Support NeoGAF

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Today:

Earlier this month:

 

[adamsapple]

Did you really think Todd's gonna let you play his magnum opus for $1 ?

 

[AGRacing]

You can't blame them.

 

[squarealex]

yeah, AAA are not free and cost some money

 

[Montauk]

It’s called being an entrepreneur.

 

[Mister Wolf]

I would do the same.

 

[intbal]

Wasn't working for me, anyway. I haven't been subbed for 18 months. The $1 deal would show up on my console, but as soon as I clicked it, it always took me to the regular price page.

 

[BouncyFrag]

Good

 

[three_muffins]

Understandable

 

[Valkyria]

Good

Stockholm syndrome much?

 

[M.W.]

Get it cheaper at key shops: https://gg.deals/games/?title=game+pass+ultimate

 

[Bojji]

I got 3 months of PC pass for less than 7$ from Eneba so I can't complain.

They let you have account with GP trail on MS store and use your own in Xb application.

 

[Elysium44]

Seems like a red flag and shows low confidence in Starfield's ability to impress customers enough to buy it, or subscribe to game pass after 14 days to keep playing it.

 

[Lupin3]

The level of surprise is low.

 

[reinking]

Is this a sign that Microsoft is getting comfortable with the subscription numbers? Starfield will most likely give them a bump even if it is temporary.

 

[cormack12]

Have to stay on the website. Its behind a loading screen.

 

[Flutta]

Did you really think Todd's gonna let you play his magnum opus for $1 ?

Do you really think Lying Todd has a say in the pricing of GP?

 

[octiny]

Seems like a red flag and shows low confidence in Starfield's ability to impress customers enough to buy it, or subscribe to game pass after 14 days to keep playing it.

Or, just maybe, they know a crap load of people are going to buy or subscribe, so they took it away.

More like a green flag. Pay up full GP amount or buy game. Shows confidence if anything.

 

[Bernoulli]

I only needed 14 days to finish it
Now I have to wait again

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

Did you really think Todd's gonna let you play his magnum opus for $1 ?

Lol I love that you think Bethesda has anything to do with Game Pass pricing.

Omg it’s just wild some of the comments I see in here sometimes.

 

[Bernoulli]

Or, just maybe, they know a crap load of people are going to buy or subscribe, so they took it away.

More like a green flag. Pay up full GP amount or buy game. Shows confidence if anything.

No one is going to pay a full price subscription to rent 1 game
I prefer to just buy the game

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

I only needed 14 days to finish it
Now I have to wait again

You could always just buy the game

 

[octiny]

No one is going to pay a full price subscription to rent 1 game
I prefer to just buy the game

Yeah, I'm going to have to 100% disagree w/ that.

Their subscribers are going to increase a shit load when Starfield releases.

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

No one is going to pay a full price subscription to rent 1 game
I prefer to just buy the game

Wow, yeah I dunno what to tell ya, dude. That’s absolutely not true. I guarantee a large number of people will sub for 30-60 days just for Starfield. Even if you pay for 2 months it’s less than half the price of the game, and statistically most people won’t ever finish it anyway, because it’s so big.

 

[ManaByte]

If you want to play the game of the generation, you better pay up peasants!

 

[Bernoulli]

You could always just buy the game

I'm buying it later after discount and when there are enough mods

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

I'm buying it later after discount and when there are enough mods

I’m doing the same on console. Waiting to see how it turns out. And also want to see how the Steam Deck version will play.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

Is this a sign that Microsoft is getting comfortable with the subscription numbers? Starfield will most likely give them a bump even if it is temporary.

It's a sign of MS realizing that this is not sustainable unless they get 10s of millions of people paying $14.99 a month. I bet they saw many of their numbers likely came from those $1 deals.

I don't like Gamepass and think it is bad for the industry long term. I have zero faith that MS will ever be able to turn a profit on it.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

Wow, yeah I dunno what to tell ya, dude. That’s absolutely not true. I guarantee a large number of people will sub for 30-60 days just for Starfield. Even if you pay for 2 months it’s less than half the price of the game, and statistically most people won’t ever finish it anyway, because it’s so big.

