Game Pass may be the decisive factor for me for choosing Xbox over PS next gen

[Manmademan]

Funny how the brand loyalty didn't keep all the 360 owners with Xbox One.

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The 360 had a LOT of casual owners who bought in for Kinect and not much else. Those people wouldn't have had much brand loyalty.
Kinect Adventures sold something like 24 million units, and the Kinect itself around 30. It was enough that Xbox sales shot up substantially in year 5 and kept rising through year 6.

This is abnormal, and no other system followed that sales curve. MS brought in a lot of casual gamers doing this, but unfortunately much like Nintendo with the Wii, they didn't have a coherent strategy to hang on to these people. The same people that bought a cheap box with Kinect Adventures in 2010 are absolutely, positively not the same people showing up to buy a $499 XBox One system at launch.

Microsoft centering the Xbox One's Kinect around "TV" and then killing it off within about a year didn't help matters.

Without that audience that bought in for the 360 Kinect, the core lifetime 360 audience is probably closer to 50-60 million, which probably isn't all that far off from where the Xbox One will end up before MS EOL's it.

 

[SheriffMcDuck]

I love the Playstation brand but I don't care to drink the ResetEra fanboy flavor drink on the issue. I've overall enjoyed the xbox this gen more then the Sony product regardless of the great first party library of titles Sony brought. I've used it with my TiVo and have enjoyed the many media apps that the Microsoft box has done better then the PS4. GamePass has kinda sealed it for me as well as far as excitement goes for next gen. With all of Microsoft's studio acquisitions I'm excited to see where they take things in short order. I think Xbox did more right over the last bunch of years then they did wrong but you almost never hear that on this forum. To a small degree yes but I don't think they get nearly enough credit. Kinect was the wrong product at launch and was hated by forum fanboys but more about that product turned out to correct over being wrong. Whatever though, go with whatever excites one more. Most of the folks reading this on Era purchase every console if they can financially do so.

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Microsoft has done a great job towards the tail of the gen for sure. But all of their games being available on PC means I have no reason to buy their console. I'm looking forward to what Obisidian and Playground(Fable) do now more than before though.

 

[Lua]

Here's the thing about gamepass on my perspective, for it to be worth something i would need to play things on a regular basis. I don't. I only play 5 or 6 games a year at most, and i rather own physically those few titles i buy a year. It's not worth it like it is with netflix, since i watch much more streaming than actively play a game, since it demands less time. I won't deny it's value for active games however.

 

[Bradbatross]

Again you can do that with Game Pass, right now. I just don't see why it's going to suddenly kick things off with a 'bang' next gen when it's not moving the needle much now.

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People don't want an Xbox One at the end of the generation.

 

[bcatwilly]

Microsoft has done a great job towards the tail of the gen for sure. But all of their games being available on PC means I have no reason to buy their console. I'm looking forward to what Obisidian and Playground(Fable) do now more than before though.

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That is what is great about the choice that Xbox offers in my opinion to the gamer. I personally at this point prefer playing on a console in front of my 65" 4K HDR TV, so I am really excited about Xbox Scarlett. But given that I have built a couple gaming PCs in the past I may decide a year after next generation console launches (probably good time to get a PC that would handily beat the consoles for a number of years after then) to do another gaming rig for fun, and I will be able to play any of their first party games on either my Scarlett or with even higher graphical settings and performance on a PC at times if I choose to see what some additional ray tracing power for example could do on some games with a GPU that is bought at that time. And Game Pass Ultimate lets me play across both console and PC for all of their games and others in their catalog.

I played God of War on a PS4 Pro, and my experience using the 7 day trial of PSNow the other day to test streaming it on my PC was not good at all. As a gamer I just want the ability to play games wherever I want with the highest fidelity options that the particular platform provides. I mean look at the crazy reaction to Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC a year later. I have to think that some or even many of the PlayStation fans that are so happy to not have their exclusives on PC currently in a native form may be singing a different tune if you could play God of War in 4K 60 FPS with higher graphical settings on PC and such for example.

