From the way things are going, Xbox Game Pass is likely going to become the 'Netflix of gaming'

12Danny123 · Dec 17, 2019

With Stadia struggling because of its business model of having users purchase their games in the traditional way and Sony's lack of vision on PS Now and being conservative on PS Now and focusing only on revenue, profit and not growth of subscribers. From the way things are going, Xbox Game Pass is likely going to become the 'Netflix of Gaming', what I mean by this is that they will become the dominate subscription service with the most users subscribed to the service. Why? Microsoft has the right business model and the ambition and vision to make Game Pass a success, something Sony and Google very much lack.

New services require companies to invest in the service and make short term losses for long term gain, that's how every business works, it's very unrealistic to make a profit day 1 and expect a large number of users for a new product.

Game Pass already has a rumoured 9.5 Million users that are on Console and PC users. MS announced that XCloud will support Game Pass games, meaning that games that are released on Game Pass will be able to stream on any IOS, Android, PC and eventually TV, Consoles, they also have aggressive pricing for GP to get users onto the platform and Lockhart is also used to get more users onto Game Pass.

What are your thoughts on this, do you agree?

Patitoloco · Dec 17, 2019

Not really sure where you're getting that Sony is conservative with PS Now, when they recently entered in like 15 new countries and they've talked multiple times about how it's an important key of their next gen plans.

Apart from that, yes, of course Gamepass has a huge advantage now, they're the ones offering the best service, but honestly, they can be contested by Sony or Nintendo easily, because Playstation or Nintendo fans wont be getting Xboxes for the Gamepass. On PC, their only real competitor is Valve if they want to make something like that.

MickZan · Dec 17, 2019

They will need the games though. I might be interested in a gaming subservice, but game pass basicely lacks any game I'm interested in.

danowat · Dec 17, 2019

Hopefully.

12Danny123 · Dec 17, 2019

Patitoloco said:
Not really sure where you're getting that Sony is conservative with PS Now, when they recently entered in like 15 new countries and they've talked multiple times about how it's an important key of their next gen plans.

Apart from that, yes, of course Gamepass has a huge advantage now, they're the ones offering the best service.

Sony needs to sacrifice revenue and profit to grow for years to grow the service, that's where Sony needs to be more ambitious. Apple TV+, Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime are all loss leaders right now and that's a good thing, because it means that the companies are putting the growth of the platform over profit.

Game Pass is making big losses but this means that they are growing the service at a rapid rate, examples of growth initiatives is the third party releases of titles and the aggressive investment in getting indies on GP Day 1 and also putting their first-party games on the service Day 1.

pswii60 · Dec 17, 2019

MickZan said:
They will need the games though. I might be interested in a gaming subservice, but game pass basicely lacks any game I'm interested in.

You must have an extremely specific and niche taste to not be interested in any game currently on the service or upcoming at all.

z285714 · Dec 17, 2019

So which game is the House of Cards of Game Pass?

jsnepo · Dec 17, 2019

12Danny123 said:
Sony needs to sacrifice revenue and profit to grow for years to grow the service, that's where Sony needs to be more ambitious. Apple TV+, Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime are all loss leaders right now and that's a good thing, because it means that the companies are putting the growth of the platform over profit.

Game Pass is making big losses but this means that they are growing the service at a rapid rate.

I don't get how that is growing the platform.

Jiraiya · Dec 17, 2019

MickZan said:
They will need the games though. I might be interested in a gaming subservice, but game pass basicely lacks any game I'm interested in.

You have to be talking about exclusives. I can't imagine someone who likes videogames can't find a single one to play on gamepass.

Patitoloco · Dec 17, 2019

12Danny123 said:
Sony needs to sacrifice revenue and profit to grow for years to grow the service, that's where Sony needs to be more ambitious. Apple TV+, Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime are all loss leaders right now and that's a good thing, because it means that the companies are putting the growth of the platform over profit.

Game Pass is making big losses but this means that they are growing the service at a rapid rate.

Yet you don't know if Gamepass or PS Now is making profit or losses, or how that relates to growth.

Again, PS Now just expanded to most of Europe, got a big price cut, and it has been named as a key layer of the next gen Playstation, so what's missing in comparison? The day one games is the only thing I can think of, and I would bet on that being on the service by year 2 at most.

Also, I'm completely sure that Netflix losing billions of dollars in mostly terrible content just to find a good series/movie is not a good strategy.

