I do wonder if we'll see brand new games from third parties get a temporary gamepass release or multiplayer centric titles get occasional free months on gamepass prior release of expansion content to promote the release.
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The existence of Xbox Live Gold gets weirder by the day
- Thread starter Infinity Times Two
- Start date
I do wonder if we'll see brand new games from third parties get a temporary gamepass release or multiplayer centric titles get occasional free months on gamepass prior release of expansion content to promote the release.
I genuinely believe MS is one E3 away from announcing Xbox Live Gold will be free. Or perhaps Online Multiplayer becomes free, and XBL Gold stays paid and just becomes the catch all for Game Pass/EA Access, etc. If they can subsidize that cost with Game Pass and other subscriptions, I think they are almost ready to deliver that blow to Sony by delivering multiplayer for free.
Yeah I remember this, and Fortnite shouldn't require Xbox Live Gold. It's a completely free to play game on every other platform.
Is it really a blow if people don't mind paying for MP? It's an accepted practice at this point and isn't likely going to make
A huge dent in whether somebody buys a console
We have no idea if people mind or not, because neither Xbox nor PS provides an option. Just because it's an accepted practice doesn't mean it's a beloved one lol. Free online was a BIG selling point for Sony back int he PS3 days.
I knew that GFWL was bad, I had my share of problems trying to login games like GTA 4, but this is new to me
God
hahahahah
OP knows you get to keep all the 360 games you get with Gold forever right? That's why it's preferable to game pass for some.
They had this ever since the first Xbox around 2000.. surely they can remove it now they already made huge bank out of it
I'm almost 100% sure Xbox Live Gold will fuse somehow into GamePass or as a stand alone thing just for the games and online play will be free with next gen. I have the pictures already in my head when they announce this as a big thing on E3 with the reveal of the next console.
Gold, Minecraft and Halo are literally the 3 things keeping Microsoft gaming profitable and why they're investing in studios.
It's a closed system that gives developers the option to create filters to allow people outside of the system to join.
Microsoft spends nothing for PC gamers online gaming experiences. That's fine in an open system where you have access to mix and match multiple free services. In a closed system, what you get with free online and lack of reason to invest is PS3 online.
It's not anti-consumer. Anti-consumer isn't having cost associated with services when you understand what you're paying for. Anti-consumer is false advertising (Halo 5), giving less content than anyone is expecting based on pre-release hype (Sea of Thieves) or releasing broken unfinished games (state of Decay).
Microsoft gaming still has anti-consumer practices that they need to be called to the mat for. Gold is barking up the wrong tree.
Gaming isn't a charity. It's a business. As consumers ask for value and honest promotions. If Microsoft is going to charitably invest in something that isn't going to make money, I'd rather it be a cure for cancer.
It's a closed system that gives developers the option to create filters to allow people outside of the system to join.
Microsoft spends nothing for PC gamers online gaming experiences. That's fine in an open system where you have access to mix and match multiple free services. In a closed system, what you get with free online and lack of reason to invest is PS3 online.
It's not anti-consumer. Anti-consumer isn't having cost associated with services when you understand what you're paying for. Anti-consumer is false advertising (Halo 5), giving less content than anyone is expecting based on pre-release hype (Sea of Thieves) or releasing broken unfinished games (state of Decay).
Microsoft gaming still has anti-consumer practices that they need to be called to the mat for. Gold is barking up the wrong tree.
Gaming isn't a charity. It's a business. As consumers ask for value and honest promotions. If Microsoft is going to charitably invest in something that isn't going to make money, I'd rather it be a cure for cancer.
It launched day and date across 360, PC and PS3. However, it looks like the later co-op mode expansion, Onslaught, never made it to PC, so you're sort of half right :)
Mock him as much as you want, but he's right. Microsoft tried to charge PC gamers for online gaming and they rejected it. That's the main reason why Microsoft isn't charging for online gaming on Windows 10 (yet).
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Not if they feel confident enough in services like Games for Gold, Game Pass, EA Access, and potentially more being enough of an offering to still keep people paying each year.
The only thing they would be making free is multiplayer, as a basic free service. This only makes sense as they move towards a shared Xbox/PC platform, where it makes no real sense if I can play Fora Horizon 4 on PC for free while my friend on Xbox has to pay. I think MS realizes that practice looks bizarre, and isn't really sustainable.
This notion that Xbox players are happy to pay for Gold is more and more ridiculous every time it thrown around. Especially when it's coupled with old 'they tried that on the PC and it was rejected', like it was a massive consumer push back by the masses. I can guarantee if Microsoft put a paywall on ALL online access for PC, their monthly subscription figure would be significantly higher.
Let's be real, I'm not happy to pay it. The simple reason I do, is because there is no well documented alternative for online play on that platform. It's not as easy as speaking with your wallet, as that would attribute to a non existent community. Sony have introduced that same paywall (albeit a F2P caveat), as it is easy to implement on a controlled system.
