How do you think Microsoft's aggressive subsidising of Game Pass will effect the Industry?

[Ploid 6.0]

If games are designed with game pass like services in mind it will adopt a lot of the free to play mtx practices.

It's not like normal $60 single and especially multiplayer games don't already do this though. Keeping their cake and eating printed copies of it too. Games designed with a all you can play buffet service will just have a lot more bolder ways to extract more money from players with abandon.

 

[DrDeckard]

If games are designed with game pass like services in mind it will adopt a lot of the free to play mtx practices.

It's not like normal $60 single and especially multiplayer games don't already do this though. Keeping their cake and eating printed copies of it too. Games designed with a all you can play buffet service will just have a lot more bolder ways to extract more money from players with abandon.

Click to shrink...

And that's the best part. As long as its cosmetic or carefully balanced customers can choose what they pay for.

 

[Ploid 6.0]

Yes obviously.... Just look at Netflix spending over $100m for multiple 10 episode per season series.

Completely impossible to fun $50 - $80m games on a subscription service.

/s

Click to shrink...

Netflix seem to be losing a ton of money even though they have a crazy amount of subscribers, sub numbers that game publisher X could only dream of having 25% (random) of. Then they have to fight over that 25% with many other game buffet services. When the free or $1 gamepass subs run out I'd like to see those numbers.

And that's the best part. As long as its cosmetic or carefully balanced customers can choose what they pay for.

Click to shrink...

hahahahaha tee hheeee. Oh sweet summer child. There will be many optional boosters, that the games were "totally not designed around" - Ubisoft (Assassin Creed Orgins/Odyssey free to play looking boosters), Microsoft (like Forza Horizon 4's double credit V.I.P. Pass), EA (no example needed).

 

[PianoBlack]

If games are designed with game pass like services in mind it will adopt a lot of the free to play mtx practices.

It's not like normal $60 single and especially multiplayer games don't already do this though. Keeping their cake and eating printed copies of it too. Games designed with a all you can play buffet service will just have a lot more bolder ways to extract more money from players with abandon.

Click to shrink...

Why would getting a guaranteed upfront payment incentivize going free to play with MTX? If anything it'd be the opposite. You want to make something that will draw players to the service so MS will pay you top dollar, not a shitty half-game.

 

[Navidson REC]

It's gonna be the end of gaming as we know it... according to some very concerned people here.

Meanwhile, I'm drowning in quality games and don't really see myself ever unsubscribing if this level of quality remains.

I think it will lead to more streaming/GamePass competitors and a much more diverse games lineup on Xbox platforms.

 

[plow]

Yes obviously.... Just look at Netflix spending over $100m for multiple 10 episode per season series.

Completely impossible to fun $50 - $80m games on a subscription service.

/s

Click to shrink...

Yeah guys, go on comparing GP to Netflix, since TV Series apparently take the same amount of Time to make as Games.
Shouldn't be any problem for Sony or MS to release a killer title every Month amirite??! Speaking of, where the hell is God Of War 2? Or Spider-Man 2? Or Horizon 2???

 

[Japanmanx3]

It will self implode. This aggressive campaigning to get people in the door for cheap but without any real need to stick around consistently means that people will just jump in and out for major releases. Major releases are not really a Microsoft priority. A few sequels to their 3-4 1st party games will not have enough to draw people during their months and months of down time. Increasing their 1st party, with their new studio purchases and whatnot, won't guarantee them anything if the new initiatives are flops.

Retail suffers since the incentive is to pay way less for access to more games. Digital will too, in the same manner, if it's on Gamepass. They can tank this with their 1st party, but MTX's will continue to be heavily pushed in them, regardless of the PR. Buuuuut I think this is why it'll be few and far between as far as 3rd party efforts coming directly to Gamepass, unless the games themselves are neutered and then MTX'd to death which would spell terrible PR for those companies, and they don't have the Microsoft bag to fall back on.

To be honest it just seems like they are planning a way to exit the console space and just be a pure service a la' Netflix. Netflix does not need to produce hardware, they just need to be on every available device everywhere. Even then Netflix isn't the most profitable and they take a huge loss on their risk/reward ratio creating their own shows. Hence why they've reevaluated more recently. Microsoft has more money to throw around, but they're previous hesitation in banking on their 1st party efforts makes me hugely reticent on assuming they have completely changed. Aggressively expanding and acquiring now, doesn't mean it's going to pay off. And if it doesn't, closures and cancellations will continue to be their norm.

