PC Gamer: Game Pass can't stay this good a deal forever

[Fiery Phoenix]

The article is a few days old but I haven't seen it shared on here. Apologies if it has been.

When Microsoft announced Game Pass in June 2017, a different monthly subscription service was blasting toward a spectacular flameout. That was MoviePass, which cut its subscription price from up to $50 to a flat $9.95 per month. Suddenly, subscribers could see a movie every single day of the month for less than the cost of a single ticket in most cities. It was blatantly too good to be true, and millions of people gleefully took advantage while MoviePass hemorrhaged money and tried to strong arm the movie industry into a deal that would save it from itself.

It was great while it lasted.

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Like MoviePass, I think Game Pass is too good to be true, too, but on a much longer timeline. It won't be a flameout. Instead the deal will get just a little bit worse as we continue to pay for a subscription that feels as universal as water or Netflix. An industry analyst recently suggested that there's little reason to worry about a future where gaming is dominated by a Netflix-like service, but I do think Game Pass could eventually mirror some of the worst aspects of Netflix's recent history.

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More at the link.

TLDR seems to be "enjoy it while it lasts," but it's worth a read.

Increase my price if old.

 

[Remark]

I mean GP is obviously gonna get a pay increase in a couple years but I definitely wouldn't compare it to MoviePass. Similar services but ran completely different. Also MS is footing the bill so yeah.

 

[elenarie]

Meh, even if it goes to 20 per month, there is more than enough value for that in there. I already pay 15 per month just for WoW, having access to a few hundred games for such a stupidly low price (a burger + a beer in Sweden) is a no brainer deal.

 

[ghostcrew]

Fine, raise the price and people can just go back to buying the games instead if it ever becomes a bad deal.

Nothing is exclusive to Game Pass (unlike the likes of Netflix) so it's hard to care.

 

[Gowans]

It's five years old and only been getting a better.

Xbox is a game pass company now, I don't agree.

 

[Raigor]

Even if they raise the price it's still going to be a pretty great deal.

 

[vixolus]

Fine, raise the price and people can just go back to buying the games instead if it ever becomes a bad deal.

Nothing is exclusive to Game Pass (unlike the likes of Netflix) so it's hard to care.

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Exactly. I don't expect them to raise the price significantly (maybe $2 a mo in the "near" future) but even if they do it's not that big a deal.

Anyway even more reason to jump on the conversion rate

 

[JustinH]

TLDR seems to be "enjoy it while it lasts," but it's worth a read.

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This has always been the way I've tried to look at it. Like I wouldn't be surprised if it gets worse, but I'm going to use it as much as I can as long as it's as good as it is now (damn... that's a lot of "as").

 

[Goddo Hando]

Fine, raise the price and people can just go back to buying the games instead if it ever becomes a bad deal.

Nothing is exclusive to Game Pass (unlike the likes of Netflix) so it's hard to care.

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sheesh i never thought about streaming service exclusives. That's kind of nightmarish (not like Mario35 but an actual real release)

 

[Soggoth]

Considering the fact that Sony will be more and more competitive in that space (remember, Game Pass didn't start with Day One releases), I highly doubt it :)

 

[fourfourfun]

It's not like Netflix, there are a lot of comparisons to Netflix in this piece.

 

[Dinjoralo]

I'll keep using Bing searches to get it for free until I can't anymore.

Seriously, I'm the only one who ever brings that up, it's pretty much the entire reason I even aknowledge that the service exists. If they get rid of the Bing option, it won't be worth the hassle of it breaking itself for no reason every week or so.

 

[raketenrolf]

Even if it won't, who cares, just enjoy it while it lasts.

I mean nothing lasts forever. Netflix was half the price when I first subbed years ago.

 

[Hyun Sai]

As long as Microsoft is willing to pay the bills to stay competitive, it will stay good.

 

[Ambient]

Meh, even if it goes to 20 per month, there is more than enough value for that in there. I already pay 15 per month just for WoW, having access to a few hundred games for such a stupidly low price (a burger + a beer in Sweden) is a no brainer deal.

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Once Blizzard is part of Microsoft I wonder if they'll roll some subscription deal with WoW into Game Pass.

 

[Lobster Roll]

Anybody comparing Gamepass to Netflix has zero business acumen.

 

[Biosnake]

As long as Microsoft is willing to pay the bills to stay competitive, it will stay good.

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And it seems they will be willing to pay for a long time to come.

 

[entrydenied]

Fine, raise the price and people can just go back to buying the games instead if it ever becomes a bad deal.

Nothing is exclusive to Game Pass (unlike the likes of Netflix) so it's hard to care.

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I'm expecting MS's endgame will be a fully subscription based service, at least for their own 1st party games, with no options to buy games individually. Basically become what Office 365 is right now.

 

[Kingpin722]

I agree.

Also, it's why these Publishers are making games less valuable up front by pushing "live service" so subscriptions will be more enticing. It's only as great of a deal the more expendable the industry makes its games.

 

[OGlol]

Microsoft is doing a fantastic job at making sure gamepass is a compelling enough service before they jack the prices up at least, everything plateaus eventually but I don't see it happening anytime soon for gamepass.

