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[Bond007]

Would be great if we just went back to free online play.
Microsoft fucked that for us too with Xbox Live and the "value" everyone fell for. The best value is free.

I dont need "free" games i dont own monthly.

 

[Gambit2483]

Just never made sense why anyone would pay to be subbed each month.

Just do a cheap promo and play the shit out of what you’re after; then drop it.

Edit: I wonder how much of that 10%

- Gets it free every month via Microsoft Rewards

- Bought three years of Xbox Gold and did the conversion thing

This is literally what I did for Starfield, i.e. got 3 months for $30, put in 50hrs and was done.

 

[GloveSlap]

I feel like subs would have done better back before so many extremely popular games were free to play.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

I saved a lot of money trying out games on GP that I might've bought. Redfall, Starfield and the like. Before anyone starts. Yeah. There's definitely good games on there. Games I never would've considered if I hadn't been able to try them out. GP is excellent for people who don't have a lot of games, and for the rest of us it's a pretty decent demo service.

A demo service isn't very compelling, tbh.

 

[MacReady13]

News like this makes me all warm and fuzzy inside! Just so upset Microsoft pushed this rental model so hard at the expense of their fantastic consoles and now they’ve shot themselves in both feet. Fuck sub services. I’m hoping it continues to be a failed experiment in the gaming industry.

 

[Killjoy-NL]

Would be great if we just went back to free online play.
Microsoft fucked that for us too with Xbox Live and the "value" everyone fell for. The best value is free.

I dont need "free" games i dont own monthly.

I'd actually put more blame on all those XBL subs that bought into paid mp.

 

[LordBlodgett]

There is absolutely no value in putting money in a blender and then trashing it. You cannot have value in something you rent. Stop.

If, you believe that, have at it. Maybe I’m not used to people just throwing money away to companies for nothing.

Do you ever take trips and use hotels or airbnbs? Rent cars on vacation? Visit tourist sites? Or go to concerts?

The value comes from the doing, the listening, the watching, the playing, not whether the shiny plastic box is on my shelf.......

 

[Bond007]

Do you ever take trips and use hotels or airbnbs? Rent cars on vacation? Visit tourist sites? Or go to concerts?

The value comes from the doing, the listening, the watching, the playing, not whether the shiny plastic box is on my shelf.......

Surely.
But if you told me i had an option to buy that hotel, that car, etc. We would right- cause you would want to own it.
What we have here is losing our ability to own something we are currently able to. Giving us the right to sell, trade, use as a frisbee if i wanted.

The value is absolutely the doing. But how are we getting there?

 

[MacReady13]

Do you ever take trips and use hotels or airbnbs? Rent cars on vacation? Visit tourist sites? Or go to concerts?

The value comes from the doing, the listening, the watching, the playing, not whether the shiny plastic box is on my shelf.......

Complete false equivalency and you know it. I am able to OWN games. I cannot own the hotel I go to. I am not able to own the bands that play at concerts. It’s impossible for me (unless I’m rich) to buy a car going overseas on a holiday. Rental cars is the only way to go.
But I can pay for and buy games. Stop sucking the cock of these companies ripping you off for paying a sub service monthly! You want a game, buy it and support the devs directly.

 

[DirtyBast8rd]

You guys have no idea how glad I am for selling my Xbox XS a couple of months back after getting a pc. I smile every time a new Xbox thread appears. They should fire everyone in charge over there. Fuck Gamepass and subscription services. Once they got you locked in, they can give it to you up the back without any lubrication.

 

[DirtyBast8rd]

You're feeding into more of that fearmongering Mat is talking about, which is what I was pointing to as well.

Phil, himself, has said he doesn't see a future where game pass is 50% or more of Xbox's total revenue, i-e the whole dominant idea is sort of a forum-creation than anything they realistically expect, it is doing what he intended to at the moment, and is profitable to them as it stands.



For me, and many others, it is an incredibly valuable service. I reckon the same is true for many PS+ subscribers as well, but no one expects it to become the dominant gaming medium any time soon.