It just seems like a huge, pointless, money sink for their current business model, with a hopefully ROI possiblity potential strictly based on the goodwill of a customer remaining on the service. People are willing to switch and/or completely drop services with the blink of an eye. I just don't see it being sustainable.

 

[MrTired]

Yeah guys, go on comparing GP to Netflix, since TV Series apparently take the same amount of Time to make as Games.
Shouldn't be any problem for Sony or MS to release a killer title every Month amirite??! Speaking of, where the hell is God Of War 2? Or Spider-Man 2? Or Horizon 2???

Click to shrink...

Maybe a more app comparison is to compare is to movie sub's like AMC/Moviepass.

 

[Sprat]

I feel it devalues games and will lead to more micro transactions & f2p elements.

Over time I can see most games becoming empty online only games

 

[Ploid 6.0]

Why would getting a guaranteed upfront payment incentivize going free to play with MTX? If anything it'd be the opposite. You want to make something that will draw players to the service so MS will pay you top dollar, not a shitty half-game.

Click to shrink...

Not actually going free to play but using free to play money generating practices in pay to play games, like boosters, loot box replacements (if one doesn't already exist), a special daily quest/energy mechanics that can be bypassed by spending money or having a V.I.P. pass of sorts, etc. This stuff already happens in full priced games, and I can only see it being worse when games are designed to be on a all you can play service like Uplay+, EA thing, or Game Pass.

 

[PianoBlack]

It will self implode. This aggressive campaigning to get people in the door for cheap but without any real need to stick around consistently means that people will just jump in and out for major releases. Major releases are not really a Microsoft priority. A few sequels to their 3-4 1st party games will not have enough to draw people during their months and months of down time. Increasing their 1st party, with their new studio purchases and whatnot, won't guarantee them anything if the new initiatives are flops.

Click to shrink...

If you think there are "months and months of downtime" on Game Pass then it's pretty clear you don't have an understanding of the service. I'd recommend checking out the library and recent releases before jumping to any further conclusions.

 

[PianoBlack]

Not actually going free to play but using free to play mony generating practices in pay to play games, like boosters, loot box replacements (if one dosent already exist), energy like mechanics that can be bypassed by spending money or having a V.I.P. like pass, etc. This stuff already happens in full priced games, and I can only see it being worse when games are designed to be on a all you can play service like Uplay+, EA thing, or Game Pass.

Click to shrink...

You still haven't explained why though. Getting an upfront payment to be on a service for 6 or 12 months -> horrible mobile MTX mechanics because... ?

 

[Devilgunman]

I'm interest to see how long MS can keep this up. I love the service of course but MS must have paid arm's and legs to get those big 3rd party games on it. This feels somewhat similar to how aggressive Sony was with the free PS+ games at the end of PS3 life.

 

[FlintSpace]

I still don't see how MS are going to turn their books green with GamePass.

Currently pass is way too cheap. And MS will take some time to fill GP with GaaS to get atleast the 60$ back. Yearly subscription packs are the only thing that looks reasonable right now.

I expect Halo:Infinite to be heavy on mtx.

 

[Pryme]

I don't think it's no longer a doubt that Microsoft as a whole is now subsidising Game Pass to make up the losses that are being made by investing very aggressively in Xbox Game Pass.

However it isn't bad news, I think this is good news, this will mean that Microsoft as a whole is now backing Xbox and that the higher management have big plans for the Xbox Division hence why they are willing to take massive losses, Xbox is no doubt now in Azure-Office 365 Level investment.

But what do you think will this mean in the overall industry? Now that MS using the Netflix business model, will this mean, like the movie industry force companies to also create their own subscription service? Will it also draw the indie crowd away from Steam to XGP because of MS's upfront cost?

What do you think?

Click to shrink...

'Now'?

you haven't been paying attention. Xbox /Gaming has been a major division in Microsoft since late 2017, and Phil Spencer is an EVP reporting directly to Nadella.
Nadella has publicly stated a major commitment to gaming at MS.
Nothing new here

 

[Oleander]

So much depends on maintaining the same management at Microsoft. This initiative was spurred by Phil Spencer and at least approved by Satya Nadella, neither of whom were in charge at the beginning of this generation. There is no guarantee they will still be leading at the end of the next generation, where successive management may look at the subsidisation, or the inefficient rate of return on investment, and historically, Microsoft have not been one to embrace the Sunk Cost Fallacy.

