PC Game Pass discussion....Easily the best deal in gaming...

[ZedClampet]

PC Game Pass (formerly Xbox Game Pass for PC) is just an incredible bargain for $9.99/mo. Sure, there are some technical problems with it from time to time, but the selection of games is phenomenal.

You get all the traditional big Xbox games, like the Halo series, Forza, Flight Simulator, etc. Now you are getting all the Bethesda family of games and EA games, as well (depending on which sub you take, you either get all the EA games or just all but the most recent ones). Activision/Blizzard games I assume will be here soon. I can't even remember all the companies Microsoft owns now, but games like Wasteland 3 are there, too.

But what's remarkable is how many other games that aren't owned by Microsoft are on there. You have several of the excellent Yakuza games, Serious Sam 4, Outer Wilds, Danganronpa (the first one), Nobody Saves the World (currently a best seller on Steam), Ark Survival Evolved, Football Manager 22, Outriders, Craftopia, Solasta, No Man's Sky....and just a ton more, most of which you have heard of. I was intending to type out the most popular or famous games, but the list goes on and on. The Outer Worlds, Crusader Kings 3, Age of Empires 4, Greedfall, Conan Exiles...(help, I can't stop...)

On multiple occasions, I've seen a game release on Steam or read an article about it on PC Gamer, thought about buying it, and then found out that it was Game Pass, so I got to try it out without paying anything extra.

For someone who plays a lot of different types of games and many different games over the course of a month, Game Pass is like a dream come true.

 

[Brian Boru]

No argument there. If you would buy any 2 of the games at release in a year, Game Pass breaks even for you—and then you get 100+ 'freebies' thrown in.

There are at least 4 in the ones you listed that I'd play.

 

[ZedClampet]

No argument there. If you would buy any 2 of the games at release in a year, Game Pass breaks even for you—and then you get 100+ 'freebies' thrown in.

There are at least 4 in the ones you listed that I'd play.

Another cool thing is that you can go outside of your comfort zone and give a game a try that you wouldn't normally buy. It just costs a little of your time, but I find that even playing games I decide aren't really for me is pretty fun. I thought about that when I realized Remnant: From the Ashes was on there (if you remember me picking on you about that game not too long ago).

 

[WoodenSaucer]

No argument there. If you would buy any 2 of the games at release in a year, Game Pass breaks even for you—and then you get 100+ 'freebies' thrown in.

There are at least 4 in the ones you listed that I'd play.

My only problem is that I don't know if I play enough games to more than break even. My gameplaying goes pretty slowly.

 

[DXCHASE]

The only downside i see people bringing up is that you dont "keep the games", like thats somehow a better decision, to spend 60 up front for a game you are most likely not going to finish.

Even if you dont play a lot, after MS recent acquisition there are going to be so many AAA games/new releases coming to it that it would be worth spending 10 bucks to sample a whole bunch of the hottest games.

This would be a deal even at 20 imho. Its also something you can turn off if you really feel like you wont use it that month.

I sound like a MS shrill right now lol but, its just been a great service for me. It comes in handy being able to have my subscription on my sons and wifes computer so they can play on their own MS accounts, but using my PC gamepass.

My only hope is that Sony would get on MS level with this one, well see in a couple of years with these sony exclusives just starting to come over.

 

[ZedClampet]

The only downside i see people bringing up is that you dont "keep the games", like thats somehow a better decision, to spend 60 up front for a game you are most likely not going to finish.

Even if you dont play a lot, after MS recent acquisition there are going to be so many AAA games/new releases coming to it that it would be worth spending 10 bucks to sample a whole bunch of the hottest games.

This would be a deal even at 20 imho. Its also something you can turn off if you really feel like you wont use it that month.

I sound like a MS shrill right now lol but, its just been a great service for me. It comes in handy being able to have my subscription on my sons and wifes computer so they can play on their own MS accounts, but using my PC gamepass.

My only hope is that Sony would get on MS level with this one, well see in a couple of years with these sony exclusives just starting to come over.

