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Why doesn't Microsoft not get that Gamepass isn't for everyone

KAL2006

Banned
Basically Microsoft are desperate to get everyone on Gamepass so they decided to double Gold price to make everyone think Gamepass is better value than Gold. Instead there was a backlash.

Microsoft doesn't seem to get Gamepass is simply not for everyone. There are gamers out there that play half a dozen games a year. So having access to a ton of games don't really matter for them. There are gamers out there that only play COD, FIFA, Fortnite etc basically games that are not on Gamepass so they don't see the value of Gamepass. Games take a long damn time to play and people don't have the time to play that many games. A game like Monster Hunter I have put over 200 hours in, being subed to Gamepass if I'm only playing Monster Hunter is a waste if money. The Gamepass model isn't comparable to Netflix where you can binge shows, movies and documentaries and finish content in a weekend and make use of your sub where as games where we have a single game that takes 100 hours of your time.

Here are examples of people I know where Gamepass doesn't make sense to them.

Friend 1
He mainly plays FIFA, plays the occasional singleplayer game at most maybe 2 or 3 singleplayer games a year. For example I remember he played Uncharted Lost Legacy, God of War and FIFA multiplayer for a entire year.

Friend 2
He plays around 5 games a year which are usually games that are bought in sales. £5-£10. He never buys a game day 1 ever. Probably spends max £40 a year on games.

Nephew
This kid only plays Fortnite, luckily it's F2P so he doesn't even pay for PSN Plus.

Myself
I rarely buy games day 1, and the games I do buy day 1 are games that are not available on Gamepass day 1. For example I bought Monster Hunter World which was not available on Gamepass. Because I have a wife and kid, and a full time job it takes me a very long time to finish a game. I buy most games dirt cheap under £10 and play probably around 6 games a year and that's when I'm not playing a multiplayer game. For example when Monster Hunter World came out that year I probably bought 1 other game.

These are just a few examples but Gamepass can have 9000 games and it wouldn't make a difference for many people as they simply don't play that many games. This idea where Microsoft thinks everyone will want Gamepass is not going to happen and Microsofts desperation by upping the Gold price to incencitize people to Gamepass was a terrible idea and the backlash made them do a U turn. I'm sure Microsoft will try another way to try get Gamepass users up but I think it's not working as expected for them and Gamepass isn't going to be the Netflix of gaming as games media cannot be consumed at such a fast rate as watching movies and TV shows.
 

Skifi28

Member
I agree. I can't finish 10 games a month and I have a huge backlog, it wouldn't make sense paying monthly for it. Options are great, but it seem like MS wants to force it down everyone's throat in the long run and this was the first large attempt. I'd like to say they learned their lesson, but I fear they'll just try to put a pretty ribbon on it next time. If the value is there people will come, just take it easy.
 
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Genx3

Member
I agree. I can't finish 10 games a month and I have a huge backlog, it wouldn't make sense paying monthly for it. Options are great, but it seem like MS wants to force it down everyone's throat in the long run and this was the first large attempt. I'd like to say they learned their lesson, but I fear they'll just try to put a pretty ribbon on it next time.
Nah, you can still buy games the normal way. Sure MS would Love for everyone to subscribe to GP but they are not removing the option to play the same old way as before.
MS learned back in 2013 that they should not force anti-consumer strategies that is why they did a quick 180 degree turn on this one.
 

Papacheeks

Banned
Game pass is for everyone but some people just don't know it yet...

I use to have it, it is totally not for everyone. It depends on how you consume your content. I dont have tons of time to play games anymore like I use to because of my job. So I have 1 or 2 online games I play on PC with my friends, and then play once in a blue moon a big PC game like cyberpunk, but for anything else like doom eternal. I wait for it to go on sale. I play my playstation only when there are games that interest me.
 

Skifi28

Member
Nah, you can still buy games the normal way. Sure MS would Love for everyone to subscribe to GP but they are not removing the option to play the same old way as before.
MS learned back in 2013 that they should not force anti-consumer strategies that is why they did a quick 180 degree turn on this one.