Best value is humble bundle on pc, you keep the games you have claimed even if you end the subscription. No forcing to pay every month either. Don't like the games on offer? Pause the subscription for a month. PS+ is you being made a slave to stay and have the option to play online with a couple of bones (games) trown in.

 

[LordBlodgett]

Surely.
But if you told me i had an option to buy that hotel, that car, etc. We would right- cause you would want to own it.
What we have here is losing our ability to own something we are currently able to. Giving us the right to sell, trade, use as a frisbee if i wanted.

The value is absolutely the doing. But how are we getting there?

How do subscriptions cause you to lose the ability to buy something? In what form does that currently exist? I can't think of one....Music, movies, games, software? Every single one of those still has options to purchase and own if you want. I am certainly not arguing for a future where nobody owns anything. What I am arguing is that for consumable media I don't think it needs to be owned to be enjoyed, and therefore subscriptions can have high value.

Complete false equivalency and you know it. I am able to OWN games. I cannot own the hotel I go to. I am not able to own the bands that play at concerts. It’s impossible for me (unless I’m rich) to buy a car going overseas on a holiday. Rental cars is the only way to go.
But I can pay for and buy games. Stop sucking the cock of these companies ripping you off for paying a sub service monthly! You want a game, buy it and support the devs directly.

First of all, whether I can afford to buy something or not really does have absolutely nothing to do with my enjoyment of it, so not a false equivalency at all. I can afford to buy music, games, movies, concert tickets, vacations, and so on but I choose whatever way I can experience those that is most convenient or offers the most value.

I own over a thousand games on Xbox and Playstation and yet I still love GamePass......Weird how you can find value in both. Also do you think devs are forced at gunpoint to put games on subscription services? That is just as disingenuous as those who think you are getting games for "free" because you have a subscription.

 

[ByWatterson]

They should fire everyone in charge over there.

Except the people running Age of Empires. God-tier.

 

[BigLee74]

There is absolutely no value in putting money in a blender and then trashing it. You cannot have value in something you rent. Stop.

If, you believe that, have at it. Maybe I’m not used to people just throwing money away to companies for nothing.

Behave.

You rent something and get to play it, experience it, perhaps enjoy it and remember it. None of that disappears when your subscription expires.

And all for a reduced price.

Sounds like a form of value to me.

 

[Heisenberg007]

For reference, Xbox One was winning NPD and outselling the PS4 at this time last generation.



Xbox One was 1st. Xbox Series X|S is in the last position.

 

[mckmas8808]

For reference, Xbox One was winning NPD and outselling the PS4 at this time last generation.



Xbox One was 1st. Xbox Series X|S is in the last position.

And Phil blames Don Mattrick. Incredible!

 

[mckmas8808]

I actually have been paying attention. Here is Netflix's Net income for the last ten years:

2022	$4,492 (millions)
2021	$5,116 (millions)
2020	$2,761 (millions)
2019	$1,867 (millions)
2018	$1,211 (millions)
2017	$559 (millions)
2016	$187 (millions)
2015	$123 (millions)
2014	$267 (millions)
2013	$112 (millions)

They are certainly not losing money. I understand that other streaming companies are not the 900 pound gorilla that Netflix is, but that is why Microsoft wants to become the biggest first. Many of the other streaming companies which are losing money (especially Disney & Discover) have basically tried to loss lead their way into subscribers since they are so late to the game (Disney+ was launched 38 months ago, compared to Netflix's 17 years of streaming). This also means all of these companies trying to shortcut their way to the top are competing with each other for movies. shows, creators, etc and are driving prices up unreasonably. First to market has a ton of advantages

Good point about Netflix, but the issue with this comparison is one of these companies are super popular all over the world. The other brand isn't. One had real room to scale, the other can't.

 

[ShaiKhulud1989]

Honestly, everything I read this week reeks of Xbox goind 3rd party for the sake of the common sense.

And yeah, I'm kinda happy that this business model is more or less dead for gaming.