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So. Future of Game Pass?

Game Pass

  • Will endure but be cannibalised into more premium tiers

    Votes: 62 57.9%

  • Will be phased out by other initiatives (Play Anywhere)

    Votes: 16 15.0%

  • Will be phased out enitrely

    Votes: 29 27.1%

  • Will only be available with other bundles (e.g Hulu, Netflix)

    Votes: 4 3.7%

  • Something else (post in thread)....

    Votes: 8 7.5%
  • Total voters
    107
I don't see it changing too significantly, though catalog size will likely decrease a bit. At the end of the day, selling a subscription is all Xbox really has as a platform, and it's the one thing that aligns with Microsoft's awful "everything is a service now" dystopia.
 
You know how Netflix and Amazon fluff up their content with non-english movies? They are going to use AI to generate slop content for gamepass. I truly expect it will die off in it's current form as the numbers decreases, prices increase and it doesn't get the numbers they projected.
 
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They basically killed the brand that their subscription service tied into.

Also without a platform where you can basically force a subscription, GP will die pretty soon
 
I think it will evolve. Higher costs and not as good for us then it could fizzle out. I can't imagine it's growing with all the mess that's going on over there at Xbox for the last few years
 
They may fiddle around with the tiers, like they always do, but I don't see any major changes coming.
 
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reinking said:
That is my guess too. Cloud and rolling other services into it. I believe they might even remove day one for big MS Games/XB titles.
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Removing day 1 games would pretty much kill the service, especially with Ultimate already costing 30€.

My guess is they'll be going after Game Pass PC next to transition people to (more expensive) Ultimate.
 
Ozzie666 said:
You know how Netflix and Amazon fluff up their content with non-english movies? They are going to use AI to generate slop content for gamepass. I truly expect it will die off in it's current form as the numbers decreases, prices increase and it doesn't get the numbers they projected.
Click to expand...

Non-english media was a direct business choice. Netflix bought up international rights for US broadcast shows and streaming rights for legacy networks in Asia. It also funded development of television series and films in non-english markets. What you see as "fluff" is part of what made Netflix so successful globally.
 
Angry_Megalodon said:
Not even the most popular GaaS work as suscription services. This is a huge failure like it or not.

It could be good for promoting obscure indies (lot of excellent ones lately) but for AAA it's a certified bomba.
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I really don't get why you bring in GAAS myself. The point I'm making is... be it Netflix, Prime Gamepass, PS+ Ect, etc. Subscription services are here to stay in the digital world
 
I dunno... but I've had an active Xbox Live Gold sub for almost 20 years which has been a Game Pass ultimate sub for the last 5-6 years (with those no-brainer $1 upgrade deals I stacked)....
I got a reminder that it expires next month, I think this might be the first time in a looooong time I don't renew. Those gangbuster deals are non-existent, the price is too high and I've got a huuuge backlog

7MV8XbmQ0Gz5qBuE.png
 
My bet is on Day One games not being on any tier by the end of this year. It will be a similar approach to what PS+ is.

Difference being, Sony doesn't need a Gamepass to keep people on its platform, MS does. Without those AAA games Day One on GP, they'll lose what small userbase they have left, and very quickly.

Their cloud infrastructure is worse than what others like Sony and Nvidia already offer. Unless they dramatically improve that, then there is really nothing to keep people on the platform.

It'll be at that point we will see the final move over to software only publishing from MS. Everything else will be killed off. Including project Helix, which won't see past the R&D stage.
 
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PC gamepass will disappear and PC will just use the same gamepass as xbox, they have already been signalling that. Other than that it will likely stay the same although prices will increase over time. I have to imagine they are working hard to figure out how to make an ad supported tier.
 
I simply do not see MS being anything other than a large 3rd party publisher in 5 years and that's if they don't sell off Xbox divisions/studios completely
 
Gradually phased out over time OR a reduction to games that have been available for x years, i.e. the way it always should have been.