Learning would imply not attempting something completely stupid that screams "don't do it" from 15 miles away again. Who are the people that sat down and said: "this is a good idea, let's do it" ? I'm not sure they learned anything this time either. We'll know in the next few months.
 
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You mention they were going to raise the price of Gold, but everyone knows that was cancelled, right? Gold's price is not changing.

I am pretty sure MS is pretty happy with their Game Pass subscriptions, which continue to grow. Game Pass undoubtedly offers a tremendous value for those who find enjoyment in the titles offered. You're right that it might not be for everyone, but it sure as hell is for a lot of gamers.

Game Pass is already the Netflix of gaming.

In your examples:

Friend 1 who plays Fifa, friend 3 who plays Fortnite, of course Game Pass isn't for them. If you own a console to literally play one game or one series, that's on you.

Friend 2, however, is exactly the person Game Pass is for. Games he waits for sale for will be available on Game Pass faster than when those sales would pop up, and a wider selection of them. I would almost guarantee that this person would save more money and get more enjoyment from using Game Pass than his current method. Assuming this person actually exists, that is. I think you are just creating hypotheticals that you think fit your narrative.

I frequent a decent number of gaming communities and I have to say that I don't see more concentrated efforts to undermine the value of Game Pass more than I see on this site. it is really kinda weird.
 
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Samuel L Jackson What GIF by Coming to America
 

KAL2006

Banned
Gamepass isn't for everyone just like streaming (Netflix, Disney, HBO, etc) isn't for everyone...

Exactly however I'd argue streaming TV shows and movies are much more appealing and hut a wider market than Gamepass. First of all a wider range of people watch TV shows, movies and documentaries than people who play games. For example I know my wife doesnt game but she does watch the occasional movie and TV show. Secondly TV shows, movies and documentaries are much more easier to consume than playing video games. It's passive entertainment, if you had a long day and tired you simply just watch something, yes same can be said for games however after a long exhausting day passive entertainment is much more easier than interactive media. Finally the time it takes to go through content. Like I have said in my OP, a single game can last many hours. For example Monster Hunter World I've out in hours and same can be said about many multiplayer games. Then singleplayer games are around 6 hours for a short linear game and around 40 hours for a game like Assassin's Creed. Where as a TV show 1 episode is up to an hour long. And a entire season for a show can be around 10 hours. A movie is around an hour and a half. Let's make a comparison, I've watched Mandalorian Season 2, The Boys Season 2, Wandavision 3 episodes, around 20 movies, 5 documentaries and etc all within a year while I probably played 5 games in a year. This shows that movies, TV shows, and documentaries are my h quicker and easier to consume so I make use of my Netflix account. Where as a Gamepass account id barely touch that much content simply because games take a long time to finish.
 

quazy

Neo Member
Certainly, GP is not for everyone, but you also underestimate its value, especially to the casual gamers.
There's always the uncertainty e.g. why your friend only buys/plays 3-5 games a year. Maybe they don't like to spend 50-70$ on a game they may only play for 5-10 hours. There's always the risk that you don't like it and this feels just bad.
Especially friend 1 would be a target for GPU. He needs Gold? Perfect, it's included in GPU. He likes to play about 2 or 3 other single player games, ? Perfect, TES6 or Starfield (or many other) are waiting. Costs would be almost the same, but now he can explore much more games.
Your nephew might also enjoy more games, but it's always hard to ask parents to spend 70$ on a game, whereas a smaller fee each month might be more convincing, especially if dad also wants to play from time to time.
You and friend 2 however are certainly not the target.
 

vpance

Member
It’s not for everyone, but at the same time they need “everyone” to want it, like a Netflix. They want to use the same model so it can perpetually support itself while they continue to dump money into it to draw more people in. But it won’t work.
 

KAL2006

Banned
They aren't forcing it on anyone. Just like how Netflix isn't forcing their service on you.

They kind of tried and if ut wasn't for the backlash it would have happened. Gold being double the price was obviously an attempt to force people into Gamepass if you don't think that then you literally have no idea. I wonder what Microsoft will try next to force people into Gamepass as their doubling of Gold price didn't work out for them.
 

