Do you think subscribing to Game Pass will likely increase or decrease your overall spending on software?

[The Albatross]

I dunno.

In the first couple years it decreased because I got that $1 upgrade deal, but even at the full $15/mo compared to whatever XBL was before that, $6/mo or something, I think it'll be a wash or I'll save money. MAybe long term I'll end up spending more.

 

[ilew]

I'm not sure / no change to overall spending. However, most of my spending is now in the Microsoft ecosystem, when I did not even have an Xbox before I got the Series X at launch.

So far I have stopped subscribing to Humble Monthly and have basically transferred all my 3rd party purchases from the PS store and some of my Steam purchases to MS / Xbox. Nintendo seems to be unaffected in my case, because I only ever bought physical exclusives for the Switch and will probably continue to do so.

 

[VermillionA]

It's definitely changed my thinking. Obviously I won't purchase Xbox titles because they'll be on game pass and I'm happy to subscribe to the service to gain access to them. I don't tend to replay games, nor do I care to collect so it's a perfect solution for me. Due to them getting Japanese games on the service it's also kind of changed my thinking in regards to them because now I look at things such as Scarlet Nexus and am reluctant to purchase because I think they'll just end up on the service within a year.

 

[TheRealBigRich]

Definitely less and I can't see any other way if you have game pass

 

[Ojli]

Technically more spending. However, my previous spending was basically only on old or very nieche games that wouldn't show up on Game Pass anyway. So now I get to play new games too! The last games I bought was Valheim and Bonkey Trek, both probably won't be on Game Pass for a while

 

[Renteka-Bond]

I deadass bought a Series X just because of the value proposition of Gamepass. Between all the games (Indie, AA and AAA) that I wanted that were already confirmed for the service + the surprises throughout like with Outriders, it more than makes up for the purchase. Add the Microsoft Rewards benefits AND not having to deal with the Windows Store on PC and it's been more than worth it.

 

[Kromis]

There should be an option that spending will increase BECAUSE OF being subscribed to Game Pass. Microsoft themselves said this is the most common outcome for a typical Game Pass subscriber. I know Game Pass personally increased my spending.

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What exactly are you buying anyway? I get that's supposed to be the case with extra discoverability + microtransactions for the casual crowd though.

 

[youzen]

Less. I only play xbox games that are on gamepass now. PC/Playstation is my primary anyway, so it isn't/won't be a huge change.

 

[dalq]

In countries where the economy is going to shit like mine, there is no feasible way to constatly buy games unless you are upper middle class.
Launch titles here are quickly approaching 50% of my countries minimum wage. Two games a month cost moren than I pay in rent.

Meanwhile, I can get a month of Gamepass Ultimate for 10% of that.

 

[knightmawk]

I don't know hard numbers, but my spending habits have definitely changed since subscribing to Game Pass. I don't really care about sales anymore and I tend to buy more games at launch and full price. I also tend to play everything I buy, rather than spending 90 dollars on a sale on 12 games I'll never get around to, I'll spend 70 dollars on one game at launch and play it immediately. I also feel like I buy more DLC.

Like I said, I don't know hard numbers and don't really want to see them. Its safe to say though that before I'd buy more games at lower prices, and now I buy fewer games at higher prices.

 

[cakely]

The whole point of Game Pass is access to giant library of games for a monthly fee. You subscribe so you don't have to buy the games individually.

It's like asking if subscribing to Netflix has increased your purchase of DVDs and Blu-Rays: No, it has not.

 

[CaptNink]

My spending on games has seen a big reduction in the time that I've been a GP subscriber. Using last year as an example, I only bought two AAA games: Valhalla and Cyberpunk (oof), and a couple of indie titles.

 

[AstronaughtE]

I don't know if it will have any meaningful impact on how much I spend at all. I suppose this will be the first full year in which I'm a subscriber, as opposed to last year when it was sporadic.

I'm still going to buy the games that I like, at the price I'm willing to spend, but I'll also have the opportunity to try games that I would otherwise wait until they are dirt cheap or never pay to play at all.

It's sold me some game and it's helped me dodge some bullets.

 

[josiah]

I think gamepass will turn into the f2p game model. You have a lot of content and cosmetics locked behind transactions.

As of now, I dont have it. I own all the games I want. That may change when new games are released this generation. If that is the case, they will lose money from me.

