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[EDMIX]

So where does this fear that MS will increase its gamepass price at enormous heights if they see similar success comes from ?

Simple...AAA games cost more to actually develop then what you are talking about.

Also...its Microsoft..... they are not in it to simply be nice or something, hint, hint $$$$$

 

[EDMIX]

Its the amazon situation. Have constant great deals and specials to draw the masses in and undercut competitors, then as your monoploy grows the sales disappear, competitors fail and then you pay full price and then some. People will sort out the value of things as they go, but i have a sneaking suspicion that all these streaming services are the new cable and like cable they will screw the consumer when they have no one left to compete with and that time is fast approaching.

Agreed. I see that happening more to Amazon right now then Netflix, but agreed nonetheless. The fact that some prime content even fucking has commercials now even though you are paying for the services is just nuts. If it wasn't for Hulu or Netflix, you wouldn't see Amazon working so hard to add original content, profiles and all theses changes to match those companies. Yet after all that they still added commercials to a fucking paid streaming service.

 

[Dthomp]

Simple...AAA games cost more to actually develop then what you are talking about.

Also...its Microsoft..... they are not in it to simply be nice or something, hint, hint $$$$$

I'm not smart enough when it comes to digging up numbers and stats, just an average joe, but with people bringing up Netflix in comparison. Don't most shows or movies only take months to shoot and finish? So you aren't paying these actors a salary for the entire year, just the project they worked on then it's done right? And don't games take years to make with also very large teams? I feel like the cost of having a bunch of studios in house now is going to cost alot of money in salaries that need to offset somehow, and won't that come at a cost to the consumer? I also don't really understand when it comes to the devs going forward with GP, isn't a big chunk of their earned money usually based on the bonus based off of sales? What happens if most people are just using a month of GP to play the new fancy game, does that Dev just get the shaft on that important bonus?

Sorry for the rambling, I am just curious about the inner workings of these "services" cause they just seem like an odd way to be as money making as having a bunch of top notch studios selling games all year round. Like does the average person who didn't load up on $30 Xbox Live memberships and convert 3 years for like 90-110 bucks, are they just paying every month, is there a large group of that, or do they see the use it for a month then cancel til the next big thing hits? Legit curious about this kind of stuff.

 

[Texas Pride]

If you think all this money MS is spending on developers and IP's trying to corner the gaming market isn't going to be passed onto to the consumer you're an idiot. God forbid MS runs Sony out as things trend more digital and you'll be paying $50 a month to rent your games on Gamepass.

 

[sainraja]

I don't get the agenda of this weird fear mongering. Especially by well know Sony fanatics who have zero interest in the service in the first place.

Why not just respond to what is being said instead of trying to paint it with a fanboy brush because you don't like what is being said?

The market will drive the transition to a digital market not MS. And the idea that Gamepass will cause this is assine to say the least. The only companies required to use gamepass as a service are 1st party games. There are hundreds of games currently out on the xbox one platform and only a fraction of them are on gamepass.

And Microsoft is trying to lead the market there quicker. You're forgetting that they already tried last generation. Yes, Sony has tested the waters with the PSP Go but they didn't gamble their main system.

This doesn't even take into account that the market leader of console gaming will still be Sony next gen. If anything is a catalyst to the transition to digital it is the digital console made by Sony, not the competitor who sold 1/2 as much.

This is not decided yet. Sony had a good generation but if game pass takes off, Sony's going to follow suit fulltime; since they do already have a similar service called PlayStation Now.

As for ownership, "we believe in generations", is worse for ownership than a digital market IMO. My steam library still has games I bought 10 years ago on it, but I can't put a PS2 disc in a PS5 and play it. But don't worry about that because Sony will be happy to sell you a remake or remaster at full price.

When Sony says they believe in generations it doesn't mean stopping support for their previous consoles (e.g. the PS4).

 

[Hezekiah]

Looking forward to never being able to unsubscribe because my whole library is tied to a subscription

And even then your game library is at the whim of the platform-holder.

In terms of price, the precedent is set. Get people used to the service, reliant upon it, and gradually up its cost with a number of steady price increases.

