So I got PC Gamepass right after it launched and the content is amazing so far. Many very good games I wanted to play, all new future Xbox Content etc. It is literally insane, like many here already stated. So as a customer, I am currently 100% satisfied, I even take the stupid App System for every game that Microsoft has in place.
This topic could also be about Uplay+, EaAccess, etc., Gamepass is just the best value right now.
But I wonder, how can this be healthy/sustainable for the Industry?
At WORST(or best for MS) I pay 120€/year for this service (PC Only, a bit more with Pass Ultimate). For that I get at least 4 (big?) Microsoft exclusives a year (they plan to release one every 3 months). That alone would be >120€ if I would buy everything boxed & new. But then there is a shitload of Third Party games aswell. Of course every Developer decides if they want to put the game on Gamepass or not, but you have to wonder how good this is for smaller devs in the long run?
I guess Microsoft and "bigger" Third-Party Devs move to a GaaS model with nearly every game they launch in the future, bringing in a constant revenue with Microtransactions/Cosmetics.
But many Indie games that are already on Gamepass (Mutant Year Zero, Wargroove, Hollow Knight etc.) don't have, and probably can't afford, this GaaS service model. They would need to push out new content constantly, which is hardly possible with small Team sizes and without crunch.
So they either get very good money per Download/Playtime, or will suffer in the long run. This is also the question when the Services grows. PC Game Pass with ~100 games you can easily find even obscure games and try them out. But when the services gets to 200, 500 or even 1000 games in the next few years, how will small Indie Games even have a chance to generate profite between all the big GaaS hitters (the Steam "problem")?
We say Microsoft is the Netflix of Gaming. While Netflix has amazing growth, it is still ~12 Billion $ in debt. (Source). That number is no problem for Microsoft, as the service grows and they draw people into the Xbox Eco System. The question is, will Microsoft keep the smaller devs/Third Party devs afloat during the time of growth? Will they buy out smaller studios that can't sustain the model themself, but offer good content for the platform? Will devs be forced to accept these platforms or a constant revenue model (GaaS or whatever the future holds)?
So what do you think will the future of PC Gamepass bring to the developers/industry? Is this move sustainable for most devs, or will we see a few big services which push out exclusive content to draw in customers and "smaller" productions/games will die out in the process? This is what will probably happen to most movie/TV streaming services as time moves on.
Definetly interesting times. As a consumer the next years will be insane with services trying to lure in customers with lower and lower prices.
This topic could also be about Uplay+, EaAccess, etc., Gamepass is just the best value right now.
But I wonder, how can this be healthy/sustainable for the Industry?
At WORST(or best for MS) I pay 120€/year for this service (PC Only, a bit more with Pass Ultimate). For that I get at least 4 (big?) Microsoft exclusives a year (they plan to release one every 3 months). That alone would be >120€ if I would buy everything boxed & new. But then there is a shitload of Third Party games aswell. Of course every Developer decides if they want to put the game on Gamepass or not, but you have to wonder how good this is for smaller devs in the long run?
I guess Microsoft and "bigger" Third-Party Devs move to a GaaS model with nearly every game they launch in the future, bringing in a constant revenue with Microtransactions/Cosmetics.
But many Indie games that are already on Gamepass (Mutant Year Zero, Wargroove, Hollow Knight etc.) don't have, and probably can't afford, this GaaS service model. They would need to push out new content constantly, which is hardly possible with small Team sizes and without crunch.
So they either get very good money per Download/Playtime, or will suffer in the long run. This is also the question when the Services grows. PC Game Pass with ~100 games you can easily find even obscure games and try them out. But when the services gets to 200, 500 or even 1000 games in the next few years, how will small Indie Games even have a chance to generate profite between all the big GaaS hitters (the Steam "problem")?
We say Microsoft is the Netflix of Gaming. While Netflix has amazing growth, it is still ~12 Billion $ in debt. (Source). That number is no problem for Microsoft, as the service grows and they draw people into the Xbox Eco System. The question is, will Microsoft keep the smaller devs/Third Party devs afloat during the time of growth? Will they buy out smaller studios that can't sustain the model themself, but offer good content for the platform? Will devs be forced to accept these platforms or a constant revenue model (GaaS or whatever the future holds)?
So what do you think will the future of PC Gamepass bring to the developers/industry? Is this move sustainable for most devs, or will we see a few big services which push out exclusive content to draw in customers and "smaller" productions/games will die out in the process? This is what will probably happen to most movie/TV streaming services as time moves on.
Definetly interesting times. As a consumer the next years will be insane with services trying to lure in customers with lower and lower prices.