 

[Black Mantis]

Less. I will still purchase certain games from 3rd parties (Yakuza games for example), but only when they go on sale. I already stopped buying games from Xbox Games Studios since they started launching on the service day one.

 

[TheGhost]

I only purchase COD for the last two years so there is that.

everything else depends if it's on Gamepass or not

 

[Daddy JeanPi]

Having Game Pass means you can save a lot of money and use that money to buy other games (that are not on the service).

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This!

 

[metal]

Not sure. It definitely decreases my spending on specific titles but I'm not sure if the money spent on Gamepass makes up for the difference or not. I'm certainly playing far more games for my money now though, many of which I never would have given a chance if I had to buy them individually.

 

[Quellyford]

What exactly are you buying anyway? I get that's supposed to be the case with extra discoverability + microtransactions for the casual crowd though.

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Typically you'll have people buy the game on Xbox or even other systems after playing it on Game Pass. It also increases the sales of DLC, microtransactions, and other purchasable content. I personally buy DLC and the odd game here and there, but before I had Game Pass I only bought one game per year. Now I'm subscribed full-time+paying for games and more content.

 

[Digital Savior]

It would probably stay the same. Money I save can be spent somewhere else.

 

[Dreams-Visions]

Let's revisit this question when everyone's $1/month subs run out in a couple of years. 😬

 

[oni-link]

Let's revisit this question when everyone's $1/month subs run out in a couple of years. 😬

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I assume MS are banking on people being too used to having GP to quit at that point

Also the Game Pass line up in 2025 is gonna be much better than the line up is in 2021

Only thing I can see turning people off is if they hike up the price a lot

 

[Rumenapp]

Let's revisit this question when everyone's $1/month subs run out in a couple of years. 😬

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Even at €13 or €14 per month is still an insane amount of value.

I'm subbed until next January using the gold upgrade.

 

[ThreepQuest64]

Of course I'll spend less because I don't need to buy those games in Game Pass. And because I can only play so many games within a finite time frame I don't buy games on top of that except for those I wanted to buy anyways and aren't in Game Pass.

 

[Bucéfalo]

I spend WAY less, period.

 

[Kromis]

Typically you'll have people buy the game on Xbox or even other systems after playing it on Game Pass. It also increases the sales of DLC, microtransactions, and other purchasable content. I personally buy DLC and the odd game here and there, but before I had Game Pass I only bought one game per year. Now I'm subscribed full-time+paying for games and more content.

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See, I totally understand the metrics behind pushing Game Pass. I'm just curious about which audience spends more, the hardcore (like Era) or casual. How do you identify?

 

[Deleted member 45130]

I'll still occasionally buy games that aren't available on Game Pass but I anticipate spending far less money on games moving forward. There are enough games on the platform that I'm interested in playing to keep me busy for a very long time.

 

[Quellyford]

See, I totally understand the metrics behind pushing Game Pass. I'm just curious about which audience spends more, the hardcore (like Era) or casual. How do you identify?

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Personally kind of in the middle. Gaming is my second favorite hobby after hockey, and I don't really have THAT much time to dedicate. I'll spend here and there, but was never a gamer who bought and/or played lots of games. Most often a casual tbh :P

 

[DontHateTheBacon]

I have GameFly for Playstation games, and in the duration of my subscription, I've spent dramatically less on games. It's great for me.

 

[hanshen]

My overall budget is roughly the same. But since I already get so many games on game pass, I spent significantly more money on Switch games. I'm also more likely to buy big AAA releases that I really want to play on day one instead of waiting for a sale.

And no, I didn't get game pass for $1. I did get two year worth of subscription when the digital code was 25% off.

 

[Ushay]

Spending less for sure.

I am a lot more confident to get DLC on the service now though.

 

[etta]

So it seems that less money will be going towards the industry from GP subscribers, but GP is supposed to be good for the industry according to said subscribers. Interesting.

Click to shrink...

yea you're right, Game Pass is slowly destroying the games industry

 

[ty_hot]

Era is the bubble where it is normal to play a game per week (or more), few people won't benefit from Game Pass. In the general public though, spending should go up.

 

[Rzarekta]

yea you're right, Game Pass is slowly destroying the games industry

Click to shrink...

Is that what I said? Nope. My statement is validated by this very thread. Era is a bubble, but we are talking within that bubble. According to the responses in this thread, one can assume that there will be less money going towards the industry from consumers. I didn't say the industry was doomed because of Game Pass. Stop trying to create false narratives of GP haters to validate your own thoughts. There are too many people already doing that on Era. People should be allowed to make a statement about something without being sarcastically targeted by fanboys of a rental service.