12Danny123 · Dec 17, 2019

jsnepo said:
I don't get how that is growing the platform.

It's growing the platform because they are in grow mode, they are being aggressive in their investment in GP. Amazon never made any profit for years and gain a massive subscriber base for Amazon Prime, Netflix is making heavy losses for their streaming service and now has 144 Million subscribers.

That's what Sony will have to compete within the Gaming Subscription space as more players enter the scene. Not getting into the Red is what will hold back PS Now's growth.

FlintSpace · Dec 17, 2019

It is. No doubt about it.
I am just curious how much money are MS burning to keep this afloat. Gamepass right now is just too damn cheap.

Strings · Dec 17, 2019

Eugh, not that 9.5 million thing again. That was immediately pointed out as nonsense in the thread where it came up.

Potterson · Dec 17, 2019

It's really good for Microsoft. I don't have Xbox but I won't probably cancel my PC GamePass, like, ever.

Van Bur3n · Dec 17, 2019

pswii60 said:
You must have an extremely specific and niche taste to not be interested in any game currently on the service or upcoming at all.

I like game pass, but at most I've only gotten Hellblade, Hollow Knight and Outer Worlds from it. Some of us are just very particular.

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More Butter · Dec 17, 2019

MickZan said:
They will need the games though. I might be interested in a gaming subservice, but game pass basicely lacks any game I'm interested in.

This is hard to believe. There are many quality games on the service.

AndyVirus · Dec 17, 2019

It's probably losing as much money as Netflix, yeah.

Gundam · Dec 17, 2019

Patitoloco said:
Not really sure where you're getting that Sony is conservative with PS Now

Sony is taking off God of War and Uncharted 4 after the new year, that certainly doesn't seem aggressive or liberal to me.

K Samedi · Dec 17, 2019

I don't think it will ever become something like Netflix. You need a huge amount of subscribers to actually be viable for triple A games. We'll see but I don't think gaming fits the subscription model really well.

It’s Time To Go · Dec 17, 2019

z285714 said:
So which game is the House of Cards of Game Pass?

Shenmue.

M4xim1l1ano · Dec 17, 2019

AndyVirus said:
It's probably losing as much money as Netflix, yeah.

And how is this your problem? If this is true and MS still believes in it and wants to push it, it shouldn't bother you that MS loses money on it if it means that you can have access to a variety of games for a small fee.

Phil said that "Let me worry about P&L" (profit/loss I assume) so the your only worry is to choose which game to play.

Sword Familiar · Dec 17, 2019

FlintSpace said:
It is. No doubt about it.
I am just curious how much money are MS burning to keep this afloat. Gamepass right now is just too damn cheap.

This is what I'm worried about. Users are getting too used to it being a dollar or whatever. Will everyone stay even when it's 9.99-14.99?

Voodoopeople · Dec 17, 2019

In terms of service, Sony do need to match MS in terms of 1st party day and date if they don't want it to go the way of LoveFilm.

It won't be enough enticement to simply offer a smattering of 2 year old and beyond 1st party PS4/5 games to the rest of the mix, going forward.

I'm confident they will though.

Just like Sony forced MS into major changes early this gen, MS have been pushing hard and making a lot of the running later in the gen. Sony have been having to respond and I've no doubt they'll have to further improve their subscription offer in light of GP.

Pryme · Dec 17, 2019

MickZan said:
They will need the games though. I might be interested in a gaming subservice, but game pass basicely lacks any game I'm interested in.

Not going to lie, this gave me a laugh.

You'd have to absolutely have an unusually niche taste in gaming to make this statement with a straight face.

M4xim1l1ano · Dec 17, 2019

K Samedi said:
I don't think it will ever become something like Netflix. You need a huge amount of subscribers to actually be viable for triple A games. We'll see but I don't think gaming fits the subscription model really well.

If it's true, it is already at almost 10 million. With upcoming Xbox console, that number could easily double to 20 million paying subs a 10 bucks a month. It is no small potatoes.

Voodoopeople · Dec 17, 2019

Sword Familiar said:
This is what I'm worried about. Users are getting too used to it being a dollar or whatever. Will everyone stay even when it's 9.99-14.99?

You can actually get it for basically nothing if you do Microsoft Rewards stuff. There's enough reward points available to get a month of GPU every single month.

AshenOne · Dec 17, 2019

Idk, its too early to predict but at the end of the day, PC Gamers would still prefer owning their games and have them play even 10-15 years into future without any hassle rather than worrying about renewing subscriptions or risk losing ALL games you owned.