Unless Microsoft enjoys throwing money away they will be upping the price significantly, naive to think otherwise.

 

[Deleted member 471617]

Personally, I would have no problem with a $5 a month increase with Game Pass and Game Pass Ultimate because it's still far cheaper for me than buying a $60-$70 game and trading it in for half price. I'm still saving 75% as opposed to 50% at best.

I would keep Game Pass at $10 and raise Ultimate to $20 but I include other services and whatnot to it. Like, if Microsoft could get UPlay+ in Ultimate and you get every Ubisoft game day one. Fuck yeah!!! I'm there.

 

[Wizz-Art]

What imaginary increase? This thread reeks of FUD!

 

[sainraja]

What imaginary increase? This thread reeks of FUD!

If you take off the console war goggles you have on you'll see it's simply a discussion. If you have any counter points you are more than welcome to share them.

 

[NoMoChokeSJ]

Why not just respond to what is being said instead of trying to paint it with a fanboy brush because you don't like what is being said?

I literally addressed his entire post in mine and he is one of the worst fanboys on here. So....

 

[xiseerht]

Well , I think every single person realize that it will increase in price at some point . That is very standard for all subscription services . To be honest . Even in a few years , if it is 24.95 for Ultimate Game Pass . I will still pay for it. I have no desire to stop paying for Hulu , Netflix , Spotify , Apple News , Amazon Prime , Crunchyroll, etc.

 

[anothertech]

Subscriptions are for suckers that don't know value.

In 7 years, you've paid probably 500% for the same games. Where I can play my faves for decades once I own them. This especially affects ongoing enjoyment for things like Tetris, beat saber, and replayable genres like RPGs and such.

If you ever stop paying, you can't play .

Games are much different than movies in this regard.

That said, if your a whale with wads to burn why not.

 

[Wizz-Art]

If you take off the console war goggles you have on you'll see it's simply a discussion. If you have any counter points you are more than welcome to share them.

Or you know, there's nothing to discuss because there is no pricehike and there won't be one in the forseeable future. Did MS ever jacked up prices? I used Gold for 10 years before I switched over to Game Pass Ultimate which is again cheaper then having Xbox Live Gold, Game Pass and Game Pass PC, in those 10 years MS never increased the price of Live Gold either unlike Sony that did with a 10 bucks increase on PS+. Also when we simply talk about games, unlike Sony MS didn't increase their pricing. Or perhipherals like controllers, those prices never went up.

So where's the precedent strictly talking about MS that they're going to increase prices?

It's simply FUD when people talk about imaginary increases like 10+ bucks, yet I still pay 15 bucks for Game Pass Ultimate and have done so since it released over a year ago.

What's funny and ironic to me is that people who are firmly into other platforms like Sony or Nintendo or a combination of those discuss something they don't even subscribe to. But then again I'm the one who wears 'console war goggles' when I strictly use facts, why is that?

 

[Denton]

They can raise prices to 100 bucks a month. People can unsubscribe. In the end the prices will be set at what people will be willing to pay, as always.

Where I can play my faves for decades once I own them. This especially affects ongoing enjoyment for things like Tetris, beat saber, and replayable genres like RPGs and such.

Gamepass is brilliant for people who replay games only very, very rarely. Like me. I only replay the biggest classics, like Deus Ex, Bloodlines, Fallout, Witcher trilogy, Kingdom Come, Mass Effect. If such classic comes out, I buy it. But 99% of games I play, I enjoy once and never replay. So rent versus buy makes not difference.

 

[chonga]

And what percentage of smart phone users worldwide might be interested in Xcloud? Even if its just 1% then thats about 30 million. How about people who game on PC, lets add just 1% of those people to Gamepass for the time being, thats another 10 million, how about people who might want to stream through Xcloud on bigger screens than phones such as tablets or low powered laptops or TVs? Can you see how once you move away from just targeting people on consoles then the potential customer base goes up in orders of magnitude?

So you've gone from Game Pass getting 200 million subscribers because there are billions of mobile phone users to them only being able to muster up 30 million from that segment in one post. At least you are at least not contesting the realistic point of view I present to you I suppose.