There was an article yesterday about Sony creating its own game pass, but I didn't get around to reading it. I suspect they wouldn't create a PC version, but you never know.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

I wonder if MS will raise the price since they acquired Activision.

 

[Zloth]

No argument there. If you would buy any 2 of the games at release in a year, Game Pass breaks even for you...

IF you pay $60 for them instead of getting them on sale.

It does look like a good deal, though I didn't see many that I would want (Solista, some Yakuza games, and I might play around in Edith Finch). I did see plenty that I already have.

 

[ZedClampet]

I wonder if MS will raise the price since they acquired Activision.

I doubt it. You never know. They might go to $15 a month, but they seem to be in customer acquisition mode, which usually means low prices for the foreseeable future. Once they get everyone signed up, they can start raising the price annually like Netflix does.

I'm kind of under the impression, based on an article I barely remember from PCG, that it isn't making money right now. Kind of like the Epic store plan, they are just kind of throwing wads of money into it to build up the customer base. Eventually, though, they'll want to make a few bucks. Then all pricing bets are off.

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Is it still $1 for the first 3 months?

Its brilliant for trying out smaller/shorter games that you might not have got otherwise. Most longer games I've tried on there and liked I've bought outright elsewhere.

Its only base games I think, if you want DLC's youll have to buy them on top from the store and they cant be used outside of Gamepass afaik. Relevant to strategy games.

No complaints though, I'm not subbed at the moment because I have other stuff to play, but if I see a couple of games on there I want to try and I have time for them its really easy to sub and unsub from the app and its only a tenner.

 

[Brian Boru]

it would be worth spending 10 bucks to sample a whole bunch of the hottest games

Indeed. I play far fewer games than many of you, and those I like, I want to own for replay after buying them cheaply in a sale after a year or two.

So it could be worth it to check in every year or two for a month and test the few that might be of interest.

they seem to be in customer acquisition mode

Yep, they know mainstream gaming is going to be all cloud soon, and that they won't be the only big player, so gaining membership asap is crucial.

it isn't making money right now

It's making buckets of money already—seen in various biz articles recently.

MS have been stingy with consumer pricing. Windows has become better value in the last 5 years, as has 365 in the decade I've had it, so they may hold the Game Pass price steady, especially as it's making them so much money as is.

 

[Withywarlock]

Seeing as I haven't cared for a long time about the long-term health of the industry, preservation, and knowing to whom or where my money's going, yeah, Game Pass is a fantastic offering. I reckon it'll be my only source of games barring Final Fantasy XIV because I'm gradually moving towards tabletop gaming as my sole hobby. Snark aside, it's very competitive to Steam and its third party sellers such as Humble, Green Man Gaming, and Fanatical.

Upon closer inspection it's interesting to note that it's very much akin to the Xbox One's original goal: to have total control. No used games market, only one user per disc, always online requirements, except now one has to pay a monthly fee instead of full price for the games you don't own and can be revoked at any time. I suppose if that means MS gets all the money that's better than the used market getting it. Add into that the idea of being banned across all gaming platforms for infractures, imagined or otherwise, and images of the Kinect 2.0 come to mind.

In the meantime, what I don't like is Microsoft's bizarre monetisation model with their acquired studios, such as Ninja Theory's Bleeding Edge, which was likely supposed to be a passive income generator, or Halo Infinite's store (but hey, at least that's free to play. For the time being) and how it's only likely to get better in their favour. But they've had years to learn; surely the person who came up with Game Pass isn't the same one who decided to put an even more cack version of Anthem's store into their prime IP?

I'm rambling. It's good for the time being but there's a lot of lessons to be learned from World of Warcraft and its towering success as a subscription MMO. Fingers crossed Microsoft meet their match, and preferably with the overwhelming favour that Final Fantasy XIV was and not something as dreadful as Disney.

 

[ZedClampet]

It's making buckets of money already—seen in various biz articles recently.

Yeah, it's not making money. Just looked it up. Most recent articles I could find. Microsoft won't give a straight answer, but no one thinks it's actually profitable right now.