 

[CloseTalker]

It will 100% eventually get a price increase. But it will need to be a hell of an increase for it to not justify the cost anymore. Game Pass in its current state feels like highway robbery

 

[cartoon_soldier]

You can always buy the games. Nobody is forcing you to subscribe to Game Pass to play the games unlike say Netflix.

 

[Slayven]

Anybody comparing Gamepass to Netflix has zero business acumen.

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And moviepass too. Moviepass problem was a lack of money backing it.

 

[J_ToSaveTheDay]

I say this having yet to pay a full month's worth, as I've actually been getting by for several years on a variety of promotional prices, but the way I've enjoyed Game Pass so far, the moment I have to start paying full price, I'm in the camp that's okay with 20-25 per month for what I get and how often I use it.

I full well understand the perspective against that price, though — it would easily be the most expensive monthly subscrip I've ever held, but it is by far the one that gets the most use and value out of me, too.

That said, I do hope it's a while before it gets to that price. I keep on extending it via promos each year, but aside from the Target glitch/fluke of 2019 or 2020 where it dished out several more codes over the quantity I ordered, I haven't been able to extend by a full year since my XBL Gold -> XBGPU upgrade promotion (where I ended up getting 2 years anyway).

 

[FinFunnels]

Well yeah, the price will eventually rise. But I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. With services like Netflix and GamePass you're getting a huge amount of bang for your buck. And obviously a portion of the revenue they earn goes back into securing more content for the platform, upgrading the tech, etc.

In the early 2000s I would go to the mall and buy anime DVDs that only had like 3 or 4 episodes on them for $30 a pop. And I'd bust my ass off doing chores around the house for weeks until I finally earned enough allowance to buy new video games. The amount of content you can now get from subscription services for like $10 or $15 a month seems like an insanely good deal to me. I'd still consider it a good deal even if the price doubled.

 

[StudioTan]

I'm not sure how you can look at MS's stable of studios and think the service will get worse. It's going to get better if anything.

We haven't even seen what all of their acquisitions will be able to do under MS's ownership yet.

 

[The Lord of Cereal]

I mean, yeah, the price will go up. Likely even within a few years even. But I'm not really so sure it matters and even if the price goes up to like $20 (and really I'm not sure it can get much more expensive) as long as it keeps the day one content rolling in consistently and in high quality, I think it'll be well worth my time.

Then again thanks to Bing Rewards I've only spent like $26 on it in nearly 4 years of being subbed and don't plan on spending another dime, so I guess as long as I can keep doing that I'll be happy too

 

[Jogi]

Game Pass and Netflix? That is a horrible comparison. Aside from that, subs go up in price so that's a given. The price increase pain will be lessened when their heavy hitting first party games come out.

Also the movie pass comparison is absurd. MS isn't strong arming anyone, and it seems like indies and 3rd parties certainly have found value in the service.

 

[DarthWalden]

Im low key dreading the day where I have to pay even regular price, never mind any price increases.

It is pretty amazing though that I've been able to do like 90% of my gaming over about 6 years on ~200$ total.

I'll still likely keep subscribing tho even at regular price. I initially signed up as a cheap way to play Microsoft first party games but the thing I've been enjoying the most is trying all the smaller indie games that get put on the service.

 

[Mass Effect]

Of course it won't. We all know how this subscription cycle goes by now:

--New innovative service that begins in "growth phase," meaning great value for low costs
--People flock to said service because of said value (<<we are here)
--Competition starts popping up, eventually causing fragmentation. Content gets "pulled away" to other sub services
--OG service wants to capitalize on its now-large subscription base and start turning a [clear] profit, prices increase
--Total fragmentation; OG service is now no longer clearly the "best" subscription. Content is scattered among the various services.

It's nothing against Game Pass specifically, but this is likely to happen as others jump into the fray. Don't think just Sony or Ubisoft, think Tencent, Embracer, or even Netflix or Amazon.

 

[Zebesian-X]

Yeah I mean this is usually how these things tend to go. It stopped making sense for me to stay subbed to Netflix, they kept asking me to pay more for content I was less interested in. Now I just subscribe intermittently if something cool pops up (stranger things, squid game).

It's v possible that GP eventually reaches that same place for me. But they're firmly in the growth phase right now, and will probably continue to be for at least the next few years. Will absolutely enjoy that now and cross the 'this deal is getting worse' bridge when we get to it.

 

[Jedimastertoke]

We're still going ahead and posting articles like these? This article is probably just as dumb as the rest of these types. If you don't like gamepass don't use it. All the doom and gloom that it's not gonna stay like this is annoying. No one's forcing you to use it.

 

[Jimnymebob]

Is there actual data on how many GP/GPU subs are paying full price for their subs, and didn't do one of those silly like £1 per year or whatever offers they had in like 2018/2019, or hell even the £1 upgrade from yearly XBLG deals?

Like the moment I have to actually start paying full price for Game Pass Ultimate, I'm ditching the service.

 

[adj_noun]

Well, sure. It's hard to beat free.