Unlike Netflix, we're dealing with games and obviously movies and songs are different when it comes to emphasis and weight given to them by customers as compared to games. A normal customer cares much more about their game purchases then their movie or song purchases. So IMO Game pass will remain big but only complement Digital Downloads.

Sword Familiar · Dec 17, 2019

Voodoopeople said:
You can actually get it for basically nothing if you do Microsoft Rewards stuff. There's enough reward points available to get a month of GPU every single month.

Interesting. How do rewards work exactly?

Cengizhan · Dec 17, 2019

It mostly depends on a couple of things. How good is xCloud and its pricing model? Will the market fragment itself like the streaming services market?

Gundam · Dec 17, 2019

Sword Familiar said:
Interesting. How do rewards work exactly?

You can do "quests" on Xbox that rely on playing games, usually on game pass, but the bulk of it is using Bing across different devices or services. There are also daily quizzes you take which are quick trashy trivia things that you use Bing to find the answers to. I'm pretty passive with it and accumulate enough for a $5 Amazon gift card every month and a half or so.

Klobrille · Dec 17, 2019

The number of game's I've discovered through Game Pass I wouldn't have even thought about without it is actually pretty crazy.

Deleted member 2254 · Dec 17, 2019

Definitely. I mean, this year alone had stuff like Gears 5, The Outer World or Demon's Tilt launch day one on the service, couple months old games like Metro Exodus, Devil May Cry 5 or Just Cause 4 hit the program, along with tons of other interesting games new and old, triple-A or indie. The amount of content, the variety of it and the average quality is incredible, and it's definitely growing to be the Netflix of gaming. Other gaming subs (PSNow, Apple Arcade) at this moment can not compete, not until they don't start offering major games at launch or shortly after it.

jsnepo · Dec 17, 2019

12Danny123 said:
It's growing the platform because they are in grow mode, they are being aggressive in their investment in GP. Amazon never made any profit for years and gain a massive subscriber base for Amazon Prime, Netflix is making heavy losses for their streaming service and now has 144 Million subscribers.

That's what Sony will have to compete within the Gaming Subscription space as more players enter the scene. Not getting into the Red is what will hold back PS Now's growth.

I mean how is that growing making the platform better. You are saying this in the perspective of the business and not the consumers.

Deleted member 20297 · Dec 17, 2019

MickZan said:
They will need the games though. I might be interested in a gaming subservice, but game pass basicely lacks any game I'm interested in.

Wait, there are 398 games and not a single one is for you? Wow, that sounds like a very special taste. This is not meant dismissive of your opinion but I think many people will find something for their taste with such an amount of games.

Sword Familiar · Dec 17, 2019

Gundam said:
You can do "quests" on Xbox that rely on playing games, usually on game pass, but the bulk of it is using Bing across different devices or services. There are also daily quizzes you take which are quick trashy trivia things that you use Bing to find the answers to. I'm pretty passive with it and accumulate enough for a $5 Amazon gift card every month and a half or so.

Doesn't sound worth the hassle for me personally, but it's good that the option is there if you want it.

upinsmoke · Dec 17, 2019

Another vain attempt to have a dig at Sony. Boring.

Oggmeiler · Dec 17, 2019

It already is.

ItchyTasty · Dec 17, 2019

It's one of the things making me consider Xbox next gen despite never owning one of their consoles before 😯

Spotify and Netflix has made listening to music and watching movies so easy in the last couple of years. Wouldn't mind losing the hassle of picking what game to fork out a fortune for and instead just try what seems interesting. Then I can always buy and own the games I really love or want to play immidiately.

Dabanton · Dec 17, 2019

MS has certainly prepared their userbase for Gamepass.

Sony's bread and butter are SP big AAA games. And offering those sort of games day one on an equivalent service is obviously not something they particularly want to do.

But if gamepass hits even bigger and pushes consumer expectations, I fully expect to see them bend and have to do it.

Offering newish games a few months after release won't cut it either.

PooWithEyes · Dec 17, 2019

pswii60 said:
You must have an extremely specific and niche taste to not be interested in any game currently on the service or upcoming at all.

I'm not interested in any of them either 🤷‍♂️ I sign up now and then but then remember how little there is there for me

For me I much prefer the "back catalogue" aspect of PSNow Vs the new games on XGP. I consistently subscribe to PSNow but even when I am subbed TO XGP I can't find much on there i want to play. I usually subscribe when a new game comes out, play that and then let it lapse until something else I want to play comes out.

