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[IbizaPocholo]

Xbox Game Pass is fantastic, but don’t forget that you don’t own these games

I love Xbox Game Pass, but a curated gaming future has me worried.

www.vg247.com

I love Xbox Game Pass, but a curated gaming future has me worried.

Xbox Game Pass, and its latest iteration, Game Pass Ultimate, are legitimately great. For a relatively low fee, you get access to an enormous catalogue of games both new and old, including every single first-party Xbox exclusive that has released since Game Pass launche

The fact that this has amounted to only four games so far – Sea of Thieves, State of Decay 2, Forza Horizon 4 and Crackdown 3 – doesn’t take too much of the shine off when you look at the rest of the games available.

During E3, Microsoft threw a lot of new games on there, including amazing titles like Hollow Knight, Metro Exodus, and Superhot, and launched a PC beta. It also announced a huge line up of indie titles heading to the service. As far as subscription services in gaming go, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is easily the best one.

Check the link for more.

 

[zcaa0g]

I use it more for demoing a game that doesn't have a demo which is common these days to see if I want to buy it.

 

[AV]

Fuck me, slow news day or what? Might be the dumbest article I've seen all year.

 

[Quezacolt]

I'm one of those people that could care less about any subscription service for games, I buy most of my games physical anyway, so i can play them whenever i feel like, not worrying about having to keep paying for a service in order to play, nor have to wait for downloads to finish.

 

[nikolino840]

I presume they have made the same article for PS now...
Why ms Is Always Attacked when many others are doing the same things?

 

[Quezacolt]

I presume they have made the same article for PS now...
Why ms Is Always Attacked when many others are doing the same things?

To be fair, i dont think many people even know that PS Now even exists. For a while i even forgot about it, or believed it had ended, while MS promotes gamepass in every ocasion they can.

 

[The Cockatrice]

Thanks I guess but it's not even available in my country.

 

[OmaeWaMouShindiggity]

Game Pass is a great service, and I treat it just as I would Netflix. Lots of content (some good, some great, some eh, some bad) packaged into a nice affordable monthly fee; but I must realize that at any point, content can disappear. So either I get my fill while its on the service or I spend the money to own the content outright.

 

[OmaeWaMouShindiggity]

Game Pass is also great for me as a full time working adult and father, I rarely if ever go back to games I have already beat or had my fill of. At this point in my life, having a constant flow of new experiences (while also buying some games outright every once in a while) fits perfectly within my budget. I used to buy DVDs by the season for my favorite shows, now I stream. I used to buy CD's of my favorite artists music, now I stream. Am I worried about a company being able to take my "license" for something? Yes. But to get that changed we need to put people into political office that has the consumers best interests at heart, so that companies cant hold us by the throat and take stuff back that we have paid for outright on a digital marketplace.

 

[The Shepard]

Alot of games are won and done for me so game pass suits me. I rent games also. Saves me a ton off cash in the long run especially as gamepass only cost a pound for a couple of years with that awesome deal they got on atm.

 

[DanielsM]

I presume they have made the same article for PS now...
Why ms Is Always Attacked when many others are doing the same things?

Are others doing the same thing. Microsoft failed to support Games for Windows Live and failed to improve and compete in the PC digital market place, eventually those users/dev/publishers lost out not only in games but having to rework those games to work without GFWL. So, what do they do next... instead of fixing GFWL they shut it down and start a few new store for no fucking reason. What is the state of the Microsoft Store, shit.

Games for Windows Live
Microsoft Store v1.0 Purchasing model
Microsoft Store v2.0 Subscription model

I actually see nothing wrong with some of the rental subscription models but it would sure be nice if Microsoft actually supported the products they have already sold instead basically mothballing them, that would be a great start. Also, some of their decisions make very little sense, meaning they don't even support their own OSs i.e. Windows 7, 8, or 8.1. As far as junk software, they're the kind, for curiosity sake I tried to install their broke Xbox app on two Win10 computers, guess what? I can't install them. Rinse and repeat with bad software and no testing.

