Gamepass has me endlessly conflicted. It’s unironically a really good value for a lot of people. However I can’t help but feel this is fueling the pump and dump release cycle.
Edit: typing this out I realized my thoughts on this are far less organized than I expected. I would love to see some deeper analysis in what is going on behind the scenes
I’m against it. Microsoft has for years been trying to move everything to subscription based. This is how they kill standard game ecosystems. Its like a walmart going in. They function at a loss until they kill all competition. Then they corner the market and dramatically raise prices. They want office 360 for games and in the end we all suffer because they get to decide which games are on the pass and how long.
I wouldn’t say that I’m against subscription models as an option alongside a traditional purchasing paradigm for games, but if what we’re seeing now is simply a trojan horse for a wholesale upheaval of that traditional purchasing model sometime in the not-so-distant future then I’d happily see it fail. Just in general the constant push toward an all-digital gaming future consistently concerns me.
But I’m old. I’d be willing to bet that most young people and teens gaming today probably couldn’t care less about that prospect since they’ve never experienced this medium during a time before digital distribution, day 1 patches, etc.
I’m honestly a fan. I don’t play games that often so I’ll usually just get a month or two at a time, play a bunch of stuff I missed and then just cancel for 6 months when I’m busy again. The last time I got it was when halo infinite came out. I’m about to turn it on again.
Good. I’m tired of this “you will own nothing and be happy” ecosystem we’re quickly falling into. Screw subscription services. Let me buy my copy for life.
You can still buy the games outside of Game Pass.
For now. But if they the majority of market share things will change.
Bro what??
…they actually already let you just buy the game.
Well… you buy a license normally. The only online service that I know that give you a real copy of the game and it’s yours forever is gog, and they don’t sell too many modern games…
yeah and fans hate exclusives, sony
Do they? I’m not so sure.
While exclusives certainly limit access to those who own a certain platform, they also usually benefit from being developed for one specific piece of hardware in terms of polish, stability, etc. Some of the most ambitious and polished games ever made have been exclusives, mostly on Sony or Nintendo platforms.
They also help to engender a distinct identity for each platform, IMO. This is a more ephemeral thing, mind you, but I think that both Sony and Nintendo have succeeded in carving out a clear brand identity for themselves via the kinds of exclusives that they’ve gotten onto their platforms from their stables of first- and second-party developers. Does that make sense, or am I just talking out of my ass at this point?
More options is always better for consumers, of course, but I think that exclusives also come with their own set of unique positives as well. I’d be curious to know how most people feel about this topic. I could very well be an outlier here.
Projecting a bit much, aren’t ya Jim?