 

[bane833]

That's depressing.

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Not really. It just shows how much trust Sony was able to build in the last 25 years. Meanwhile MS was just tumbling around and faded into irrelevancy outside the US this gen.

 

[christocolus]

That's depressing.

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Very. Lol

That is what is great about the choice that Xbox offers in my opinion to the gamer. I personally at this point prefer playing on a console in front of my 65" 4K HDR TV, so I am really excited about Xbox Scarlett. But given that I have built a couple gaming PCs in the past I may decide a year after next generation console launches (probably good time to get a PC that would handily beat the consoles for a number of years after then) to do another gaming rig for fun, and I will be able to play any of their first party games on either my Scarlett or with even higher graphical settings and performance on a PC at times if I choose to see what some additional ray tracing power for example could do on some games with a GPU that is bought at that time. And Game Pass Ultimate lets me play across both console and PC for all of their games and others in their catalog.

I played God of War on a PS4 Pro, and my experience using the 7 day trial of PSNow the other day to test streaming it on my PC was not good at all. As a gamer I just want the ability to play games wherever I want with the highest fidelity options that the particular platform provides. I mean look at the crazy reaction to Red Dead Redemption 2 on PC a year later. I have to think that some or even many of the PlayStation fans that are so happy to not have their exclusives on PC currently in a native form may be singing a different tune if you could play God of War in 4K 60 FPS with higher graphical settings on PC and such for example.

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This.

 

[nib95]

That's depressing.

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Not really, it would just mean people value Sony's games more than competitors. Eg that they're willing to pay a premium or lose out on a bit of resolution or whatever in multiplatform games, in order to play games like TLOU2, God of War 2, Horizon Zero Dawn 2, Spider-Man 2 etc.

I got a Switch predominantly (at the time) for a single game, BotW, hence can relate to paying premiums for a select few incredible experiences.

 

[IvanSlavkov]

The good thing for Microsoft is that PS5 will be supply constrained in the first 6 months or so. All they have to do is offer a strong product for their own loyal users and a viable alternative for those who will want new hardware but won't have patience to hunt for PS5. What they do with that initial momentum is anyone's guess, but I think they are in a position to carve a bigger niche for themselves than they did with Xbox One.

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Is this for real or don't you remember tier 1,2 and 3 countries when xone launched. Heck till this day MS gaming devision is not represented in my country, while Sony had a freaking billboards for Spiderman, GoW and Days Gone. Even had a launch party for U4 and I'm willing to bet good money that you can not point on the globe where my countey is with one go! Playstation is a worldwide brand, while xbox is not!

 

[Shpeshal Nick]

MS aren't going to have Scarlett-only launch games on Game Pass though AFAIK. I'm pretty sure they're going to be cross-gen with XB1. At least at first anyway.

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what? Of course they'll have Scarlett exclusives and they'll be on Game Pass. You can bank on that.

 

[Ascenion]

Is this for real or don't you remember tier 1,2 and 3 countries when xone launched. Heck till this day MS gaming devision is not represented in my country, while Sony had a freaking billboards for Spiderman, GoW and Days Gone. Even had a launch party for U4 and I'm willing to bet good money that you can not point on the globe where my countey is with one go! Playstation is a worldwide brand, while xbox is not!

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I'd imagine this will change given Xbox has the full backing of Microsoft now, which as a company has a larger global presence.

 

[nekkid]

Not really. It just shows how much trust Sony was able to build in the last 25 years. Meanwhile MS was just tumbling around and faded into irrelevancy outside the US this gen.

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Wait, so you're saying it's ok for Sony to fuck up and still beat unit sales, but not for Microsoft?

 

[Pryme]

They could release a weaker console with less games and features for $100 more than other offerings on the market and it would still outsell all its competitors.

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Not in all markets, though. They'd lose the US and UK, for sure, at a minimum.

 

[bane833]

Wait, so you're saying it's ok for Sony to fuck up and still beat unit sales, but not for Microsoft?

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Nah, I'm saying it's understandable why people still prefer Sony even if they fuck up in some aspects. Microsoft has given people very little reason to trust them.