As someone who embraces and loves the narrative-heavy single-player games that have been so dominant this generation, the spread of this model is slightly concerning. While it makes sense for Xbox, both in the market they've been cultivating and in the types of games they produce, it's hard to see how it works for the other manufacturers, or even many third parties. The future is murky in regards the model's long-term stability, even if there is a move away from the single-player games I like so much, and we'll have to see how it affects the hardware and software of the next gen devices before we can begin to predict what this future looks like.

 

[Japanmanx3]

If you think there are "months and months of downtime" on Game Pass then it's pretty clear you don't have an understanding of the service. I'd recommend checking out the library and recent releases before jumping to any further conclusions.

Click to shrink...

The biggest boost of more customers hopping into the program just occurred with Gears 5. The standard affair of having good games a plenty on the service is not hugest draw, currently. That's going to come from the biggest titles launching day 1 on the service. So yeah, Microsoft's 1st party titles are "months and months" away from each other in that regard.

Since they now want to even further obfuscate their numbers, we will just have to watch trends instead of real numbers, but I can only imagine that their will be a dumb drop off rate by next month once people have played Gears and only wanted to try the service for that one game. I don't know MS next big exclusive, but I assume you'll see the next record break with either Halo or Forza. Unless they get a AAA 3rd party day 1 release, which I again think will be rare....

 

[OneBadMutha]

How long will Microsoft continue subsidising Game Pass though.

Click to shrink...

It's a long term play. Nadella, Hood and Microsoft's investors...like most investors, know that 5G is around the corner but the true version that is adopted by the masses and does what it's hypothetically supposed to do is 3-7 years away. This is a big gamble that will either net big losses or big returns. Nadella operates Microsoft that way. His philosophy is that since Microsoft is a trillion dollar company, they should only focus on markets they can lead in. Get out of the ones they're second rate in which is why they shut down Windows phones, Groove Music, etc as soon as he came in. If they didn't have this belief in 5G, Game Pass and Xcloud...I believe they would've divested the Xbox division. While it's profitable, it was more of a distraction and resource hog than it was worth in its old form.

 

[Minilla]

A shit ton of lite games, for subscription models, with mobile style stores for add ons for extra story and MP content.

Doesn't take a rocket scientist to work this out.

 

[plow]

Maybe a more app comparison is to compare is to movie sub's like AMC/Moviepass.

Click to shrink...

But even Movies. Look at Disney, they are able to release a big budget Movie nearly every Month. You got an Avenger or Star Wars Movie EVERY Year.

This is completely unthinkable in the gaming world.

So the only way to get people to stay on said service and play a released game, is to get them to play a game for months. Single Player Gales won't achieve that.

 

[Hoo-doo]

The race to the bottom starts here. I really fear what these models will do to game development. They will require more revenue streams if regular retail sales dry up.
A catch-all fee paid by the platform holder is not going to cover the cost of conventional AAA development and i'm afraid we'll be seeing a transition into phone game models. Free to play (because devaluation makes people hesitant to spend 60$) but littered with MTX and paid unlocks just to keep the lights on.

 

[Kerberosorthos]

I can remember a time when everybody was concerned about mobile gaming destroying console gaming and gaming in general.

Meanwhile console gaming is bigger than ever...

 

[Super Havoc]

One thing that typically goes unmentioned with Gamepass is that Microsoft are one of very few tech companies with the financial chops to pull off such a service.

I don't think it's realistic to expect Sony and Nintendo to follow suit, certainly not in the exact same fashion, and to be fair, they don't need to right now either. A purely back catalogue service is what I'd expect from those two at most.

I imagine sometime in the next couple of years we'll start to see major third party games launch on Gamepass.

Maybe not something on the level of GTA6 or new Elder Scrolls but I could absolutely see a Capcom game or a Square game launching on . It would make a lot of sense to try and use Gamepass to bring big Japanese games to an audience that is reluctant to play them/doesn't have familiarity with a series due to series not having roots on Xbox.