I'm not sure why you talk about the potential for growth as if people are denying it will grow. No one is saying it won't grow. No one is saying zero people on a phone or zero people who are PlayStation fans etc are going to get Game Pass. What is contested is the outlandish figures being thrown about based purely on market sizes and zero consideration for what those users actually want, need or use their devices for.

Something else you are also forgetting is overlap. So yes there will be plenty of people with a mobile phone who might want to sign up for Game Pass and play titles on their phones. But, how many of those also own a PC or an Xbox etc that might already have Game Pass. It is unwise to say there are x amount of people who buy consoles, x who buy PCs and x who have phones and add them all together and try to do some kind of equation based on penetration into those numbers. People have multiple devices.

 

[CeeJay]

So you've gone from Game Pass getting 200 million subscribers because there are billions of mobile phone users to them only being able to muster up 30 million from that segment in one post. At least you are at least not contesting the realistic point of view I present to you I suppose.

I'm not sure why you talk about the potential for growth as if people are denying it will grow. No one is saying it won't grow. No one is saying zero people on a phone or zero people who are PlayStation fans etc are going to get Game Pass. What is contested is the outlandish figures being thrown about based purely on market sizes and zero consideration for what those users actually want, need or use their devices for.

Something else you are also forgetting is overlap. So yes there will be plenty of people with a mobile phone who might want to sign up for Game Pass and play titles on their phones. But, how many of those also own a PC or an Xbox etc that might already have Game Pass. It is unwise to say there are x amount of people who buy consoles, x who buy PCs and x who have phones and add them all together and try to do some kind of equation based on penetration into those numbers. People have multiple devices.

sigh...

You say people who are Playstation fans are going to get it? I am going to need precise numbers and percentages to two decimal places for me to take your claim seriously.

See what i did there troll?

 

[Journey]

Everywhere in this forum and not only in this forum ? I don’t get it, these services depend on volume of users not raising the prices to absurd heights.

It would make sense if the same people showed concern over paying $70 for a single game which equates to almost a full year worth of Gamepass.

 

[Fulcizombie]

Wait, I returned to this thread and people are ..questioning netflix films and calling them simple TV movies ? The Irishman had a 200 million budget, the sci-fi one with Will Smith an 100+ million budget, now Netflix is preparing The Grey Man (Ryan Goosling, Chris Evans e.t.c directed by the Russo brothers) intended to be Netflix’ James Bond. kind of franchise with the first film costing over 200 million $$, and I would imagine that films like The Old Guard, Project Power, 6 underground and more can’t have been cheap.
But yeah gamepass will not have AAA games.....

 

[sainraja]

Or you know, there's nothing to discuss because there is no pricehike and there won't be one in the forseeable future. Did MS ever jacked up prices? I used Gold for 10 years before I switched over to Game Pass Ultimate which is again cheaper then having Xbox Live Gold, Game Pass and Game Pass PC, in those 10 years MS never increased the price of Live Gold either unlike Sony that did with a 10 bucks increase on PS+. Also when we simply talk about games, unlike Sony MS didn't increase their pricing. Or perhipherals like controllers, those prices never went up.

So where's the precedent strictly talking about MS that they're going to increase prices?

It's simply FUD when people talk about imaginary increases like 10+ bucks, yet I still pay 15 bucks for Game Pass Ultimate and have done so since it released over a year ago.

What's funny and ironic to me is that people who are firmly into other platforms like Sony or Nintendo or a combination of those discuss something they don't even subscribe to. But then again I'm the one who wears 'console war goggles' when I strictly use facts, why is that?

Microsoft use to require us to pay for GOLD to access Netflix! Or any service that had it's own subscription. Tell me, why did we need Gold to be able to view Netflix on our Xboxes? Looking to the past to say it won't or will doesn't really mean anything lol. I mean, if they can put Netflix etc behind a paywall, then they can certainly increase the price of Gamepass if they need to. Gamepass offers a lot of value (specially with day one access to their first-party), a lot more than Gold alone ever did.