 

[nekkid]

Nah, I'm saying it's understandable why people still prefer Sony even if they fuck up in some aspects. Microsoft has given people very little reason to trust them.

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It's still not a positive thing that Sony can fuck up and get away with it.

 

[Splader]

Not really. It just shows how much trust Sony was able to build in the last 25 years. Meanwhile MS was just tumbling around and faded into irrelevancy outside the US this gen.

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US, UK, Mexico/Brazil, and Canada, you mean.

 

[PianoBlack]

LOL, then you don't know that many people with phones. You've gotta be kidding if you believe ecosystems aren't a consideration for a lot of people when upgrading. It doesn't matter if the apps are 0.99c or a $100, once you're invested in an ecosystem it's very very hard to jump ship to another ecosystem. People don't like tossing their apps and things they are used to, to jump to another ecosystem. Especially nowadays when apps on your phone sync with your PC and vice versa. Someone with Apple iCloud on their phones that syncs all their phone contacts along with Apple Music, iTunes, iPhoto, Apple TV, Siri, etc. isn't going to want to jump ship easily to an Android device even if they don't really lose a lot of money by doing so, it's just inconvenient, and because of this it's rare to see people jump from Apple to Android and vice versa when upgrading phones unless they were burned badly by bad service in their previous ecosystem. The same thing is going to happen next gen with consoles because with gamers it's even worse.

People have invested a shit ton of time and money into digital content this generation. Your games and content might not mean much to you but for a majority of gamers they mean a lot. It's going to be extremely difficult for MS to convince gamers who have already invested a lot of time/money into the PS4 ecosystem to jump ship next gen especially if the transition into next gen is a seamless one. Jumping ship for gamers this time will mean losing trophies, all the "free games" they got with PS+ and GWG, along with all their previous purchases. MS is going to need a lot more than GP if they want to poach most of Sony's market next gen.

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You wrote a ton of words that still do nothing to explain why the fact that some games are digital now matters compared to bringing forward physical games. People don't buy new hardware to play their old games. Sorry.

 

[bane833]

It's still not a positive thing that Sony can fuck up and get away with it.

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Well it's the result of MS constantly shitting the bed here in Europe since the first day of the Xbox.

 

[Aldi]

Not in all markets, though. They'd lose the US and UK, for sure, at a minimum.

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I doubt it. The PS3 still did really well in those markets at the begining of the consoles life. Add in to the fact that we now have digital games libraries and the console will be the best selling console no matter what.

 

[nekkid]

Well it's the result of MS constantly shitting the bed here in Europe since the first day of the Xbox.

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There's a lot of redirection, here. Do you not agree that it's a negative thing that even Sony can fuck up and still sell more consoles?

 

[Firima]

Is this for real or don't you remember tier 1,2 and 3 countries when xone launched.

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People don't seem to understand exactly why Microsoft tiered EU and non NA/UK countries like that. I'll just say that there's a pretty strong correlation between A) countries that hard carried the PS3's mediocre launch sales worldwide, and B) being given less preferential status for a tiered rollout, and leave it at that. Microsoft made a no-brainer of a decision with limited resources and the only people who were mad about said treatment were statistically FAR less likely to buy the console in the first place by Microsoft's calculation.

 

[GUNDAM STARDUST]

This thread is like a flame in the night to all the single console mosquitoes

 

[Papacheeks]

There's a lot of redirection, here. Do you not agree that it's a negative thing that even Sony can fuck up and still sell more consoles?

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Where they don't fuck up is content. And I think with all the examples out there people can use, we all know by now content is king. And until the content over at Microsoft improves regardless of how good a deal they have on services like gamepass, if the content can't bring someone in at regular full price to sub, then they are battling a uphill battle that wont go anywhere until there's must have content.

Thats why it seems when sony fucks up they still sell a bunch especially in Europe. They could seriously have something like a PS3 disaster or a huge hardware quality thing happen. And still sell well because of the content you can't get anywhere. Netflix was the only place in town on a yearly basis to watch not just their exclusive shows, but also watch marvel films, starwars ect.