I think Gamepass will end up the best service of its kind, at least the Gamepass we have now, due to having a greater and more varied selection of games on offer. None of the publisher based services do anything for me. And that's the only way I see Gamepass eventually failing, publishers pulling their own games to put them on inferior rival services.

Click to shrink...

You mde a lot of great points here.

 

[Ushay]

Pre Game Pass - I would have purchased 4 maybe 5 full on titles per year, occasionally dipping in to DLC and such.
Post Game Pass - I would now buy perhaps 1 or 2 full games per year, spend more confidently on DLC and have access to games I never would have considered before at all. Example, I played Battle Chasers: Nightwar last month and I absolutely loved it .. I never would have given that game another look if not for GP.

I can also now browse games for my son to play, a fair variety too like the Lego games, it's incredible.

Can't speak for the industry, but anecdotally it's been superb for me and the family.

 

[Ploid 6.0]

You still haven't explained why though. Getting an upfront payment to be on a service for 6 or 12 months -> horrible mobile MTX mechanics because... ?

Click to shrink...

You're talking about third-party here, but even third-party may anticipate being on a service where people can play the game in the future for free with dlc, mtx, and free to play mechanics already in the game (Street Fighter V, Devil May Cry 5, EA games for example). So many games may already be designed with things like PS+ free games in mind, it would be the type of forward thinking a company would do, especially to curb losses on game trade ins that some publishers were worried with at the end of last gen (remember online play codes?).

Being on game pass for a bit would just be an extra opportunity to get players to pay. "Turn players into payers." - Actually EA

For the service holders that also publish (EA, Ubisoft, Microsoft) it's clear to see their games being designed with the mtx and things in mind, so even if people don't buy a game, a lot of whales will spend in multiple games. The sub money, when people actually pay may pale in comparison..

 

[Hoo-doo]

One thing that typically goes unmentioned with Gamepass is that Microsoft are one of very few tech companies with the financial chops to pull off such a service.

I don't think it's realistic to expect Sony and Nintendo to follow suit, certainly not in the exact same fashion, and to be fair, they don't need to right now either. A purely back catalogue service is what I'd expect from those two at most.

I imagine sometime in the next couple of years we'll start to see major third party games launch on Gamepass.

Maybe not something on the level of GTA6 or new Elder Scrolls but I could absolutely see a Capcom game or a Square game launching on . It would make a lot of sense to try and use Gamepass to bring big Japanese games to an audience that is reluctant to play them/doesn't have familiarity with a series due to series not having roots on Xbox.

I think Gamepass will end up the best service of its kind, at least the Gamepass we have now, due to having a greater and more varied selection of games on offer. None of the publisher based services do anything for me. And that's the only way I see Gamepass eventually failing, publishers pulling their own games to put them on inferior rival services.

Click to shrink...

Thing is though, the losses Microsoft incurs right now is because it's an unproven and unfamiliar space for consumers. Microsoft spends like crazy to get people in the door until there's a mindset change and people catch on to the value of the service.

That mindshare isn't attached to a platform holder, and as such Microsoft's legwork in terms of getting consumer habits to change, could well be a stepping stone for other competitors in the field that have their own platform and game offerings without having to go through this massive period of losses.

So for people looking to make a similar service in the future, Microsoft's is doing god's work here. But that is disregarding all the potential pitfalls and potential unsustainability obviously.

 

[OneBadMutha]

The race to the bottom starts here. I really fear what these models will do to game development. They will require more revenue streams if regular retail sales dry up.
A catch-all fee paid by the platform holder is not going to cover the cost of conventional AAA development and i'm afraid we'll be seeing a transition into phone game models. Free to play (because devaluation makes people hesitant to spend 60$) but littered with MTX and paid unlocks just to keep the lights on.

Click to shrink...

Who's running to a service that offers a bunch of bullshit you can already get for free or really cheap? Netflix doesn't become Netflix when they had a weak offering. Premium content is what drives people to subscriptions and gets them to tell their friends. Indies will fill the gaps...however they aren't "the bottom".

I don't understand the race to the bottom theory. There's no evidence. The micro transactions you refer to were more intrusive pre-Game Pass and they've existed in GAAS games since last gen. Outside of EA and Bethesda, most publishers have kept them cosmetic. Those models are more likely to get shitty when AAA games have to sustain themselves on their own. Subscription services need more than GAAS games to cast a wide net.