 

[Pifanjr]

I can't find a straight answer on whether you are allowed to share a game pass with family. I've found some reddit threads saying you can, but nothing official from Microsoft indicating whether this is allowed or if it's a loophole that will be closed.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

I can't find a straight answer on whether you are allowed to share a game pass with family. I've found some reddit threads saying you can, but nothing official from Microsoft indicating whether this is allowed or if it's a loophole that will be closed.

No you can't. That's exactly what I was about to post before I read your post. The worst thing about Gamepass is that they don't have any family plans. Every single person has to have their own plan.

 

[ZedClampet]

I can't find a straight answer on whether you are allowed to share a game pass with family. I've found some reddit threads saying you can, but nothing official from Microsoft indicating whether this is allowed or if it's a loophole that will be closed.

So the current work-around is apparently what I've quoted below. Whether they'll let that happen forever, no one knows. I do know that on Xbox you can set a family account that all your children can play Game Pass on, so there is precedent for Microsoft officially allowing family accounts.

Open the Microsoft Store, select the profile icon on the top right, and sign in with the Microsoft account that owns the Game Pass subscription.

Open the Xbox App, select the profile icon on the top right, and sign in with the account of your family member with which you want to share the Game Pass subscription.
The app will notify you that “Your Microsoft Store account is different from your Xbox account”, but you can just ignore the message and press the X on the top right. It does not cause any issue.
Now you can freely download any game included in the subscription.

• After downloading the games, you can switch back the Microsoft Store account, as it is not required to play them.
• Note that you will have to switch Microsoft Store accounts every time your family member needs to download a new game.

I didn't even know this was possible. I've just been paying for two separate accounts for me and my son.

 

[Brian Boru]

it's not making money

Interesting—let's compare sources and get to the bottom of this:

Business Insider
"it's clear that Game Pass is a highly lucrative revenue stream for Microsoft"

Microsoft won't give a straight answer

Windows Central
"I know there's a lot of people that like to write, We're burning cash right now for some future pot of gold at the end. No. Game Pass is very, very sustainable right now as it sits and it continues to grow."—Phil Spencer

no one thinks it's actually profitable right now

"No one" is too strong:

Forbes
"There’s some debate about whether Microsoft’s Game Pass is profitable or not"

 

[mainer]

It's not for me as my gaming preferences are a bit narrow compared to most of you, but it does sound like a great deal for those who want to sample or play a lot of different games. My focus is mainly in the RPG genre, and many of those games I like to mod, so I like to actually "own" the game so I can mod it, or change mods/mod load order when I want for a different playthrough. For myself Game Pass isn't really viable.

I'm wondering, now that Microsoft has acquired Activision/Blizzard, how will this affect Battle.net? Will Microsoft incorporate that somehow into the Game Pass, or will they let it exist as it is, for only those Activision/Blizzard games?

 

[McStabStab]

Hey, might be a dumb question, but do any of you play using a controller with gamepass? What's the experience like?

The reason I ask is that I use my Steam Controller for games that I don't want to use KB&M for, but understand that if I'm playing games through gamepass it likely won't be as compatible/customizable.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

It's not for me as my gaming preferences are a bit narrow compared to most of you,

Yeah, that's my thing, too. I wonder how many games they have that I would want to play, and also how many games I want to play that they won't have. I think it would help if Bethesda's games come out on it. If they end up acquiring Ubisoft and Square Enix, then I'm in! Lol

 

[ZedClampet]

Interesting—let's compare sources and get to the bottom of this:

Business Insider
"it's clear that Game Pass is a highly lucrative revenue stream for Microsoft"



Windows Central
"I know there's a lot of people that like to write, We're burning cash right now for some future pot of gold at the end. No. Game Pass is very, very sustainable right now as it sits and it continues to grow."—Phil Spencer


"No one" is too strong:

Forbes
"There’s some debate about whether Microsoft’s Game Pass is profitable or not"

Your sources don't say what you think they say. Microsoft is talking in circles about this because they want their outlays to remain secret. Also, journalists often have a hard time dissecting business speak.