Kev Kev

Member
If you don’t want the service then don’t buy it, and shut the fuck up. Man, politics with their hate boner for anything Democrat, and gaming side with your pathetic console warriors is becoming near insufferable lately.

Just gotta try and stick with my off topic and community homies I guess...
 

Hudo

Member
Hey man. If that Gamepass shit helps financing projects like Age of Empires IV, they can con as many people into Gamepass as they want.
 
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KAL2006

Banned
If you don’t want the service then don’t buy it, and shut the fuck up. Man, politics with their hate boner for anything Democrat, and gaming side with your pathetic console warriors is becoming near insufferable lately.

Just gotta try and stick with my off topic and community homies I guess...

This is a gaming discussion forum where people post about what they like and what they don't like. Microsoft trying to bump Gold price to incencitize Gamepass I thought that is worth a discussion. Some of you posters really get butthurt over criticism of a company. If you do not like to discuss something what I usually do is don't post in thee thread about said discussion but I guess that must be very hard to not do. Perhaps it's a mental issue you have?
 
OP is right.

I have GamePass as a convenience but I've only downloaded a handful of games from it over the last 3 years. Same goes for PS Plus.

Once Microsoft (and Sony??) start releasing more first party games directly to their respective services then I can see myself using it more (Medium, Halo etc)
 

JackMcGunns

Member
They kind of tried and if ut wasn't for the backlash it would have happened. Gold being double the price was obviously an attempt to force people into Gamepass if you don't think that then you literally have no idea. I wonder what Microsoft will try next to force people into Gamepass as their doubling of Gold price didn't work out for them.


So before the backlash it was mandatory and all production of disc and digital options disappear? can you elaborate how they made it "mandatory"

Seeing how existing members weren't affected, clearly this was done to avoid the massive amount of gamers starting a New Xbox Live Gold for 3 years and switching to Ultimate for the $1 deal.
 
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If you don’t want ____________ then don’t buy it, and shut the fuck up. Man, _______ with their hate boner for anything __________, and _________ side with your pathetic ____________ is becoming near insufferable lately.

Just gotta try and stick with my __________ community homies I guess...

That's it folks. Mad libs every thread on GAF into this template and shut down the forums! There's no reason to be here at all!

Sidenote: I too do not get the democratic hate boner.
 
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KAL2006

Banned
To tell you how shit your thread is

Wow what a strange reason to post in a thread and simply not ignore perhaps you have some mental issues that you need to go into threads and say how shit a thread in. I've seen a ton of shit threads but guess what I do not post in them. But I guess mental issues can cause these reactions so I'll let you post about this being a shit thread whatever helps you cope my friend.
 

Caffeine

Member
gamepass really is their platform thats why they are pushing toward it in preperation for the future xcloud. xbox right now is only an avenue to gamepass.
 
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Bryank75

Banned
Unfortunately this whole thing is going to end in disaster.

Raising the price of Gold was to push people to buy Ultimate (People that are already on Xbox) and to reach the conversion rate they are targeting.

At this stage it should be much easier to convert, as these customers are Xbox faithful or loyal customers...even through the last 7 years.

Europe is not going to suddenly embrace Xbox or Gamepass, same with the Middle East and Asia, they are very heavily PlayStation and Nintendo.

Churn is going to be a huge issue going forward and I think it is impossible for GamePass to ever reach a sustainable amount of customers. Netflix has over 200 million and is still raising debt to create content, while scraping a profit annually. If their debt was called, they'd be gone.

When Microsoft leadership decides it's not working out, how many of these studios will close? How many IP's will be locked away? How many jobs will be lost? That is my question.
 

MrBaboon

Neo Member
Basically Microsoft are desperate to get everyone on Gamepass so they decided to double Gold price to make everyone think Gamepass is better value than Gold. Instead there was a backlash.