The lights are kept on through high adoption. High adoption starts with the gaming enthusiasts. The Kotaku/Jim Sterling race to the bottom is based on a healthy dose of cynicism for mega corporations...but there's no actual evidence to support the hypothesis yet.

 

[Prine]

It's a massive plus for creators and gamers, encourages trying games you may have ignored due to the buy in being too high. Also, this means all Gamepass users can play every game together, no need to see what online games you own and see if your friends do to, simply ask them to sub and away you go.

 

[Ploid 6.0]

Who's running to a service that offers a bunch of bullshit you can already get for free or really cheap? Netflix doesn't become Netflix when they had a weak offering. Premium content is what drives people to subscriptions and gets them to tell their friends. Indies will fill the gaps...however they aren't "the bottom".

I don't understand the race to the bottom theory. There's no evidence. The micro transactions you refer to were more intrusive pre-Game Pass and they've existed in GAAS games since last gen. Outside of EA and Bethesda, most publishers have kept them cosmetic. Those models are more likely to get shitty when AAA games have to sustain themselves on their own. Subscription services need more than GAAS games to cast a wide net.

The lights are kept on through high adoption. High adoption starts with the gaming enthusiasts. The Kotaku/Jim Sterling race to the bottom is based on a healthy dose of cynicism for mega corporations...but there's no actual evidence to support the hypothesis yet.

Click to shrink...

That was my experience when I looked at Game Pass library. I already had the things that were interesting to me outside of 3 games. One of which I already had a very similar game that I played daily, and it has planes, boats, hovercraft, and so many types of land vehicles.

I haven't really put much time into game pass stuff. I only downloaded two games, one downloaded on it's own days after I tried to cancel it (Starting download was the only way I could see how big the download is on the app).

 

[Brown Intruder]

It will self implode. This aggressive campaigning to get people in the door for cheap but without any real need to stick around consistently means that people will just jump in and out for major releases. Major releases are not really a Microsoft priority. A few sequels to their 3-4 1st party games will not have enough to draw people during their months and months of down time. Increasing their 1st party, with their new studio purchases and whatnot, won't guarantee them anything if the new initiatives are flops.

Retail suffers since the incentive is to pay way less for access to more games. Digital will too, in the same manner, if it's on Gamepass. They can tank this with their 1st party, but MTX's will continue to be heavily pushed in them, regardless of the PR. Buuuuut I think this is why it'll be few and far between as far as 3rd party efforts coming directly to Gamepass, unless the games themselves are neutered and then MTX'd to death which would spell terrible PR for those companies, and they don't have the Microsoft bag to fall back on.

To be honest it just seems like they are planning a way to exit the console space and just be a pure service a la' Netflix. Netflix does not need to produce hardware, they just need to be on every available device everywhere. Even then Netflix isn't the most profitable and they take a huge loss on their risk/reward ratio creating their own shows. Hence why they've reevaluated more recently. Microsoft has more money to throw around, but they're previous hesitation in banking on their 1st party efforts makes me hugely reticent on assuming they have completely changed. Aggressively expanding and acquiring now, doesn't mean it's going to pay off. And if it doesn't, closures and cancellations will continue to be their norm.

It just seems like a huge, pointless, money sink for their current business model, with a hopefully ROI possiblity potential strictly based on the goodwill of a customer remaining on the service. People are willing to switch and/or completely drop services with the blink of an eye. I just don't see it being sustainable.

Click to shrink...

You should check out game pass before writing stuff.

 

[OneBadMutha]

That was my experience when I looked at Game Pass library. I already had the things that were interesting to me outside of 3 games. One of which I already had a very similar game that I played daily, and it has planes, boats, hovercraft, and so many types of land vehicles.

I haven't really put much time into game pass stuff. I only downloaded two games, one downloaded on it's own days after I tried to cancel it (Starting download was the only way I could see how big the download is on the app).

Click to shrink...

I get that not everyone will value the current lineup the same. I think it's great which is why I'm a Game Pass shill. However to capture the masses...which is the goal, the quality needs to be obvious to the mainstream. That's not going to happen by knowingly and intentionally releasing "bottom feeding" software that's made worse with bottom feeding monetization models...which is the point I was making to HooDoo.