I think GP can be viable for old/classic games that don't really generate crazy sales anymore like say putting the entire 360 library on there. Put the Xbox One library on there. Series games, nope you need to purchase to play. Hell if the 360 library was on there I would've been a subscriber on day one for PC GP but it's not.
 
They should drop day 1 and condition their fanbase to actually buy the games instead. Make it two year mandatory before new games enter the pass. Focus on older games and retro. Bring the price down.
 
Honestly Microsoft's output this gen hasn't been enough to carry Game Pass anyway. The best 1st party day 1 releases were:

Psychonauts 2 (DF is probably gone)
Wasteland 3
Pentiment
Hi-Fi Rush (Tango is already gone)
CoD: Black Ops 6 (CoD is already gone)

Aside from those, all the best game pass games are 3rd party anyway. There would be backlash but removing Day 1 for first party in favor of 6 months after would long-term be healthier for their platform and Game Pass could still remain a great value (especially if they still pay for Day 1 3rd party releases).

I'm excited to play Fable and Clockwork Revolution as part of my subscription but if they ended up being separated I would buy them at launch.
 
Mr Hyde said:
They should drop day 1 and condition their fanbase to actually buy the games instead. Make it two year mandatory before new games enter the pass. Focus on older games and retro. Bring the price down.
Click to expand...

If people won't pay $13.99 to play EVERY games, why in the world would they suddenly start paying $70 and $80 EACH? The problem is their games simply haven't been very good, and Xbox has been a dead platform since Xbone. Gamepass was literally launched as a Hail Mary to save an Xbox ship that was already 75% under water.
 
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I think Xbox fans were trained to not buy games too much so simply taking day one wont matter they will just wait .... if MS take day one it must be at least two years before new games come into the service.
Or even better do like Sony and make it always a guess, dont make any promises
 
MS has to restructure GamePass top-to-bottom (which may very well result in collapsing all enthusiasm for the brand and its invariable demise), otherwise they're stuck in a vicious cycle that will slowly kill the brand and lead to closures of studios, asset sales, and the death of the platform.

The brand's strategy has failed and the only hope is to limp along until Xbox can attempt to reset the console market. But the name of the game is the game: MS' own 1st party output failed them and everything else they did in between was a band-aid to cover up the systemic issues in their creative output.

Spending their way out of problems has been the division's philosophy since its founding. I don't fault Nadella for concluding that has to change, but his opportunity to alter its fate was at least 7 years earlier when Crackdown 3 released (IMO). His disinterest in guiding Xbox cannot be overstated for how it all became so dire.
 
Haint said:
If people won't pay $13.99 to play EVERY games, why in the world would they suddenly start paying $70 and $80 EACH? The problem is their games simply haven't been very good, and Xbox has been a dead platform since Xbone.
Click to expand...
That's the right answer. Game Pass is the only reason I own an Xbox because it certainly wasn't for Microsoft's own games. And I only bought it in the first place because I already had GP on PC.

The mental gymnastics surrounding GP is world class. And somehow always from people who can't have it. Microsoft's own games don't even factor into it.
 
Simply Sami said:
Day one has to go for it to be sustainable. But if that goes then the price needs to drop.
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Agreed, they've already said it cannibalizes sales. Too many of people (like me) sign up for a month to play the one game their interested in. There are so many studios and games these days, it has to be more economical to license third party games than compete. Especially with the development budgets we've seen from Microsoft... I think we'll see more of that as well.
 
Option A i believe, Microsoft admitted they are not making enough money just a few weeks ago, day 1 was a mistake for new games and they wern't making the best games to put on it anyway, MS are now doing what they should of, 5 years ago.
 
Been dead or dying for so long according to Gaf. Sure bros.

2017-2026 RIP Game Pass. /s
 
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Bernardougf said:
I think Xbox fans were trained to not buy games too much so simply taking day one wont matter they will just wait ....
Click to expand...

My son is one of those people. Since he's had his Series S, he has bought the yearly EAFC (FIFA) and Elden Ring. That's it in 3 years.

Everything else is just Gamepass or free to play games like Fortnite. He doesn't see the point of buying games when he gets so much with Gamepass.
 
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