hidden treasures you normally wouldn't give a 2nd glance. Personally, I don't find that a system seller, but if you think it is, fair enough.
 

DavidGzz

Member
I agree, OP. My reasons for not being interested in Gamepass are as follows:

- I play a typical game for about a month or two. I don't game all that much -- maybe every other day for an hour. I'll take long breaks between games sometimes. I think I've played 3 or 4 games this year, and I'm in the middle of my 5th.

That's all you needed to say. Of course a super casual gamer wouldn't need a game pass. Just like someone who only had that much time to watch movies/shows wouldn't need Netflix. Someone who listens to one CD for a month or two wouldn't need Spotify Premium.


So from the looks of things MS is pushing GP as their big feature this gen and not the hardware itself. Does this send the wrong message to 3rd party publishers who relly on hardware sales for their games fo sell?

How is that? Series S is evidence that they are very interested in selling consoles. They just aren't as dependant on them as they used to be since all games are going to PC and they have Game Pass and Xcloud coming. Sony is very dependant on them, however.
 
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Omali

Member
And I don't see Gamepass working with the masses. I have a ton of casual friends who only play FIFA and COD and grab the occasional other game like GTA, Red Dead and Spiderman that you wouldn't see in Gamepass. They don't play a ton of games a year. That model for many only works for Netflix and Spotify as those mediums you can go through more content quicker.

Gamepass has over 10 million subscribers. The fact that you and your "ton of casual friends" don't see value in it doesn't make you representative of, well, anything.
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
Reading these posts, I feel like GAF could use a Gamepass thread that specifically talks about games on there and people's opinions about them. Kinda like an OT but just for anything Gamepass. I've found some games on there that I never thought I'd really enjoy, but honestly really made it worth it once I tried em out. Now that I think about it. PSNow could use this too.

Stellaris, A Plagues Tale, FrostPunk, Grounded, all very good games in their own right, just to name a few.
 
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M1chl

Currently Gif and Meme Champion
preface (imho)

PS4 1.3billions software sold (3x more money generated for 3rd parties)
XB1 0.4billions software sold (+gamepass at $1.8bill ($15/mo *10mill. subs)

Gamepass is for those

a) who wanna play everything
b) can not afford or are not willing to pay full price for The Medium, Scorn
c) don´t care about retailers, relying on selling physical copies (in the EU there are too many)

IF Gamepass was this lucrative, why are the EA, Activision, Ubisoft, Take2, Rocksteady, Bungie and all the other games not available day 1? Hmm...maybe it´s not in their best interest? They don´t wanna give up their games for $1?

You will never see EA giving up their game catalogue, nor Activisions, or Ubisoft and these cover the market (pretty much). All you gonna get are MS games and outdated 360games to inflate numbers + no name studios The Medium or Scorn like.

To convince EA and Co. they need at least 30? million subs, paying $15 each. And then, this whole "services" would fall flat anyways ... as more publishers come, more need to get paid. As more people sub, more bandwidth is generated, the higher the cost for Microsoft. Getting new games will rise the costs ...

Netflix gaming is not sustainable, streaming a movie over at Netflix versus streaming/downloading a 50 to 200GB game is an entirely different magnitude (of costs, infrastructure, problems, rent-ability etc).

Also to make this very lucrative, the games need to be designed for gamepass. Heavy focus on GAAS and microtransactions.
no thank you​
Why EA has the Origin Premier then?
 
That's all you needed to say. Of course a super casual gamer wouldn't need a game pass. Just like someone who only had that much time to watch movies/shows wouldn't need Netflix. Someone who listens to one CD for a month or two wouldn't need Spotify Premium.




How is that? Series S is evidence that they are very interested in selling consoles. They just aren't as dependant on them as they used to be since all games are going to PC and they have Game Pass and Xcloud coming. Sony is very dependant on them, however.

We still don't know anything about Series S and their last showcase was all about selling GP.
 

gypsygib

Member
I don't think Sony is losing sleep when TLOU2 sold 4 million is 3 days at full price.

I don't think it's a matter of making Sony lose sleep, it's more a matter of MS sleeping better due to recurring monthly revenues. MS is clearly looking to establish popular MP games that support a strong micro-transaction model.

Also, it's interesting to see how many of the top Steam games are MS games. MS is looking to become a major game publisher, perhaps more so than a console maker.

4/10 of the Global Top Sellers are MS games, that's unprecedented for any publisher.
 