The other thing that's annoying is how everyone says how great it is and Microsoft must be doing well with it, but it doesn't address that Microsoft had to give the service away for a buck. Eventually the prices will have to go up and its about trying to extract more not less, but in the meantime enjoy it now like Netflix.... the problem is Netflix is going to have to go up drastically in prices, eventually.

The way these subscriptions will work is eventually users will be paying more not less as the big publishers will start pulling their products and making their own subscription.... until then though enjoy.

 

[Mista]

No shit? What a stupid article. At least any game that makes it to game pass gets a good discount so here’s the opportunity to buy it. I do that all the time

 

[ResilientBanana]

You also don't own all those free PSN and Xbox Live games.

 

[Mochilador]

You also don't own all those free PSN and Xbox Live games.

You do own the Xbox 360/OG Xbox games.

 

[Spukc]

 

[ResilientBanana]

You do own the Xbox 360/OG Xbox games.

I did not know this. That's awesome if so.

 

[Masatshi]

so with Stadia you pay the abo-service and additionally must buy the game you want for full price, right?

 

[The Scrivener]

I GP

 

[DanielsM]

You also don't own all those free PSN and Xbox Live games.

Xbox Live games given every month are consider purchases meaning when your subscription runs out you can still play the games, PS+ games are linked to your subscription, so when your subscription runs out the ability to play the game runs out, as far as I know.

 

[Jagz]

I tried to install their broke Xbox app on two Win10 computers, guess what? I can't install them.

You need to update Windows to 1903 in order to get the app. If the update's not currently available for you, download the Windows update assistant to force it.

 

[JoeyWestSide]

I don't, that's why I when I downloaded them I intended to play them (unlike other games I keep on my hd). Did that for the tomb raider games and now with hollow knight.

 

[ResilientBanana]

Xbox Live games given every month are consider purchases meaning when your subscription runs out you can still play the games, PS+ games are linked to your subscription, so when your subscription runs out the ability to play the game runs out, as far as I know.

Really? This is even better. I guess I should go pick up an Xbox One again.

 

[HeresJohnny]

People like free shit, but it still doesn't make financial sense for them. Let's take.... me, for example. I bought an Xbox One S in 2016 and since then have bought 14 games at $60. That's $840 in publisher's/developers pockets as a result of my owning the system, ignoring packaging, logistics, and retail cuts. I have averaged 4.67 games a year over those three years. If I'd been on GP, I would've paid, what $10 a month? So that's $120 a year x 3 years. They would have made $360 off me -- less than half than they did with me buying conventionally. Now, I don't know how much it costs to mass burn discs, make blu-ray boxes, ship, or pay retailers, but I know it isn't half.

Now consider that I'm not a huge Xbox One fan and most of my time has been spent on other platforms. Someone like me hurts them far less than, say, someone who has had one the same length of time and owns 60, 70, 80, or even a hundred games. Like I've said before, the fucking math doesn't work. The only reason for them to fuck themselves like this is if they are fucking you with something bigger and harder. Companies don't advocate for making LESS money. It wasn't too long ago that the 360 user base was the darling of its respective generation because it bought games with near-locust like hunger. I don't believe the bullshit that MS can't make money selling games conventionally, because they have before and they can again.

This is all a smokescreen for something else. I'm not savvy enough to say what, but again, companies don't fuck themselves unless they're getting something out of it. Nothing is free. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar.

EDIT: I'd be interested in hearing examples from all of you on what Microsoft would've made with their service vs. conventional distribution.

 

[DanielsM]

You need to update Windows to 1903 in order to get the app. If the update's not currently available for you, download the Windows update assistant to force it.

Yet all my computers are up to date. Why does a person need Windows 10 anyway?

Basically rinse and repeat.

 

[Kokonoe]

It's fine. It's pretty much modern Blockbuster.

 

[Bonfires Down]

”Renting is fantastic, but don’t forget that you don’t own your apartment”

Um, no shit.

Edit: I actually read the article and there are some good points. However, cinema does not seem to have been particularly hurt by subscription services, though album sales certainly have been.

 

[Iced Arcade]

what a dumb fucking article.