But here is why Spencer can be so coy, Game Pass actually does kind of make money because their subscribers spend 50 percent more in the Xbox and Windows stores than non-subscribers. That's a ridiculous sum of money, and if you attribute it to those players being Game Pass members, as they do (because they consider it cross-selling), then of course it's making money now. In fact, looked at that way, most of Xbox's money is probably coming from Game Pass. This is a very common way of looking at how programs impact sales.

But to your sources, Business Insider doesn't say anything about Game Pass turning a profit. It simply adds up how much money is coming in from subs and immediately says it's lucrative. It's a dumb statement that should have been edited out. It doesn't consider what is being spent at all. We would all agree that lots of money is coming in. But as nearly every business expert agrees, Microsoft is following in the paths of people like Amazon and Netflix, both of whom it took many years to turn a profit.

The next statement, from Windows Central, has basically been misinterpreted by journalists all over the web. Spencer says that Game Pass is sustainable right now as it sits and continues to grow. If it were making a profit, he would have said it was making a profit. But he didn't say that. He said it was sustainable. That's a very important distinction. All that means is that they can continue to run it this way while it grows into something profitable. They aren't burning so much money that they are in danger of closing it down before it turns a profit. It is, thus, sustainable. Some part of this sustainability may, in fact, be the Game Pass ecosystem that they are attributing to higher sales (cross-sales).

But there are also articles, like the one on Verge, where Spencer talks about how much they are spending to get each game on Game Pass, and is asked if they are making money, he said "[In] certain cases, we’ll pay for the full production cost of the game. Then they get all the retail opportunity on top of Game Pass. They can go sell it on PlayStation, on Steam, and on Xbox, and on Switch. Sometimes the developer’s more done with the game and it’s more just a transaction of, 'Hey, we’ll put it in Game Pass if you’ll pay us this amount of money...(he then talks about a different payment model involving usage and then finishes up with...) My hope is we will get there...I’m hoping we can get to a model where as we see upside, they see upside..." The clear indication from what he was talking about, and I didn't post a lot of what he talked about as far as helping developers financially, is that right now the developers are seeing upside, but that they are still developing their model and hope that some day both Xbox and the developers will benefit from it.

 

[Zloth]

Can't you mod games you play via Gamepass? I thought cloud gaming was just an option there?

I think it would help if Bethesda's games come out on it.

They've got a whole section for Bethesda on their game list: https://www.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-game-pass/games#

 

[Kaamos_Llama]

Hey, might be a dumb question, but do any of you play using a controller with gamepass? What's the experience like?

The reason I ask is that I use my Steam Controller for games that I don't want to use KB&M for, but understand that if I'm playing games through gamepass it likely won't be as compatible/customizable.

I've played a few different games on there using a Playstation DS4, had to use the program DS4 which you dont need in Steam anymore but it worked perfectly over a few different games.

Not sure on Steam controller, might need a similar program to map it to the Xbox controller input.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

Here's something to think about. I can't back this up right now, and I'm just going from my memory, which could be wrong. (That means this could all be horse crap, but it might be worth discussing). I believe I once heard a 3rd party game dev say that when their game got put on Game Pass, they were royally screwed, and they don't hardly make any money off of it because of that. Any thoughts on this?

...
But here is why Spencer can be so coy, Game Pass actually does kind of make money because their subscribers spend 50 percent more in the Xbox and Windows stores than non-subscribers. That's a ridiculous sum of money, and if you attribute it to those players being Game Pass members, as they do (because they consider it cross-selling), then of course it's making money now. In fact, looked at that way, most of Xbox's money is probably coming from Game Pass. This is a very common way of looking at how programs impact sales.
...

Why are people who pay for Game Pass also buying that many more games than non-subscribers?

 

[Pifanjr]

Why are people who pay for Game Pass also buying that many more games than non-subscribers?

You get 20% discount buying games and 10% discount buying DLCs and addons through the Windows store if you have a Game Pass.