Microsoft doesn't seem to get Gamepass is simply not for everyone. There are gamers out there that play half a dozen games a year. So having access to a ton of games don't really matter for them. There are gamers out there that only play COD, FIFA, Fortnite etc basically games that are not on Gamepass so they don't see the value of Gamepass. Games take a long damn time to play and people don't have the time to play that many games. A game like Monster Hunter I have put over 200 hours in, being subed to Gamepass if I'm only playing Monster Hunter is a waste if money. The Gamepass model isn't comparable to Netflix where you can binge shows, movies and documentaries and finish content in a weekend and make use of your sub where as games where we have a single game that takes 100 hours of your time.

Here are examples of people I know where Gamepass doesn't make sense to them.

Friend 1
He mainly plays FIFA, plays the occasional singleplayer game at most maybe 2 or 3 singleplayer games a year. For example I remember he played Uncharted Lost Legacy, God of War and FIFA multiplayer for a entire year.

Friend 2
He plays around 5 games a year which are usually games that are bought in sales. £5-£10. He never buys a game day 1 ever. Probably spends max £40 a year on games.

Nephew
This kid only plays Fortnite, luckily it's F2P so he doesn't even pay for PSN Plus.

Myself
I rarely buy games day 1, and the games I do buy day 1 are games that are not available on Gamepass day 1. For example I bought Monster Hunter World which was not available on Gamepass. Because I have a wife and kid, and a full time job it takes me a very long time to finish a game. I buy most games dirt cheap under £10 and play probably around 6 games a year and that's when I'm not playing a multiplayer game. For example when Monster Hunter World came out that year I probably bought 1 other game.

These are just a few examples but Gamepass can have 9000 games and it wouldn't make a difference for many people as they simply don't play that many games. This idea where Microsoft thinks everyone will want Gamepass is not going to happen and Microsofts desperation by upping the Gold price to incencitize people to Gamepass was a terrible idea and the backlash made them do a U turn. I'm sure Microsoft will try another way to try get Gamepass users up but I think it's not working as expected for them and Gamepass isn't going to be the Netflix of gaming as games media cannot be consumed at such a fast rate as watching movies and TV shows.
You're totally right, GP isn't for everyone. I actually have a hard time understanding who it's for, I don't (and nobody I know) have the time to play so much. Also, don't forget the backlogs of games that most of us already own. I my self must have near to 700 plus games across multiple platforms and generations (PC, xbox, playstation, Nintendo) that I never have the time to play (maybe when I'm retired). I myself don't see the need for GP.
 

KAL2006

Banned
So before the backlash it was mandatory and all production of disc and digital options disappear? can you elaborate how they made it "mandatory"

Seeing how existing members weren't affected, clearly this was done to avoid the massive amount of gamers starting a New Xbox Live Gold for 3 years and switching to Ultimate for the $1 deal.

It's wasn't literally mandatory however their attempt at doubling Gold price is basically them forcing Gamepass onto consumers who only want Gold as Gamepass is practically the same price as that Gold price they tried to introduce. Let's say I want to only play FIFA online I'd be paying $120 a year, which is basically the same price as Gamepass. Forcing someone doesn't have to mean someone literally pointing a gun to your head and making you but Gamepass. But then trying to bump Gold price as nearly the same price as Gamepass is obviously an attempt to force then and if you can't see that then you are delusional. Even some Microsift insiders gave confirmed this was a way to force Gamepass into their users.
 
I wonder why you decide for your friends right now, but if I take myself as the example I have GPU and I haven't played games for months so...

I frequent a decent number of gaming communities and I have to say that I don't see more concentrated efforts to undermine the value of Game Pass more than I see on this site. it is really kinda weird.
The thing is that attempts to undermine GamePass usually comes from console warriors from Sony's side. So called "concerns". :messenger_tears_of_joy:
 
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Genx3

Member
I've had several months. I got it under the $1 promo. Without a similar promo, I wouldn't renew.

Most of the games fall under the category of games I played years ago or games I don’t care about at all.

Maybe that will change.
Damn you must be out growing gaming because GP's catalogue is loaded.
 