Yes I could go PC, but I don't want to...a console suits my needs just perfectly. If it means spending £27 a year to play online, then so be it. But do not assume that I'm happy to do so, or that if a free alternative was to be made available I wouldn't change in a heart beat.
Let's be real, I'm not happy to pay it. The simple reason I do, is because there is no well documented alternative for online play on that platform. It's not as easy as speaking with your wallet, as that would attribute to a non existent community. Sony have introduced that same paywall (albeit a F2P caveat), as it is easy to implement on a controlled system.
Yes I could go PC, but I don't want to...a console suits my needs just perfectly. If it means spending £27 a year to play online, then so be it. But do not assume that I'm happy to do so, or that if a free alternative was to be made available I wouldn't change in a heart beat.
That would be a pretty big blow to Sony. It's so inconsistent that you have to pay to play gears 4 online on console but not PC. It would be nice to see their platform parity decision benefit console owners for once. It seems they only benefit PC gamers.
With Nintendo getting in on the required paid subscription for online play, it seems like paid online gaming on consoles is here to stay for the foreseeable future.
Anyone who games on console is now accustomed to these subscriptions and it would take a huge shift in expectations for any console maker to give up that subscription revenue.
Anyone who games on console is now accustomed to these subscriptions and it would take a huge shift in expectations for any console maker to give up that subscription revenue.
On the flip side, with all three of them now doing it, it provides an even greater opportunity for Xbox to bow out and fly the flag of being the only free platform to play online.
It's ridiculous to charge for multiplayer stuff. Period.
I don't play multiplayer games anymore but I still find it ridiculous.
But I do subscribe to ps+ for all the rebates (I'm looking at you double discount sale) and free games and I would still do if they removed it's requirement for playing online as I'm not using that part now.
I guess the gold subscription also brings lots of rebates and games and stuff. They have value even without the multiplayer part so it's not like the programs have to end completely.
I don't play multiplayer games anymore but I still find it ridiculous.
But I do subscribe to ps+ for all the rebates (I'm looking at you double discount sale) and free games and I would still do if they removed it's requirement for playing online as I'm not using that part now.
I guess the gold subscription also brings lots of rebates and games and stuff. They have value even without the multiplayer part so it's not like the programs have to end completely.
The things I'm reading here :o
First of all: every ecosystem on PC offers free online gaming, and none of them work worse than Xbox Live. In fact, Microsofts ecosystem is by far the worst available on PC.
Second: when you buy a game for your Xbox, Microsoft takes 30 percent of the price you pay for that game. That's more than enough to host servers for online gaming.
Last but not least: most big publishers are hosting their own servers for online gaming. Yet you still need Gold to play these games.
The guy I've quoted above seems happy enough :)
And yes, the masses rejected Gold on PC when Microsoft was trying to push it. Or why do you think they made it free eventually?
But that is not true though, people are paying for the service without a problem no matter what this place thinks of it, Sony for example announced they have 35 million plus subscribers, that's over $2 billion a year from plus alone.
this will have nothing to Do with PS+ (Coz they aren't Share platform) So no one will complain
But If MS want to be Share platform and sell Xbox then They need to get rid of the paywell and fouce On the Game pass as their main profitable subscription to them...
You took that out of context. When I said it isn't sustainable, I wasn't referring to PS4, i was referring to MS' increasing plans to make Xbox a shared console and PC platform. If they keep going at the rate they're going, at some point it's going to look super bizarre that a portion of the player base is paying for a feature that the other portion isn't, for seemingly no reason.
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't MS try to charge for PC multiplayer at some point?
How is that different than console players currently paying for MP while it's free on PC? You are really overestimating how many people actually care about that, we have no indication that people are dropping these services.
Yes, it would really set them apart, but would that make up for the hundreds of millions of dollars per year they would be giving up?
Read my earlier posts, I never said they give up charging for a service;
Lol jesus. The difference is, right now they don't have very many games where this is a thing, like Forza Horizon, Gears of War 4, etc. But like I said, as they move towards a shared Xbox/PC platform, and the selection of games grows, it will make less and less sense. I'm not saying this will all change tomorrow, but as MS heads in the direction they look to be headed in, years down the line it won't make sense.
You need to look at things from a broader perspective than what's been working in the past, and what's happening right this second.
Yes they did. Games using GFWL needed a Gold subscription for online gaming until Microsoft made it free.
It is pretty fucking ridiculous that while the most popular multiplayer games in the world are free to play, Microsoft and Sony continue to insist on putting an entirety artificial paywall on online play. You'd think that by then they would have realized that removing as much barriers to multiplayer as possible is essential to making them thrive as much as they potentially can.
But nope.
But nope.
Free online play would get me back on the MS train. Heck, I would get a 1X within a month if it were implemented today.
It's all about the MAU and engagement. If online play behind a paywall is a barrier to growth there while game pass subscribers increase then Microsoft may just weigh up the long term goals of gaming and make a change. I think there is a good chance they do it one day and set online free. Perhaps a next gen launch announcement. Sony is hard to beat but that would certainly give them a leg up. Worth it, who knows but Microsoft big wigs will be crunching numbers.