 

[Dibils2k]

Xbox Live games given every month are consider purchases meaning when your subscription runs out you can still play the games, PS+ games are linked to your subscription, so when your subscription runs out the ability to play the game runs out, as far as I know.

no, they changed this pretty early on for Xbox One, xbox gold games work exactly same as PS Plus now. I know during x360 era the games you got were forever but not anymore

correct me if i am wrong

 

[MickeyPhree]

I feel dumber reading that.

 

[DanielsM]

no, they changed this pretty early on for Xbox One, xbox gold games work exactly same as PS Plus now. I know during x360 era the games you got were forever but not anymore

correct me if i am wrong

I no longer have XBLG (expired end of January) and all my games work from the service that I obtained from XBLG.

 

[888]

Can I get a reminder that I don’t own any movies on Netflix?

 

[MickeyPhree]

Xbox Live games given every month are consider purchases meaning when your subscription runs out you can still play the games, PS+ games are linked to your subscription, so when your subscription runs out the ability to play the game runs out, as far as I know.

That is not true. Xbox one releases require a current Xbox live subscription. Xbox360 and OH titles are free even if you let your subscription run out.

 

[DanielsM]

That is not true. Xbox one releases require a current Xbox live subscription. Xbox360 and OH titles are free even if you let your subscription run out.

Gotacha. Yeah, I don't have a Xbox One, so I might be incorrect on that.

 

[Lone Wolf]

People like free shit, but it still doesn't make financial sense for them. Let's take.... me, for example. I bought an Xbox One S in 2016 and since then have bought 14 games at $60. That's $840 in publisher's/developers pockets as a result of my owning the system, ignoring packaging, logistics, and retail cuts. I have averaged 4.67 games a year over those three years. If I'd been on GP, I would've paid, what $10 a month? So that's $120 a year x 3 years. They would have made $360 off me -- less than half than they did with me buying conventionally. Now, I don't know how much it costs to mass burn discs, make blu-ray boxes, ship, or pay retailers, but I know it isn't half.

Now consider that I'm not a huge Xbox One fan and most of my time has been spent on other platforms. Someone like me hurts them far less than, say, someone who has had one the same length of time and owns 60, 70, 80, or even a hundred games. Like I've said before, the fucking math doesn't work. The only reason for them to fuck themselves like this is if they are fucking you with something bigger and harder. Companies don't advocate for making LESS money. It wasn't too long ago that the 360 user base was the darling of its respective generation because it bought games with near-locust like hunger. I don't believe the bullshit that MS can't make money selling games conventionally, because they have before and they can again.

This is all a smokescreen for something else. I'm not savvy enough to say what, but again, companies don't fuck themselves unless they're getting something out of it. Nothing is free. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar.

EDIT: I'd be interested in hearing examples from all of you on what Microsoft would've made with their service vs. conventional distribution.

I am sure people are buying games at a discount before the game gets delisted from gamepass, or the sub runs out. DLC is typically not included so some probably buy that while being subbed. Its also a great way to get the consumer to stick to your ecosystem, small monthly payments over the long term. Phil Spencer also said that after gamepass was launched they saw game sales go up.

 

[MickeyPhree]

From the official games with gold FAQ just so there is no confusion...

 

[Mista]

You also don't own all those free PSN and Xbox Live games.

Yes you do

 

[Panaphonics]

You NEVER own the game. Even if you buy a physical copy - you do not own the game.

 

[lock2k]

I thought it was a great article.

As much as I love the convenient nature of streaming services, this finite nature bothers me a lot since I replay a lot of old games and I like to have them whenever I want.

 

[Shai-Tan]

I had already bought Metro, Tomb Raider, etc anyway so it's more $5.99 to try out a grab bag of games I would have never bought. I wouldn't call it a Netflix of games yet but they did do a decent job filling out the library. The cost of the service on PC seems low enough to make it worth keeping. Maybe I'll feel differently if I exhaust all the interesting games before they update the library but for now it seems varied enough unlike the EA service I was critical of in the past. I'm coming around the the game subscription if it actually offers value.