Now Disney+ is coming and it's going to shit all over netflix like nobody's business. And by next year I wouldn't be surprised if you see a giant decline in viewership on netflix.

 

[Prine]

Well it's the result of MS constantly shitting the bed here in Europe since the first day of the Xbox.

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Seems like a warped perspective. 1 party is held to account for past mistakes, the other is forgiven for ongoing mistakes. How is that even sustainable? You end up sustaining abuses without action, which can put you in a worse position then the other party. Sorry, sounds nonsensical and quite damaging.

 

[Rosebud]

US, UK, Mexico/Brazil, and Canada, you mean.

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360 was very famous in Brazil (my country) because piracy was possible and Kinect, now this changed a lot.

 

[Jaxar]

what? Of course they'll have Scarlett exclusives and they'll be on Game Pass. You can bank on that.

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I agree there will be Scarlett exclusives eventually, but not probably for the first few years. The impression I get from MS marketing is that games will be cross-gen with XB1 for at least the first few years.

Till will tell of course.

 

[Jaxar]

People don't want an Xbox One at the end of the generation.

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So what you're saying is yes Game Pass is available now (like I've been saying) but it will be a bigger deal next gen because there will be newer hardware to go with it?

MS already has the most powerful hardware available on the market today, they already have full backwards compatibility with hundreds of older games along with B/C confirmed for Scarlett, and Game Pass can be had for ridiculously cheap prices right now. Why is it we have to wait for another new box for it to suddenly change things?

I'm sorry I just don't get that way of thinking. I just don't see what is going to be so different next gen, in that suddenly Game Pass will be the game changer that some of you are hoping for. I could be totally wrong of course! But yeah, I just don't see it.

 

[nekkid]

Where they don't fuck up is content. And I think with all the examples out there people can use, we all know by now content is king. And until the content over at Microsoft improves regardless of how good a deal they have on services like gamepass, if the content can't bring someone in at regular full price to sub, then they are battling a uphill battle that wont go anywhere until there's must have content.

Thats why it seems when sony fucks up they still sell a bunch especially in Europe. They could seriously have something like a PS3 disaster or a huge hardware quality thing happen. And still sell well because of the content you can't get anywhere. Netflix was the only place in town on a yearly basis to watch not just their exclusive shows, but also watch marvel films, starwars ect.

Now Disney+ is coming and it's going to shit all over netflix like nobody's business. And by next year I wouldn't be surprised if you see a giant decline in viewership on netflix.

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That's a long answer to a question I didn't ask.

 

[StudioTan]

So what you're saying is yes Game Pass is available now (like I've been saying) but it will be a bigger deal next gen because there will be newer hardware to go with it?

MS already has the most powerful hardware available on the market today, they already have full backwards compatibility with hundreds of older games along with B/C confirmed for Scarlett, and Game Pass can be had for ridiculously cheap prices right now. Why is it we have to wait for another new box for it to suddenly change things?

I'm sorry I just don't get that way of thinking. I just don't see what is going to be so different next gen, in that suddenly Game Pass will be the game changer that some of you are hoping for. I could be totally wrong of course! But yeah, I just don't see it.

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100 million PS4s have already been sold. Those people are far less likely to go buy an Xbox One at this point because they already have a console of similar power. However that can change next gen when they those people start looking to buy one of the new more powerful consoles with ray tracing and all the bells and whistles. That's where Xbox can offer them a much bigger selection of NEW games for a fraction of the price due to Game Pass.

 

[Jaxar]

100 million PS4s have already been sold. Those people are far less likely to go buy an Xbox One at this point because they already have a console of similar power. However that can change next gen when they those people start looking to buy one of the new more powerful consoles with ray tracing and all the bells and whistles.

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That situation describes a new gen reset and we've already covered that.

 

[StudioTan]

That situation describes a new gen reset and we've already covered that.