I think when Microsoft does get stronger in their first-party games (actually release some after all the acquisitions), we will then really see how/what Gamepass becomes. If they stay the course, don't increase the price but keep adding on to, similar to how Amazon has been with Prime (there has only been one price increase to it for a while), then we shall see. We're not there yet.

 

[Wizz-Art]

Microsoft use to require us to pay for GOLD to access Netflix! Or any service that had it's own subscription. Tell me, why did we need Gold to be able to view Netflix on our Xboxes? Looking to the past to say it won't or will doesn't really mean anything lol. I mean, if they can put Netflix etc behind a paywall, then they can certainly increase the price of Gamepass if they need to. Gamepass offers a lot of value (specially with day one access to their first-party), a lot more than Gold alone ever did.

I think when Microsoft does get stronger in their first-party games (actually release some after all the acquisitions), we will then really see how/what Gamepass becomes. If they stay the course, don't increase the price but keep adding on to, similar to how Amazon has been with Prime (there has only been one price increase to it for a while), then we shall see. We're not there yet.

Uhm Netflix was behind Live Gold since it's inception as an app on the service and they did it to offer an incentive to subscribe to gold I reckon. But they removed the requirement a long time ago now.

But I fail to see why you mentioned something that was under the old leadership and really doesn't have anything to do with the Game Pass service and the imaginary price hikes it's maybe going to have in the future. I mean if Netflix never had the Gold requirement and then suddenly is put behind the subscription I can see what you're trying to say but that's not the case at all.

The new leadership has made so many pro-consumer moves in the last couple of years and made the Xbox brand and it's tainted image after the Mattrick disaster cool again with the help of Phil and his team. It's Nadella's visionary leadership and how he want's Xbox and gaming as one of the cornerstones of the new MS. He reorganized drastically and promoted the right people at key positions. Ever since he took the reign MS as a company is flourishing and growing and it's always #1 or #2 in the world of richest companies with Apple.

I believe a price-hike for the Game Pass service to be years away, it's at the moment and forseeable future much more important to get the people subscribed to the service and make people getting used to it and show them the value of Game Pass in their lives, when people see and experience the value they'll increase it but not with 10 bucks outright but 1-3 bucks or so. That's my 2 cents.

 

[cd_jakevas]

Uhm Netflix was behind Live Gold since it's inception as an app on the service and they did it to offer an incentive to subscribe to gold I reckon. But they removed the requirement a long time ago now.

But I fail to see why you mentioned something that was under the old leadership and really doesn't have anything to do with the Game Pass service and the imaginary price hikes it's maybe going to have in the future. I mean if Netflix never had the Gold requirement and then suddenly is put behind the subscription I can see what you're trying to say but that's not the case at all.

The new leadership has made so many pro-consumer moves in the last couple of years and made the Xbox brand and it's tainted image after the Mattrick disaster cool again with the help of Phil and his team. It's Nadella's visionary leadership and how he want's Xbox and gaming as one of the cornerstones of the new MS. He reorganized drastically and promoted the right people at key positions. Ever since he took the reign MS as a company is flourishing and growing and it's always #1 or #2 in the world of richest companies with Apple.

I believe a price-hike for the Game Pass service to be years away, it's at the moment and forseeable future much more important to get the people subscribed to the service and make people getting used to it and show them the value of Game Pass in their lives, when people see and experience the value they'll increase it but not with 10 bucks outright but 1-3 bucks or so. That's my 2 cents.

How many X-box tattoos do you have?

 

[Wizz-Art]

How many X-box tattoos do you have?

As much as you have...

 

[KAL2006]

People need to accept not everyone pays for stuff and consumes stuff the same. And it's good to have options.

For me Gamepass isn't appropriate. Yes £11 a month is quite cheap. However I don't game enough so amount of content doesn't matter to me. So it would be a waste of money for me. Also I buy many games that don't come out on GamePass so I would have to spend money on games regardless if I had Gamepass.