When EA announced Origin Access I was very critical of it because it was like 10+ dollars a month to play like 2 games you might be interested in unless you've been living under a rock and didn't play any of their old games, or really like playing every sports game. Origin Basic is to me still weak as it's filled out with games that have been given away on other services like Twitch, PS+ etc but they at least put Battlefield V on it recently.

 

[DanielsM]

You NEVER own the game. Even if you buy a physical copy - you do not own the game.

Yes you do, you own the ability to play one copy of the game, as a generalized statement. You don't own the intellectual property, you do own the physical disc and have the ability to play the game.

 

[Nikana]

People like free shit, but it still doesn't make financial sense for them. Let's take.... me, for example. I bought an Xbox One S in 2016 and since then have bought 14 games at $60. That's $840 in publisher's/developers pockets as a result of my owning the system, ignoring packaging, logistics, and retail cuts. I have averaged 4.67 games a year over those three years. If I'd been on GP, I would've paid, what $10 a month? So that's $120 a year x 3 years. They would have made $360 off me -- less than half than they did with me buying conventionally. Now, I don't know how much it costs to mass burn discs, make blu-ray boxes, ship, or pay retailers, but I know it isn't half.

Now consider that I'm not a huge Xbox One fan and most of my time has been spent on other platforms. Someone like me hurts them far less than, say, someone who has had one the same length of time and owns 60, 70, 80, or even a hundred games. Like I've said before, the fucking math doesn't work. The only reason for them to fuck themselves like this is if they are fucking you with something bigger and harder. Companies don't advocate for making LESS money. It wasn't too long ago that the 360 user base was the darling of its respective generation because it bought games with near-locust like hunger. I don't believe the bullshit that MS can't make money selling games conventionally, because they have before and they can again.

This is all a smokescreen for something else. I'm not savvy enough to say what, but again, companies don't fuck themselves unless they're getting something out of it. Nothing is free. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar.

EDIT: I'd be interested in hearing examples from all of you on what Microsoft would've made with their service vs. conventional distribution.

You aren't the target audience.

 

[Caffeine]

I kinda like when the discount stacks with a sale. I just wish 360 games and xbox og games also got a discount.

 

[ResilientBanana]

Yes you do

Nope MickeyPhree just cleared that up. You lose access if you don't have a subscription to PSN or Xbox Live.


PSN

How to cancel PlayStation Plus

Learn how to cancel your subscription and what happens to your PlayStation®Plus benefits when you cancel and re-subscribe to PlayStation Plus.

www.playstation.com

Once your PlayStation Plus membership ends, content you previously downloaded at no cost as part of the membership (such as Plus Monthly Games) will no longer be available. However, free avatars and content you purchased at a discounted PlayStation Plus price is yours to keep.

Xbox Live

Games with Gold FAQ | Download Free Xbox Games

Games with Gold is an Xbox program that offers free Xbox games to Xbox Live Gold members.

support.xbox.com

What happens to my Games with Gold games if I cancel my Xbox Live Gold or Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription?

On Xbox One, you’ll no longer be able to access your Games with Gold titles if you cancel your subscription. However, if you decide to renew your subscription at any time, you’ll be able to access and play your previously redeemed Games with Gold titles again.

On Xbox 360, any Games with Gold titles that you redeem as an Xbox Live Gold or Xbox Game Pass Ultimate member are yours to keep, regardless of whether you continue your subscription.

 

[lock2k]

You NEVER own the game. Even if you buy a physical copy - you do not own the game.

If you can boot anytime you want, you own it. Just like you own a record if you can play it in your stereo.

We are not (nor were we ever) discussing intellectual property rights, just ownership of the copy. This is a dead horse argument.

 

[Birdo]

Game pass is for people who just like to play the latest games and move on.

If you are into collecting and replaying games a lot, then it's not for you.

 

[Saruhashi]

This is all a smokescreen for something else. I'm not savvy enough to say what, but again, companies don't fuck themselves unless they're getting something out of it. Nothing is free. Anyone who says otherwise is a liar.

My guess would be that there are a couple of factors at play.