 

[Kill3r7]

I would imagine that within era it would decrease overall spend or not effect it all (for those who hate the service) but the general public it probably means more spend on mtxs.

 

[Jasonofindy]

I'm spending about the same amount of money, but more of my spending has shifted from PS to MS. I'm also getting to play through a LOT more games than before.

So far the biggest actual benefit is for online co-op with friends. We don't play online often, but before it was more of a pain finding something we all had on compatible systems. Now, we have guaranteed pool of shared games to play together. We just need an afternoon's notice for any potential download.

 

[LuckyLinus]

My yearly spending on games went down around 30-40% since I subscribed in 2019 but I dont spend any money on MTX or DLC.

 

[Issen]

Game Pass has increased the amount of money I spend on games, I think. It allows me to try games (the whole thing, not like demos) and decide how much I like them. I often avoided buying some games entirely because I just didn't know how much I'd like them.

DiRT 5 is my latest purchase that owes its existence to XGP PC.

 

[Goldenroad]

It's probably about the same for me. I'm probably roughly spending between $400-500 on games every year, with or without Game Pass. It's just that that $500 is going A LOT further these days thanks to Game Pass.

 

[Ryuun]

Usually Game Pass for me is all the games I want to try, but wouldn't necessarily buy. If a game on Game Pass is really good, I'd consider buying it, but I haven't come across any titles I'd want to do that with yet.

Most of my game purchases are Switch games, so Game Pass really isn't helping out much in that regard.

 

[Jedi2016]

At this point, if I had an Xbox (in addition to my PC and PS5), I would probably never actually buy a single game for it. It would just the Game Pass machine.

 

[mentok15]

So far I'm spending around the same amount. But if they can keep up with this money quality I might start spending less as I won't have time to play everything.

Let's revisit this question when everyone's $1/month subs run out in a couple of years. 😬

Click to shrink...

I'm paid up until 2023. After which the price would have to substantially increase, or the quality/amount of games avalibe significantly decrease, for me to unsubscribe. Money wise I'm more likely to spend less then on non-gp games in that scenario.

 

[alphacat]

I saved a lot of money thanks to my Game Pass sub. I did the 3 year Gold conversion as well.

 

[Deleted member 4212]

So far it has decreased my spending. It's nice to be able to try a bunch of games out and just play what sticks.

By the way, I just added 4 months to my subscription with this deal:

 

[The Lord of Cereal]

I'm at the point where I feel Game Pass is enabling me to feel more willing to buy a game I'm iffy on and wouldn't buy normally, or even just expose me to games I wouldn't normally buy.

Example for a game I'm iffy on: I didn't care much for Dark Souls 1 but heard a lot of good thinks about Dark Souls 2, so I bit the bullet and bought it during a sale on Steam. I wouldn't have bought it normally but I did anyway.

Example for buying games I wouldn't have previously: I really liked Bloodstained Ritual of the Night on Game Pass and after beating it I went out and bought Castlevania SOTN on Xbox and also went out and bought the DS Castlevania games when I could find them.

So I feel like I'm spending more money on games because of my Game Pass sub, but I've definitely been spending less on Xbox so far lol

 

[Serpens007]

I find myself buying less smaller games, but since I'm still waiting on good sales for the more expensive that aren't part of the service, I don't know if it'll be less, more, or the same on the full scene. I think it's less, since a lot of small purchases end up adding to a lot in Steam...

 

[Skiptastic]

Game Pass doesn't reduce the amount I spend on software as much as Microsoft Rewards help me "spend" less.

 

[DailyCalmSpirit]

Massive decrease in spending already to the point where I literally do not see myself ever buying a game on Xbox again.

Unfortunately, so far, I've also not finished a game on Xbox in ages. There's something about the lack of investment that I'm unable to get over.

 

[Precious Tritium]

I just bought a Series X with all the recent announcements. Will see how it goes but I don't plan on buying any games on it.

 

[Pineapple]

When I get Game Pass I see no reason to spend any extra money on games for the Xbox ecosystem. I will simply wait for the titles I want to hit Game Pass. Of course, every title I want won't hit the system, but I will simply buy those elsewhere for cheaper or on Switch for the portability.