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FeldMonster

Member
I am a big Xbox fan, and wouldn't touch Sony or Nintendo stuff with a 10 foot pole, but I refuse to use GamePass; I buy the games I want and support the developers I want. But I guess I am old school.

  • I buy 4K Blu-rays instead of Netflix
  • I buy CDs instead of spotify (I don't really understand subscriptions for services that don't have the music or movies you want)
  • I buy (digitally) the games I want, and play them for hundreds (Halo, TitanFall 2) or thousands (Destiny 1) of hours
  • I will gladly pay for Xbox Live Gold and would pay more for Xcloud, but Microsoft sees fit to lock XCloud behind the additional cost of GamePass. Pretty pissed about it to be honest.
 
What lack of decent exclusives? Sony and Microsoft both showed some interesting games, i don't see any advantage for one of the two. Btw GTA V and RDR 2 are/were on Game Pass. You get a full year of Microsoft exclusives for the price of 2 Sony exclusives and you also get hundreds of other games + online gaming + xCloud + Pc games. Game Pass Ultimate is a no brainer.

Does "no brainer" mean that person doesnt "have a brain" aka the choice is stupid? (not familiar with this expression)

anyway, you cant use your personal taste as reference, to me (and many) xbox doesnt offer any or only offers 1-2 interesting exclusives, while playstation have always offered tens of interesting exclusives. and of course to some, xbox offers tens and Sony none to few.

IMO xbox have always bee a "teenagers console" that offers ad/hd multiplayer games like FPS games + forza + halo, while playstation offers more single player experiences, so different kind of ecosystem and they cant be compared just by saying "both have exclusives" as exclusives aint created equal.

So getting a full year of nothing interesting is still worse than getting 2 games that are interesting.

Also comparing prices isnt that simple, gamepass is on sale sometimes? and so are games, nobody is forcing people to buy games day 1, so it could be 120€ for 2 games or 12 games on sale for 10€.

But the biggest deal breaker is that gamepass = digital games = worthless, so it should be almost free.

I only buy digital games if they are super cheap, because they are literally worthless.

So gamepass or anything similar offers only the experience, like renting a movie. But for people whom prefer physical games for collecting, selling, borrowing and trading them it is not an option.

Problem is that people whom are target audience of game pass see it as perfection, while to others it is just worthless shit.

If Sony would have something as desperate as game pass, I would not pay for it. Even if it would have their exclusives day one for 10-15€ / month.

I rather buy used games / from sale 10-30€ each for that money.

And in the end if devs/microsoft says that our game is so shitty that it is worth only 0.00001€, then it cant be good quality. Because that is kind of the story, if it costs 10€/$ month and have hundreds of games, one game is not worth much.

That were already a reason why I wont buy outer worlds as it came on game pass for so cheap, so devs are messaging that player should not pay for their work, more than 1-2€. Same with all multiplatforms that come in game pass, I dont pay more than few euros for them as devs dont think they are worth more than that.
 
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D

Deleted member 471617

Unconfirmed Member
Let's see -

- Gears Tactics / $60
- Halo Infinite / $60
- Ori and the Will of the Wisps / $30
- The Medium / $50

$200 for all four games. Three of the four are digital only games while Halo Infinite will be available physically on disc. Even if were to buy and then trade in Halo Infinite for $30, I would still be spending a total of $170. Except for Halo Infinite, the other three games are one and done.

Or I can play and complete all four games via Game Pass/Game Pass Ultimate for $10/$15 a month. Even if each game was a full month, the total im paying would be $40/$60 which in turn still saves me $160/$140 so while it's up to everyone to do what they feel is best for themselves, I can safely say that Game Pass is 100% for me.
 

Mentat02

Banned
If you have a PC pick up gamepass. Play good games for a cheap price. take advantage of the current price before gamepass exits beta. or you can just do whatever you want and not get gamepass. I'm just saying the bang for buck is worth it.
 

Ten_Fold

Member
Gamepass type service for me is good for games with no replay value. I wouldn’t use it to play games like sf, or even bloodborne, since those provide me with lots of replay.
 
Gamepass type service for me is good for games with no replay value. I wouldn’t use it to play games like sf, or even bloodborne, since those provide me with lots of replay.

However, that's exactly the types of games that MS will start to focus on. Games as a service. They want people to be playing games and then have to continue paying the sub to continue playing it.

Imagine if MS had an exclusive game similar to WoW or Destiny in their hayday? A game that was free provided you paid the sub.
 
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