Which is 100% what MS DOESN"T want. They want people comfortable with the service that they don't cancel the $14.99 per month price. Netflix/Amazon survived on that for years, but producing high quality content has gotten so expensive and prices have risen to the point that people are cancelling. Disney had hoped to capitalize on that, but Disney+ continues to lose subscribers. This will be a HUGE challenge for MS as well. They don't need to 10-20M subscribers to be successful. If the ABK deal goes through, then they will need a 30-40M $14.99 a month subscribers.

Unfortunately, I think the era of subscription services is about to crash. MS is investing a lot in this service at a time when people are unsubscribing. MS still has the advantage of being the only game service though. Will that actually protect them? WHo knows, but I have my doubts.

 

[MMaRsu]

 

[Zathalus]

Do you really think Lying Todd has a say in the pricing of GP?

Lol I love that you think Bethesda has anything to do with Game Pass pricing.

Omg just wild some of the comments I see in here sometimes.

noun
noun: joke; plural noun: jokes
a thing that someone says to cause amusement or laughter

 

[violence]

I’m not a businessman, but day one gamepass seems kind of stupid.

 

[Thick Thighs Save Lives]

Lol I love that you think Bethesda has anything to do with Game Pass pricing.

Omg just wild some of the comments I see in here sometimes.

It's obviously just a harmless joke, right adamsapple ? I've found it quite funny, tbh.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Business-wise it's the smart decision. Virtue-signaling pro-consumer message-wise, it's the wrong decision. But I bet the people who were weaponizing this for being "pro-consumer" are going to shut up and have no objections in light of its elimination, the price increase, and (probably soon) reducing the total cap on MS Reward points towards the subscription.

They definitely want to maximize ARPU off the service and, barring that, actual software sales now. Was always just a matter of time.

Seems like a red flag and shows low confidence in Starfield's ability to impress customers enough to buy it, or subscribe to game pass after 14 days to keep playing it.

Nah I think it's just them admitting what the rest of the industry already knew: subsidizing a subscription service at ridiculous lows for so long is not a sustainable business model if you actually need to make money.

I don't think the game itself seems anything mind-blowing, but it was always going to sell some decent amount of copies simply by virtue of the studio making it.

 

[The Pleasure]

All the normal people when Microsoft commits Starfield Terrorism

 

[Montauk]

Seems like a red flag and shows low confidence in Starfield's ability to impress customers enough to buy it, or subscribe to game pass after 14 days to keep playing it.

You understand that the point of Game Pass is to generate revenue for Microsoft, right?

 

[DJ12]

Fair play to them, it's one way to find out if their plan for the future will actually increase subs.

Personally. I hope it fails and no one signs up for gamepass until the 1 dollar option comes back.

I'm not against sub services, but if I'm renting games it's got to have all the dlc included like ea and ubi do. I don't want to waste good money buying dlc for a game I could lose access to at any point in the future.

 

[YuLY]

You know what? Good!

A lot of hard work and money has been put into Starfield to make it the game of the generation, is it too much to ask for people to pay a bit to access it? they can still not pay full price for the game and just buy a month of the normal gamepass tier. This is legit a non issue and if you think it is then lol.

I'm ready Todd!

 

[poodaddy]

Seems like a red flag and shows low confidence in Starfield's ability to impress customers enough to buy it, or subscribe to game pass after 14 days to keep playing it.

How to spot a warrior 101.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

You understand that the point of Game Pass is to generate revenue for Microsoft, right?

No. It's purpose it to generate a profit and keep people subscribed to their service. $14.99 a month comes out to $180 a year, which is no longer a good deal if you ask me considering you wont own those games when the sub expires. Netflix, and other streaming services have all lost subscribers. How MS expects to gain subscribers and make this sustainable AFTER investing $70B into it is beyond me.

 

[adamsapple]

I prefer to just buy the game

Good, will love to read your impressions when you do.

It's obviously just a harmless joke, right adamsapple ? I've found it quite funny, tbh.