Microsoft doesn't seem to get Gamepass is simply not for everyone. There are gamers out there that play half a dozen games a year. So having access to a ton of games don't really matter for them. There are gamers out there that only play COD, FIFA, Fortnite etc basically games that are not on Gamepass so they don't see the value of Gamepass.
The rise in Gold pricing wasn't to push people to Game Pass. It was to squeeze as much money out of exactly those types of gamers you mentioned. These are people who only play a few games, but spend a large amount of time online doing it. For them, even with the Gold price increase, Game Pass would make zero sense. They'd just be paying extra money for something they'd hardly ever use.

Where MS's plan's hit a brick wall was that the lower price for Gold was already charges more than it was worth considering PC games offer the same functionality without charging a fee. In fact it's getting absurd now since PC players can play with console players in the exact same game and not have to pay while console players do. This price hike backfired because it put a spotlight on Gold's pricing that it cold not stand. MS should have just stayed silent and enjoyed the free money.
 

quazy

Neo Member
I mean I don’t play near ten games a month are we supposed to be doing that?
That's the argument I also don't understand from SonyGaf. Assuming you play multiplay so you have Gold anyway, which costs 60€/year in europe. GPU is 156€/year here, so deducting the 60€ from Gold leads to 96€/year for GP. And this is equivalent to 2-3 games a year, of you always buy on sale. Considering that big titles are coming Day 1 soon from all the new MS Studios, this is a really fair price.
However the push at this time was really stupid, because the next (known) AAA game coming day 1 is more than half a year away.
.
 

Bryank75

Banned
The rise in Gold pricing wasn't to push people to Game Pass. It was to squeeze as much money out of exactly those types of gamers you mentioned. These are people who only play a few games, but spend a large amount of time online doing it. For them, even with the Gold price increase, Game Pass would make zero sense. They'd just be paying extra money for something they'd hardly ever use.

Where MS's plan's hit a brick wall was that the lower price for Gold was already charges more than it was worth considering PC games offer the same functionality without charging a fee. In fact it's getting absurd now since PC players can play with console players in the exact same game and not have to pay while console players do. This price hike backfired because it put a spotlight on Gold's pricing that it cold not stand. MS should have just stayed silent and enjoyed the free money.

The smart people now understand what is waiting for them if Gamepass succeeds.... a lot of price rises.

They can hold everyone hostage if they have everything locked behind one paywall. Just phase out the option to buy games on Xbox and the job is done.
 

skit_data

Member
Nah, you can still buy games the normal way. Sure MS would Love for everyone to subscribe to GP but they are not removing the option to play the same old way as before.
MS learned back in 2013 that they should not force anti-consumer strategies that is why they did a quick 180 degree turn on this one.
1. Their intention was to double the fee of playing multiplayer games less than 48 hours ago. That is not ”the same old way”, thats ”our way or the highway”.
2. This shows how little they actually learned in 2013. It takes half the world of gaming screaming in their face for them to realize it will probably hurt them financially.

Being a succesful company means making right decisions at almost all times, not sometimes or when your customer says ”Fuck your product, change this shit”. Im not sure that is entirely inbraided in Microsofts DNA in the same way many other company has it, due to their sheer size and almost monopoly-like status within the PC market.
 

Genx3

Member
The smart people now understand what is waiting for them if Gamepass succeeds.... a lot of price rises.

They can hold everyone hostage if they have everything locked behind one paywall. Just phase out the option to buy games on Xbox and the job is done.
As long as there is value there it is worth subscribing.

The minute the value is gone you stop subscribing just like you would with Net Flix.
There is no contract here.

You guys make it seem like you're stuck if you subscribe which is simply not true.
 

Nezzeroth

Member
Gamepass is the reason Microsoft allowed Xbox to spend so much money recently. They are all about subscriptions now. As long as Xbox keeps getting people into the service Microsoft will keep pumping money into Xbox.

I understand what you're saying because I feel the same way, I have more games than I can play already, paying a subscription for even more games I won't even own doesn't make sense for someone like me. But in a way, it's good Microsoft wants Gamepass to be successful so badly, because it's allowing Xbox to grow their portfolio (if it wasn't for that, everything would still be Halo, Gears and Forza).
 
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