There was never a need. It was always a free cash grab and people willingly paid for it because it was a closed system, happily believing the BS reasons like better support, etc. Online gaming was free for a decade beforehand and still was after for PC and all the other consoles until Sony (and now Nintendo) realized they were leaving free money on the table.
MS tried to make PC players pay for a short while but it bombed, because PC isn't a closed system and people weren't forced to use Live for their online games, so they just didn't use it.
While I agree with you, the main difference for some people is that free to play games (like Fortnite) aren't locked behind PS Plus, whereas they still are on Xbox. But I'm in and always have been in the boat that paying either company for online gaming is a scam, and they only get away with it because there is no other option.
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I don't think Microsoft will ever bring into question the relevance of XLG. People are willing to pay for the subscription without question, with the game pass combined. They've have been conditioned to accept subscription-based services are the norm and thus why there is no mainstream protest. If no one has an issue with the barrier, why remove it?
It's specific to Microsoft because OP points out Xbox's game pass as well, the latest innovation on the subscription service model in console-based gaming which is quite successful. This calls into question the need to pay for two different subscriptions when they just be bundled instead. Reading the OP and stuff.
It's specific to Microsoft because OP points out Xbox's game pass as well, the latest innovation on the subscription service model in console-based gaming which is quite successful. This calls into question the need to pay for two different subscriptions when they just be bundled instead. Reading the OP and stuff.
In that sense, it applies equally to Sony because Sony has their PS Now and PS Vue subscription services as well, in addition to PS+.
It was day and date with the console versions. I think you're thinking of Bad Company 1, which was console exclusive.
Not equally since you can play free to play and subscription based mmos on ps4 without ps+.
But it's still stupid to require a subscription to play buy to play games online.
Paying for Live isn't going anywhere. Neither is paying for PS+. Paying to play for F2P games is so low on the radar of people that pay for Live in that, gaming online (regardless of F2P) has always been synonymous with paying for it. Either way, it's a cash cow for both Sony/MS. I can bet that Nintendo will not be too far behind barring what kind of services they will offer. This is from MS' 2017 financial report.
* More than 53 million members are active on Xbox Live.
* Xbox Live revenue is mainly affected by subscriptions and sales of Xbox Live enabled content, as well as advertising. We also design and sell gaming content to showcase our unique platform capabilities for Xbox consoles, Windows-enabled devices, and other devices. Growth of our gaming business is determined by the overall active user base through Xbox Live enabled content, availability of games, providing exclusive game content that gamers seek, the computational power and reliability of the devices used to access our content and services, and the ability to create new experiences via online services, downloadable content, and peripherals.
* Gaming revenue decreased slightly, primarily due to lower Xbox hardware revenue, offset in part by higher revenue from Xbox software and services. Xbox hardware revenue decreased 21%, mainly due to lower prices of consoles sold and a decline in volume of consoles sold. Xbox software and services revenue increased 11%, driven by a higher volume of Xbox Live transactions and revenue per transaction.
* Gaming revenue increased $75 million or 1%, primarily due to higher revenue from Xbox Live and video games, offset in part by lower Xbox hardware revenue. Xbox Live revenue increased 17%, driven by higher revenue per transaction and volume of transactions.
* More than 53 million members are active on Xbox Live.
* Xbox Live revenue is mainly affected by subscriptions and sales of Xbox Live enabled content, as well as advertising. We also design and sell gaming content to showcase our unique platform capabilities for Xbox consoles, Windows-enabled devices, and other devices. Growth of our gaming business is determined by the overall active user base through Xbox Live enabled content, availability of games, providing exclusive game content that gamers seek, the computational power and reliability of the devices used to access our content and services, and the ability to create new experiences via online services, downloadable content, and peripherals.
* Gaming revenue decreased slightly, primarily due to lower Xbox hardware revenue, offset in part by higher revenue from Xbox software and services. Xbox hardware revenue decreased 21%, mainly due to lower prices of consoles sold and a decline in volume of consoles sold. Xbox software and services revenue increased 11%, driven by a higher volume of Xbox Live transactions and revenue per transaction.
* Gaming revenue increased $75 million or 1%, primarily due to higher revenue from Xbox Live and video games, offset in part by lower Xbox hardware revenue. Xbox Live revenue increased 17%, driven by higher revenue per transaction and volume of transactions.
They've both got their share of stupid 'locked behind a sub' features. I just discovered that the PS4 won't auto download updates/patches in rest mode unless you're subbed to PS+ and, of course, you don't get cloud saves without subbing to Plus. I totally take cloud saves for granted these days.
Well, I stand corrected then :)
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Ah, ok, my mistake then. I remember it made quite a fuss that the third Battlefield game wouldn't release on PC.
Guess the fourth was after all.
Oh I see well I mean yeah I can see why people want it to be bundled. But really it's two separate cases. Not all of the games on the game pass are SP and not all are MP it's sorta a mixed bag, and you get it instantly. Not everyone wants to play online, and might be doing the game pass for their kids.