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You just said you don't see what's going to be different next gen. Game Pass existing when people are ready to buy their consoles is what's going to be different. You're saying Game Pass should already be getting those people to buy an Xbox but as others have said not many people who already have a PS4 are buying new consoles now when next gen is so close.

 

[Jaxar]

You just said you don't see what's going to be different next gen. Game Pass existing when people are ready to buy their consoles is what's going to be different. You're saying Game Pass should already be getting those people to buy an Xbox but as others have said not many people who already have a PS4 are buying new consoles now when next gen is so close.

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You're acting like consoles aren't selling in the here and now. They are! PS4 is slowing a little but still selling quite well, and Xbox has all the advantages I listed above available here and now also, but is still struggling. Also the 'gen reset' I mentioned and as you're describing won't happen quite like we've seen in the past due to firmly established digital libraries and full backwards compatibility. We've already been over all that though so I won't keep rehashing on it.

 

[DvdGzz]

All this brand loyalty talk makes me lol. I go with the one that gives me the best bang for my buck at first and then eventually get everything because they are all worth it eventually to me.

 

[StudioTan]

You're acting like consoles aren't selling in the here and now. They are! PS4 is slowing a little but still selling quite well, and Xbox has all the advantages I listed above available here and now also, but is still struggling. Also the 'gen reset' I mentioned and as you're describing won't happen quite like we've seen in the past due to firmly established digital libraries and full backwards compatibility. We've already been over all that though so I won't keep rehashing on it.

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All I can say is you're posting in a thread from someone saying that Game Pass might be the deciding factor in which console they buy next gen and saying that Game Pass won't make any difference next gen. For some people it will absolutely be a factor.

 

[Sutton Dagger]

All I can say is you're posting in a thread from someone saying that Game Pass might be the deciding factor in which console they buy next gen and saying that Game Pass won't make any difference next gen. For some people it will absolutely be a factor.

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Anecdotally of course but just in my circle of gaming, I personally purchased an One X because of gamepass after having a PS4 since launch. My brother and 2 other friends who all went from massive Xbox 360 enthusiasts to PS4 players this gen have talked about switching back to Xbox next gen mainly because of Gamepass. I think it might actually be a thing if they can market it well.

 

[Jaxar]

All I can say is you're posting in a thread from someone saying that Game Pass might be the deciding factor in which console they buy next gen and saying that Game Pass won't make any difference next gen.

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I'm not saying it won't make a difference, but I am questioning why it will be a bigger deal for next gen when we already have GP available to us now, and for stupidly cheap prices, and it doesn't appear to be moving the needle.

 

[Sutton Dagger]

I'm not saying it won't make a difference, but I am questioning why it will be a bigger deal for next gen when we already have GP available to us now, and for stupidly cheap prices, and it doesn't appear to be moving the needle.

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Because why would you buy the console now when you know the new one is coming out next year? That's literally the reason my circle of gamers have said, it makes sense.

 

[eso76]

It definitely is a factor.
It is for me (exactly 2 years left of GP already paid for). They're probably going to put a good number of new, next gen releases on GP when Scarlett launches

Damn, hit post reply too soon!
Editing...

 

[Mr.Deadshot]

The decision for the next console is purely on exclusives for me. Gamepass doesn't help with that.

That said, Gamepass is a great deal. I might stick to PC for some time into next Gen depending on the exclusive lineups.

 

[Shpeshal Nick]

PS3 outsold 360 long ago, while Boyes was still at Sony. I heard it from him myself at a PSX meet up.

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that happened after the generation had already ended. Same way I think the GameCube may have just overtaken the OG Xbox after the new generation had already started.

 

[DvdGzz]

It definitely is a factor.
It is for me (exactly 2 years left of GP already paid for). They're probably going to put a good number of new, next gen releases on GP when Scarlett launches

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Yep, the deal where I converted all of my Gold time to GP Ultimate guarantees a next gen console sale. The acquisition of studios will ensure we get plenty of games on there as well. Good times ahead and even if the next gen consoles are expensive, I will end up spending less at launch because of GP.