I also almost never buy games full price, I usually pick up a game around £20 max but mostly games under £15. There is the occasional games I buy day 1 which are usually games like Monster Hunter. Monster Hunter is a type of game I'm playing non stop for like a year. I'd rather buy a game like that for £60 and play it at my own pace as I don't usually play multiple games at once, than subscribe to Gamepass and pay £11 a month for a year or 2. I can also resell Monster Hunter when I'm done with it. If I were to play Monster Hunter on Gamepass for a year it would cost over £120, and I can't resell it.

I'd rather have the option to pick and choose exactly what games I want to buy, and I wait for sales all the time I think I picked up Dishonored 2 for like £5. Once you start having a backlog something like Gamepass isn't very appealing.

However I know not everyone is like me some people consume a ton of games and then for them Gamepass is perfect. We all have to accept that not everyone is the same and it's good to have options instead of giving your buying habits on to others.

 

[sainraja]

Uhm Netflix was behind Live Gold since it's inception as an app on the service and they did it to offer an incentive to subscribe to gold I reckon. But they removed the requirement a long time ago now.

But I fail to see why you mentioned something that was under the old leadership and really doesn't have anything to do with the Game Pass service and the imaginary price hikes it's maybe going to have in the future. I mean if Netflix never had the Gold requirement and then suddenly is put behind the subscription I can see what you're trying to say but that's not the case at all.

The new leadership has made so many pro-consumer moves in the last couple of years and made the Xbox brand and it's tainted image after the Mattrick disaster cool again with the help of Phil and his team. It's Nadella's visionary leadership and how he want's Xbox and gaming as one of the cornerstones of the new MS. He reorganized drastically and promoted the right people at key positions. Ever since he took the reign MS as a company is flourishing and growing and it's always #1 or #2 in the world of richest companies with Apple.

I believe a price-hike for the Game Pass service to be years away, it's at the moment and forseeable future much more important to get the people subscribed to the service and make people getting used to it and show them the value of Game Pass in their lives, when people see and experience the value they'll increase it but not with 10 bucks outright but 1-3 bucks or so. That's my 2 cents.

They removed it in 2014, after the start of the current generation when they had messed up badly with the launch of the Xbox One. I was just pointing out you can't use the past to say what Microsoft will or will not do. You tried using Gold as a baseline based on its historical pricing to indicate they wouldn't increase prices and I pointed out that they charged for Gold for things that weren't even a benefit, it was more like a punishment for choosing Xbox. They had nothing close to the value of Gamepass back then, so they better not have increased the pricing. The case now is very different. They have to make it a profitable venture at some point and one way is to raise the price.

Don't get me wrong. I think Gamepass is a very good option. I look to it more for trying out games I wouldn't have otherwise. Same with PS Plus games and Games for Gold. The games I like, I tend to buy. All I will say now is, the price increase is not a question of if, it is more a question of when. If Microsoft establishes a stronger position in the market where they can set the rules, it will be a lot sooner.

 

[Batiman]

They can raise the price a bit if they want and if still be happy with the value. Just don’t tell MS

 

[Azurro]

I explained it right there in the post.

15 million subs @ $14.99 = around $225 million

Rapid increase in sub numbers to say 20 million over the next 6 months (conservative estimate) brings it to around $300 million. Keep scaling that up to the 100s of millions of subs and those returns soon become sustainable. 200 million subs @ 14.99 is just shy of $3 billion (That's nearly a Zenimax every two months)

If they increase the cost of the sub too rapidly then that growth in subs will not be as fast and could even take a downturn. MS will want the growth in the service to come from the number of monthly subs, not from increases in the monthly price.

You should lower that monthly revenue, as a lot of Gamepass subscriptions come from promotions. We actually don't know if they are active users, but let's assume they are.

Now, you have recurring costs, as you have to pay the publisher or developer of each game a substantial fee to put their game in the service, plus the substantial cost of all their development studios aiming to put games on the service. Currently they are losing quite a lot of money and with Bethesda's acquisition, that is even more.

The current model is unsustainable, so that's why the concern exists and is valid, even if some of them come from people that are being not very genuine. So, something will have to change, either push more mtx heavy games, increase the price, lose content or a combination of all of the above even if MS's wildest dreams happen and they get 100+ million subs paying full price every month.