The software that's come into the service in the past 12 months has been really high in quality and it's still in its infancy. The wider the base gets, the more high quality stuff they can keep investing in.

 

[Brown Intruder]

Thing is though, the losses Microsoft incurs right now is because it's an unproven and unfamiliar space for consumers. Microsoft spends like crazy to get people in the door until there's a mindset change and people catch on to the value of the service.

That mindshare isn't attached to a platform holder, and as such Microsoft's legwork in terms of getting consumer habits to change, could well be a stepping stone for other competitors in the field that have their own platform and game offerings without having to go through this massive period of losses.

So for people looking to make a similar service in the future, Microsoft's is doing god's work here. But that is disregarding all the potential pitfalls and potential unsustainability obviously.

Click to shrink...

This idea that other companies can do it for cheap comes from where?

Seeing as Netflix have already done it, going by your theory, shouldn't Disney be making money day one?? Instead, they are anticipating 4 to 5 years of losses....

 

[Seijuro]

Yes, of course. For many players it's too good of an offer to pass up. In the end many players don't care if they own a game or not - realistically, how long does the average person play Gears 5 or any other 1st party offering. Just until the next hit arrives or the console generation is over at the latest.
What it will do however, is increase MTX and F2P models in games that some people get "free" on Game Pass, while others pay full price for it.
Pretty sure Sony has to follow suit and adapt the Now model into something closer resembling Game Pass.
And of course everyone wants their cake, like with EA and Ubisoft it's already starting.

Just hoping these sub models don't give rise to heaps and heaps of junk with only a few diamonds (like Netflix's output in recent years), but something will change in games development if the €/$60-model is not the prevelant way players get their games anymore.

 

[Icarus]

Change is inevitable, don't fear it, embrace it. All will be good at the end.

Click to shrink...

Not every change is a good thing in the world and just because it may benefit you now doesn't mean it will further down the road.

Me personally as someone who actually likes to own their content physically this service isn't something I want to take off.

My predictions:

1) Launch the service at a too good to be true price luring folks over to try it and want it. This step is already happening.
2) Once the numbers have reached their goal they will likely increase the price (like Netflix and other service subscription providers do)
3) Now you're locked in to this system so you shrug and think an extra $5-$10 isn't much of a big deal when the price change occurs, all the while physical media will die out because they've hooked you in to their ecosystem and retailers and publishers bemoan the fact that physical sales are low and not worth the effort anymore.
4) Developers will want to make more money from their games given that it is all paid in via a subscription service now and will introduce a shed load more DLC, Season Passes and loot boxes to compensate for it.

Like I said I personally hate the subscription model, sure it has some short term gains but the longer term I just see it being a cancer on games we know here and now as developers/publishers will want to recoup the losses incurred by not selling their game at retail prices.

 

[Kilgore]

This idea that other companies can do it for cheap comes from where?

Seeing as Netflix have already done it, going by your theory, shouldn't Disney be making money day one?? Instead, they are anticipating 4 to 5 years of losses....

Click to shrink...

because microsoft is dumb and other companies are smart of course

 

[Brown Intruder]

because microsoft is dumb and other companies are smart of course

Click to shrink...

lol pretty much. Why do I always hit the "show ignored content" option in threads...

 

[Kuro]

Every major publisher is going to splinter off into their own subscription service and its going to be hell. I expect a lot more shitty microtransaction nonsense as well. Games will become artificially longer and bloated to keep people playing just like Netflix's shows had the too many episodes problem.

This is also MS's trojan horse for their always online DRM they tried pulling at the start of this gen.

Nintendo will probably be the only company that doesn't do it for at least a decade.

I worry for indies as well as short term they're probably gonna get great exposure but how well will they be compensated down the road and will there be a lot more pressure for them to remain exclusive to a platform?

 

[eonden]

Every major publisher is going to splinter off into their own subscription service and its going to be hell. I expect a lot more shitty microtransaction nonsense as well. Games will become artificially longer and bloated to keep people playing just like Netflix's shows had the too many episodes problem.

This is also MS's trojan horse for their always online DRM they tried pulling at the start of this gen.

Nintendo will probably be the only company that doesn't do it for at least a decade.

I worry for indies as well as short term they're probably gonna get great exposure but how well will they be compensated down the road and will there be a lot more pressure for them to remain exclusive to a platform?