Microsoft probably knows what the average spend on games per console would be.
I'm guessing that this would be small for the majority of console owners. I've known dudes who own a console and FIFA and that's all.

So if you can sell a subscription to those folks for a tenner a month that will allow them to "dabble" in other games as and when they feel like it then that's 120 bucks a year so it's like 2 extra games. There's 40+ million Xbox One consoles out there but who knows how many of them are used by people with big game libraries.

Second factor would be that MS probably has contracts and deals with the 3rd party games on the service. Might be those deals are beneficial for both parties in some way that we are not aware of. Maybe MS pays them a fee for putting their game on the service but MS also takes a bigger profit from that. So it might be that a publisher sees no downside to adding their game to the service (yet) and so they do.

The third thing could be that it's a long term strategy. One of the things you'll see often on gaming forums is people who have massive backlogs of games that they will probably never be able to complete. As many games seem to just get bigger and bigger we could see a "tipping point" where people stop buying so many games because they get tied up in one game. No point in buying the next Assassin's Creed AND Watchdogs AND CyberPunk AND a new GTA etc if you will never play them all because each one is like a 1,000 hour game.

They will have people they employ to make predictions etc and if it is reckoned that in the future people will buy less games because they complete less games then offering a subscription that allows the player to try a bit of this and a bit of that makes sense.

Plus they will FOR SURE jack up the price as the years go by.
Maybe you will also have a situation where games come and go from the service which will encourage users to outright buy their favorite games anyway.

I will admit that buying just a console and a monthly subscription service does appeal to me for next gen.

Yeah, I might not own the games but 120 bucks a year on a choice of games I can play as little or as much as I like is maybe a better prospect than 720 bucks per year (one 60 buck game per month) on games that I might not actually play all that much.

 

[Bogroll]

Are others doing the same thing. Microsoft failed to support Games for Windows Live and failed to improve and compete in the PC digital market place, eventually those users/dev/publishers lost out not only in games but having to rework those games to work without GFWL. So, what do they do next... instead of fixing GFWL they shut it down and start a few new store for no fucking reason. What is the state of the Microsoft Store, shit.

Games for Windows Live
Microsoft Store v1.0 Purchasing model
Microsoft Store v2.0 Subscription model

I actually see nothing wrong with some of the rental subscription models but it would sure be nice if Microsoft actually supported the products they have already sold instead basically mothballing them, that would be a great start. Also, some of their decisions make very little sense, meaning they don't even support their own OSs i.e. Windows 7, 8, or 8.1. As far as junk software, they're the kind, for curiosity sake I tried to install their broke Xbox app on two Win10 computers, guess what? I can't install them. Rinse and repeat with bad software and no testing.

The other thing that's annoying is how everyone says how great it is and Microsoft must be doing well with it, but it doesn't address that Microsoft had to give the service away for a buck. Eventually the prices will have to go up and its about trying to extract more not less, but in the meantime enjoy it now like Netflix.... the problem is Netflix is going to have to go up drastically in prices, eventually.

The way these subscriptions will work is eventually users will be paying more not less as the big publishers will start pulling their products and making their own subscription.... until then though enjoy.

Don't forget your 30 year old phone they don't support anymore.

 

[AgentP]

I use it more for demoing a game that doesn't have a demo which is common these days to see if I want to buy it.

I use it to find out how much I saved not buying said games.

 

[sublimit]

Everybody can fuck off with their subscriptions.This shit is getting ridiculous and it will only get worse as long as we consumers are idiots enough to let these Trojan Horses (AKA subscriptions) filled with greedy executives (pretending to be our gamer friends lol) get into our wallets and in our credit cards.

Personally i don't care to rent a million games or movies when a company allows me to do so or and have the "right" to play them when a company for whatever period of time a company allows me to play. I also don't care to play a ton of mediocre shit just because they are "free".

I like to buy MY games when I want to buy them,play them when I want to play them and resell them , put them in my shelves or in the trash bin whenever the fuck I want to.

 

[Jagz]

Yet all my computers are up to date. Why does a person need Windows 10 anyway?

Basically rinse and repeat.

You sure you have 1903? Click run > type 'winver', to check which version you have.