IIFloodyII · Dec 17, 2019

12Danny123 said:
It's growing the platform because they are in grow mode, they are being aggressive in their investment in GP. Amazon never made any profit for years and gain a massive subscriber base for Amazon Prime, Netflix is making heavy losses for their streaming service and now has 144 Million subscribers.

That's what Sony will have to compete within the Gaming Subscription space as more players enter the scene. Not getting into the Red is what will hold back PS Now's growth.

What makes you think it's not already in the red? It wasn't exactly cheap to start and certainly isn't to run. Getting in the red isn't just completely kill your software sales on your platform.

Gundam · Dec 17, 2019

Sword Familiar said:
Doesn't sound worth the hassle for me personally, but it's good that the option is there if you want it.

I just set my default search engine to bing. I guess that much is a hassle depending on how much you prefer google.

DigSCCP · Dec 17, 2019

My thoughts are : if you don't want to consider any other metrics besides numbers of subscribers - which is a completely strange way of measuring its success but whatever - you have to remember that PS+ has around 40mi subscribers and it will take some time to MS to achieve this.

LewieP · Dec 17, 2019

My main concern is that they are spending large sums of money to secure games right now, but the model is obviously predicated on them getting that money back down the line.

I'd also say that it could be leading to a scenario where games that have neither a big ip or marketing budget, and are not on game pass, struggle to find any kind of audience on Xbox. Could be unhealthy in the long run.

But for now I think it's a good service that offers users value for money.

zedox · Dec 17, 2019

Been saying this for years... Yes, it will.

Strings · Dec 17, 2019

Lephotographeur said:
If it's true, it is already at almost 10 million. With upcoming Xbox console, that number could easily double to 20 million paying subs a 10 bucks a month. It is no small potatoes.

Again, it's not even close to that number. The 'source' claimed there was 9.5 million subscribers in May and that it was 30% of Xbox's revenue. If 10 million subscribers were paying $10 a month (ignoring all the $1 subs blah blah), that would be $1.2b, which is 10% of revenue. The numbers make no sense any way you look at them, which is why the thread on it was locked.

Sword Familiar · Dec 17, 2019

Gundam said:
I just set my default search engine to bing. I guess that much is a hassle depending on how much you prefer google.

There are other alternatives, and yes, I prefer those to bing.

IIFloodyII · Dec 17, 2019

pswii60 said:
You must have an extremely specific and niche taste to not be interested in any game currently on the service or upcoming at all.

There was exactly 3 games I was interested in, DMC5, The Outer Worlds and Metro Exodus (would've been 5, but got Gears 4 and 5 with the Xbox and 1 month of Game Pass), happy I went with Game Pass on them though, was pretty underwhelmed by TOW and DMC5. It is a great service and will only get better with a better 1st party output, so can definitely see me subbing here and there to catch up on games I missed or on the fence with.

Hamster Plugin · Dec 17, 2019

DigSCCP said:
My thoughts are : if you don't want to consider any other metrics besides numbers of subscribers - which is a completely strange way of measuring its success but whatever - you have to remember that PS+ has around 40mi subscribers and it will take some time to MS to achieve this.

You're talking about an entirely different kind of service. PS+ isn't really a service, it's a paywall. You can't use your PS4's internet connection in games without a PS+ subscription. Microsoft's Xbox Live Gold is the same, and also has a similar subscriber base.

Game Pass will NEVER be as big as Live Gold or PS+ because it's not mandatory. Gold and Plus are mandatory subscriptions for most players to play on Xbox or PS4.

Misterhbk · Dec 17, 2019

c0de said:
Wait, there are 398 games and not a single one is for you? Wow, that sounds like a very special taste. This is not meant dismissive of your opinion but I think many people will find something for their taste with such an amount of games.

I don't see how this is so shocking to people. 398 games is a nice number. And they could all be good games. But none of them are games I would buy day one. Including Gears 5 or Outer Worlds, etc. sure I'm interested in them but they aren't games I'm dying to play right now. I can only give so much time to gaming. My focus is on things I want to play, and not just interesting things because it's cheap? That sounds unfair. I don't mean to talk down on the service. I see the value for sure. But I can also see why someone might not.

From the way things are going, Xbox Game Pass is likely going to become the 'Netflix of gaming'

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