Click to shrink...

Nintendo has moved their "subscription service" to the paid nintendo online, albeit only with previous console generations (but could be used as the base for a higher price service).
I actually prefer that model over PS+ and Games for Gold as it provides the same value to everyone for the subscription and it doesn't try to make you feel bad for lapsing your subscription and losing games by not being subscribed when they launch on ps+/games for gold.

 

[Kuro]

Nintendo has moved their "subscription service" to the paid nintendo online, albeit only with previous console generations (but could be used as the base for a higher price service).
I actually prefer that model over PS+ and Games for Gold as it provides the same value to everyone for the subscription and it doesn't try to make you feel bad for lapsing your subscription and losing games by not being subscribed when they launch on ps+/games for gold.

Click to shrink...

lol a small amount of nes and snes games is nothing in comparison to what GP and EA Access are doing or what other publishers will follow suit with.

Nintendo makes way too much money on traditional software sales to start putting their games up on a $5 a month sub.

 

[Kilgore]

Some sort of Game Pass with Virtual Console games on Switch would be an absolutely great idea, and I think Nintendo will make great money.

 

[gofreak]

I think for an analysis on subsidy you would have to look at current revenues on unit sales across publishers, and work out what the likely number of subscribers the industry would need to attract to match and grow that number. I'm not actually too concerned about that overall in the long run... I think on average, overall, the initial unit sale many be a decreasing part of the revenue pie anyway.

What I'm more worried about is less the overall average picture, and more specifically what it could mean for titles designed with little or no post-initial-sale revenue in mind - not every time of game fits a long tail of post-purchase revenue. I also think, subsidy aside, with any flat fee model, how the fee is distributed is key. If you distribute e.g. based on time played, devs will optimise design for playtime. That might not be a positive development for many types of game. Other metrics could encourage other design patterns that might go out of kilter. It could be tricky to balance - and it'd be foolish to think the underlying economic model has no impact on game design.

We will see though. The market will decide what direction it wants to go in. I'm not sure it's at all inevitable that flat fee consumption will become universal for all game releases. The only media where it has become anything like a universal standard is music, which hitherto was in the revenue dumps. Games aren't there.

 

[Strings]

Yes obviously.... Just look at Netflix spending over $100m for multiple 10 episode per season series.

Completely impossible to fun $50 - $80m games on a subscription service.

/s

Click to shrink...

Netflix is hemorrhaging money at the moment to build content before all of their deals expire. They're not the best example (especially since a lot of their more expensive projects haven't done very well).

 

[DrDeckard]

Let's see how it plays out. A lot of people seem to be panicking but I'm sure it will be OK and accepted once other companies get on board and offer their streaming services.

 

[ianpm31]

I don't think it's a positive for the industry. I guess we'll see how it plays out

 

[Kilgore]

Netflix is hemorrhaging money at the moment to build content before all of their deals expire. They're not the best example (especially since a lot of their more expensive projects haven't done very well).

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And still encouraged several competitors to do the same and stablished a model that is not going away. Spotify was losing money for years till they managed to have a stable number of subscribers even if they faced strong competition too.

 

[PenultimateFantasy]

Wasn't EA the first though?

Anyway I think the industry will not change much, not many companies have the infrastructure and capital in order to make such significant investments into their own Game Pass type of service. We already have EA Access and Uplay Plus, but those are limited services, and I doubt many more companies will try to do the same.

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EA were and I believe it did very well for them

 

[Bede-x]

If games are designed with game pass like services in mind it will adopt a lot of the free to play mtx practices.

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We still don't know that or what direction it's gonna go. Apple Arcade is actually the complete opposite. They're using their Game Pass like subscription service to totally ban microtransactions and in-game ads.

 

[Strings]

And still encouraged several competitors to do the same and stablished a model that is not going away. Spotify was losing money for years till they managed to have a stable number of subscribers even if they faced strong competition too.

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The model they started with, which is licensing swathes of major content, is going away.

 

[wollywinka]

Wasn't EA the first though?

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I think it was, but it was limited to EA games only, which hampers its appeal.

 

[Kilgore]

The model they started with, which is licensing swathes of major content, is going away.

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Why do you think Microsoft is buying studios? The future of Game Pass is relying less on third party games. And Netflix will still buying content of third party as well.