 

[Ascenion]

that happened after the generation had already ended. Same way I think the GameCube may have just overtaken the OG Xbox after the new generation had already started.

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Most people in a position to know namely Welfare and Zhuge, imply heavily the Xbox 360 stayed ahead of the PS3 given the available data as of the PS3s final shipment numbers earlier this year. We will honestly never know.

 

[Shpeshal Nick]

Most people in a position to know namely Welfare and Zhuge, imply heavily the Xbox 360 stayed ahead of the PS3 given the available data as of the PS3s final shipment numbers earlier this year. We will honestly never know.

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Ah ok. Well at the time of next gen starting (which is when the old gen officially ends) the 360 was 100% ahead, but I was under the impression that about a year or so after the gen started the PS3 took over.

 

[Ascenion]

Ah ok. Well at the time of next gen starting (which is when the old gen officially ends) the 360 was 100% ahead, but I was under the impression that about a year or so after the gen started the PS3 took over.

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You can read it for yourself, Zhuge and then Welfare. Welfare makes a good case and Zhuge backs it up.

 

[Caesar III]

PC/Nintendo/PlayStation works for me. Covers all bases.

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Same here

 

[Shpeshal Nick]

You can read it for yourself, Zhuge and then Welfare. Welfare makes a good case and Zhuge backs it up.

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Ah interesting, thanks for that. Another myth dispelled I guess

 

[Rosebud]

All this brand loyalty talk makes me lol. I go with the one that gives me the best bang for my buck at first and then eventually get everything because they are all worth it eventually to me.

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But not everyone is like that. I'm sure most people here already made their minds on getting the new Xbox or PS5 no matter what, and that's normal. Unless something really crazy happens like one console is $200 more expensive.

Of course some people get the other one after some time, but I'm talking about day 1.

 

[Manmademan]

I'm not saying it won't make a difference, but I am questioning why it will be a bigger deal for next gen when we already have GP available to us now, and for stupidly cheap prices, and it doesn't appear to be moving the needle.

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Gamepass won't make a difference, silly to imply that it will.

As you mention:

1.) new consoles are still being sold right now. Tens of millions a year. The PS4 is still comfortably ahead in new sales by a wide margin and these customers don't seem to care much about Gamepass.

2.) MS simply does not have a retail presence in big chunks of the EU and Japan. a very big part of the sales gap between PS4 and Xbox One is because of this. Xbox Ones aren't suddenly going to start flying off the shelves in territories where MS doesn't compete because of gamepass. Those places will remain Sony-land because switching platforms isn't viable.

3.) A lot of words are being wasted on whether or not BC "matters" and citing vendor lock in. BC does matter, but what's more important is that the friends lists and networks built on one platform are not portable to the other! One of the biggest drivers of why people play on platforms at all is 'where their friends are." It doesn't matter if Gamepass has ten times the free games it does now if one loses their entire friends list by jumping ship.

4.) Related to the above, excluding the 25-30 million people that bought the Xbox 360 because of Kinect after it launched in 2010, the audience for the Xbox One and the 360 aren't very different at all. somewhere around 50ish million. Those people didn't go to PS4 at all, they're largely still playing on Xbox because vendor lock in is very much a thing.

5.) MS can hand out all the free first party games it wants, but lack of presence in most of EU and JP means that there are still a significant amount of third party games that just won't show up on the platform. If you're invested in these games on the PS4, no amount of free copies of Halo Infinite or Gears is going to change your mind.

Gamepass isn't really designed to convince anyone not in the ecosystem to jump ship. There's too much working against that happening. It's designed to keep people within the microsoft ecosystem by whatever means possible.

 

[Slim]

GP is nice, but I'll stick with the exclusives. The xbone been collecting dust... waiting forever on that fable game.

 

[JayWood2010]

I hate threads like this, but not because the OP, but because it brings the worst out of people. The fanboy stuff needs to stop, but it wont.

Well, as for me Im going to get all platforms as I usually do, but I do love Xbox Game Pass. Its an amazing service, and with all of the studios they've added, and they have also been growing them, I think Xbox has a bright future.