I wonder if all these subscription services will be the end of backlog angst. Now you subscribe to your backlog!
Damn, where’s that like button!
Damn. I already own all of the games they have on these passes. That’s sad.
Even at ~$55/year, I’m not biting on this. I don’t want to subscribe to my games, I want to own them.
MS has no properties I need to subscribe yearly for. EA at least has the sports games but NHL and FIFA are the only ones of passing interest to me. Battlefield was a 1-2 year refresh but everything past 4 has sucked. Non-EA additions like Darksiders 3 and Mutant Year Zero were a pleasant surprise for me. I keep hoping they’ll make another PC NHL.
Also, fuck Anthem.
Personally, I don’t absolutely need to own every single game in the world.
I’m always interested in being able to choose from a library of 200+ I can try at no cost though. The games I really like, I can always buy to own at some point. And I still get to play all the other ones.
Much more efficient and gives me a ton of gaming options.
You don’t really own your games on steam, it’s just a safer subscription service as they don’t cycle games out.
Steam is not a subscription at all. They’re permanent licenses, which is close enough for me.
Well, non-TellTale Minecraft games at least.
Yeah there’s a significant number of games I’m happy to sample, maybe play through to completion once, and never revisit. I have no problem “borrowing” those games temporarily.
Side topic; a few years back I was very bummed about the death of the demo. I loved in the Xbox Arcade days when you could trynjust about anything out before you put money down. Stuff like Game Pass definitely takes some of the sting out.
Well said. Same with books, there are some I absolutely want to keep on my shelves, but for many I am fine just borrowing them from the public library.
I hardly ever replay a game besides stuff like a Civ game so these subscription services are great for me.
Game Pass has been great for what I consider edge cases. I probably wouldn’t have risked the $30 on Void Bastards or the $60 on Sea of Thieves due to uncertainty about how much I would enjoy them and the mutterings of mixed reception here at release. Game Pass gave me a low-risk method of trying both games at release where I fell in love with them and realized I vigorously disagreed with the negative reactions.
I have since purchased Sea of Thieves and will likely pick up Void Bastards too (among other titles the service let me try).
Yeah, I have always hated bullet hell shooters. But Game Pass actually let me try Skyforce Reloaded and Skyforce Anniversary, which totally ease you into the genre. And now, I love that genre. I haven’t tried other stuff in that genre yet, but once I get done with these two, I’ll dip my toes in. Btw, I ended up buying the games, even though I had access through Game Pass. They were keepers.
Agreed. Getting to try stuff you aren’t sure you will like is why I signed up. And I bounce off games so often, it makes a ton of sense for me.
There is a part of me who wants to OWN the games, but if I’m honest with myself, and drop the sentimentalist and the obsession of ‘owning’ things, the reality is, since the advent of the digital age of gaming, with more and more number of games released and cheaper prices, I replay games much less than before, so not owning a game and not being able to replay it in 7 or 8 years isn’t honestly that much of a problem.
I don’t see how this doesn’t become a disaster for developers. They were unhappy with their odds on Steam, but let’s see how they deal with being forced to be on subscription services and getting pennies per game. Much like Spotify, there won’t be much of a choice. Once you set the precedent of a price point, it becomes an anchor, and consumers will expect it. Much like bundles did before, I expect this to cannibalize sales in a big way.
Steam subscriptions incoming!
You are making many assumptions with the “pennies per game” wording. Most public announcements by MS has said that Game Pass players have bought more games and DLC than they expected outside of game pass.