 

[Montauk]

No. It's purpose it to generate a profit and keep people subscribed to their service. $14.99 a month comes out to $180 a year, which is no longer a good deal if you ask me considering you wont own those games when the sub expires. Netflix, and other streaming services have all lost subscribers. How MS expects to gain subscribers and make this sustainable AFTER investing $70B into it is beyond me.

Is anybody being forced to pay for Game Pass?

Of course GP has the possibility of sustainability issues. Why then then complain about them removing the $1 trial, which is the subject of this thread?

Continually offering people your expensive games service for $1 is the definition of unsustainable.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

I'm not against sub services, but if I'm renting games it's got to have all the dlc included like ea and ubi do. I don't want to waste good money buying dlc for a game I could lose access to at any point in the future.

I think it was a HUGE mistake on MS part to make AAA games available on Day 1. Gamepass is a great deal at like $9.99 a month or $60 a year. Have a handful of solid games on that service. I also cannot see how they can ever come close to making back the $70B they are about to drop ABK/Bethesda without having an unheard of increase in subscribers and not just trial. Those paying the $14.99 a month.

 

[Montauk]

I think it was a HUGE mistake on MS part to make AAA games available on Day 1. Gamepass is a great deal at like $9.99 a month or $60 a year. Have a handful of solid games on that service. I also cannot see how they can ever come close to making back the $70B they are about to drop ABK/Bethesda without having an unheard of increase in subscribers and not just trial. Those paying the $14.99 a month.

Lol it would be great value at $60 a year would it? Yeah, ooh, I reckon. How does a single game cost nowadays?

Game Pass is an incredibly good deal, as long as you’re fine with not owning the games.

If we’re making up fantasy numbers, why not argue that GP should cost $20 a year? Why not $10?

Why not? We’re all just making stuff up and having fun over here righ?

 

[mrmustard]

Damn, those poor people that love to say "But those are all just 1 Dollar trials" when Microsoft announces player numbers.

 

[cireza]

No one is going to pay a full price subscription to rent 1 game
I prefer to just buy the game

No one is going to pick one month of Game Pass to try the game ? Yeah right.

 

[Elysium44]

Is anybody being forced to pay for Game Pass?

Of course GP has the possibility of sustainability issues. Why then then complain about them removing the $1 trial, which is the subject of this thread?

Continually offering people your expensive games service for $1 is the definition of unsustainable.

The trial is now 14 days and this game is something you would play for a long time as I understand it. (I am not too familiar with Bethesda games, I have played Oblivion and Fallout 3 and never got into them much.)

To me, letting people demo your game shows confidence in it, this is so good that people will buy it. I bought Forza Horizon 4 when it came out, after using a game pass trial that Christmas. Without the trial, I wouldn't have bought it.

 

[Krieger]

It starts with removing the 1$ option and a price increase, it ends with AAA games like Call of Duty Modern Black Ops being Ultimate Elite Gamepass Series exclusive for the price of 50$ per month.

 

[Pelta88]

Smart move.

I expect Microsoft to do this right before all AAA first party releases moving forward.

 

[JohnnyFootball]

Lol it would be great value at $60 a year would it? Yeah, ooh, I reckon. How does a single game cost nowadays?

Game Pass is an incredibly good deal, as long as you’re fine with not owning the games.

If we’re making up fantasy numbers, why not argue that GP should cost $20 a year? Why not $10?

Why not? We’re all just making stuff up and having fun over here righ?

Bullshit. How many AAA games games would you have bought from MS that are exclusively available only on Xbox? Starfield is literally their first big exclusive that isn't Forza. $180 equals about 3 games. MS has never had anywhere near that amount of content in over 10 years to justify that

You talk about fantasy numbers? If you bothered to read my post I said that having AAA games on that service is what I think is not sustainable. I feel the Gamepass Core model is a much better model. THey should adopt the PS Plus Extra model, where they have a ton of games, but the AAA games go to that service 6-12 months down the line. Sony is proving that model is sustainable and aren't being denied the revenue from Day 1 releases. And yes, revenue DOES matter.