They might raise the point value for three months at some point, but whatevs.

 

[BobLoblaw]

Next on "No shit news..." Of course, it won't. Their goal is to make the product as attractive as possible so that when they do, no one really blinks like when Netflix started. The obvious challenge is figuring out when and by how much. I'm gonna lock in 3 years the day before it goes live.

 

[Mollymauk]

People have been saying this every year since its inception, yet somehow it keeps getting better and better.

 

[Mathieran]

all sub services get worse and/or more expensive over time

I have been thinking about getting a backbone for my phone and subbing to gamepass though. Is it still possible to get it pretty cheap?

 

[elenarie]

I'm expecting MS's endgame will be a fully subscription based service, at least for their own 1st party games, with no options to buy games individually. Basically become what Office 365 is right now.

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They still over individual Office purchases.

 

[Pasha]

I'm expecting MS's endgame will be a fully subscription based service, at least for their own 1st party games, with no options to buy games individually. Basically become what Office 365 is right now.

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I highly doubt that.

One of the main reasons why Office went to a subscription model is because being an enterprise level software they had to maintain all the older versions of Office for years. Moving to a subscription allowed MS to keep and maintain a single build of Office, vastly simplifying their operations and maintaining agile.

Video games are not the same, they have no obligation to be maintained pass their initial release, so removing the ability to purchase them ala carte would just be MS removing a separate revenue stream for little to no benefit.

 

[WhoCaresLtsPlay]

I think the "secret" for MS is that they don't need to spend more on their side the more customers they have.
Making a game cost the same regardless of how many people want it
What I mean is, let's say to cover the tastes of their customers they need "X" amount of games on "Y" genres
It's not like "ok they have 1 mil subscribers, they need 100 new games but if they have 10 mil then they need 1000 games"
And that's true regardless of how many subscribers there are
So at a certain point, they don't need to invest more than they are but they'll earn more as more people subscribe
That's not to mean there won't be price hikes, but that it's not as certain and/or as imminent as some people think

 

[shintoki]

1. The MoviePass comparison is just stupid. Not a single person said that model was sustainable, but everyone was along for the ride. It ended up getting us A-List in the end, which seems like a far more sustainable model.

2. If you don't like paying, you can always go back to just buying games outright. This option hasn't changed.

3. No shit, things raise in cost. You think Disney got 130mil subscribers without the 3bucks a month, free giveaways, and other deals making it pennies per day? Once they reach a saturation point, the only option is to raise price ala Netflix.

4. Honestly, they could double the price for me and I'd still be in. I'm not going be one of these people complaining about a buck or two change with outrage like I'm not already getting a good deal. I can also subscribe for a month or two and quit. Just like every other service out there.

 

[pinkurocket]

Netflix increased prices once people became comfortable with the concept. I think for Gamepass it's gonna take some years of good service for them to do something drastic though.

 

[Plasma]

Ok? Pretty much everything goes up in price eventually just look at this gen with games going up to £70.

 

[Dinjoralo]

Nothing is exclusive to Game Pass (unlike the likes of Netflix) so it's hard to care.

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Not entirely true, kinda sorta. There have been a handful of games that were exclusive to the Xbox app on PC for a time, like Tetris Effect Connected, The Touryst, and at least one other I don't recall off the top of my head. They were on other platforms, but on PC you could only get them on that app. And while they are available for purchase on there, nobody should ever buy games on the Xbox app on PC, unless they hate themselves and actively want to deal with the platforms issues.

Well, sure. It's hard to beat free.

They might raise the point value for three months at some point, but whatevs.

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They don't even offer the 3-month codes for PC gamepass anymore. Not for the last five months or so.

 

[Doctor_Thomas]

Let's say it doubles in price.

You don't have to keep it forever..... you may take it out for a month to play a game you want.

Prices increase, people don't need to go on a campaign everytime they do, you just choose if the value is still there.

 

[elenarie]

Not entirely true, kinda sorta. There have been a handful of games that were exclusive to the Xbox app on PC for a time, like Tetris Effect Connected, The Touryst, and at least one other I don't recall off the top of my head. They were on other platforms, but on PC you could only get them on that app. And while they are available for purchase on there, nobody should ever buy games on the Xbox app on PC, unless they hate themselves and actively want to deal with the platforms issues.

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That still doesn't make it subscription-exclusive.

 

[adj_noun]

They don't even offer the 3-month codes for PC gamepass anymore. Not for the last five months or so.

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I just get UGP with Rewards points.

 

[T002 Tyrant]

Well duh. Buying games didn't remain a good deal either, because they're now something like $80.

 

[Frieza]

I feel like these articles have been popping up every few months for the last few years. If Game Pass ever becomes bad value people would simply stop using the service.

 

[DontHateTheBacon]

Fine, raise the price and people can just go back to buying the games instead if it ever becomes a bad deal.

Nothing is exclusive to Game Pass (unlike the likes of Netflix) so it's hard to care.

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Yeah, when you think about it this way, it's really hard to get bent out of shape about the possibility of the pricing becoming unfeasible.

If it happens, you can still play those games, you'll just have to do it the "old fashioned way."