PC Game Subscription Services ???

[JimmyRecard00]

Hello

I'm interested in trying some PC Game Subscription services and would really love some advice!

I've never used anything like this on PC or console so I have no firsthand experience.

First of all - can you help me out with suggesting any good ones that I have not listed below as I probably don't know them all?


PC Gaming Subscription Services

Ubisoft + for PC
Origin + EA for PC
Microsoft Xbox for PC
Playstation for PC
Humble Choice (though I'm less interested in this one compared to the others)

What others ????? Please suggest them as I just don't know this stuff?


I know there are websites where you can put in a TV show or movie and it'll spit out a list of Streaming services you can use to watch them on. Is there anything like that for PC Subscription Games?

Or at least some master lists for different services to make it easier to find where to play something if anywhere?


Are there any good Promo codes or ways to get discounts when paying/joining these services?


I would also really love to hear what you guys and your mates think about the PC Games services that you have tried (and can you list when and how long you tried it for).

Have you guys found it worked out financially to use these kind of services compared to buying things on sale (to own)?

Are there any real drawbacks to using these services - eg things disappear without notice or they don't have proper cloud save games etc?


Tell me what was good, bad and interesting about them. Whether I should definitely get it or avoid it like the plague? But please remember I'm only interested in PC gaming Services.


Also can you tell me if some services have really bad ports?
Is there anyway to check some lists/sites online to see if PC Game "X" is a Ports (and whether it's Good or Bad?).


I have a new Windows 11 Pro build with a 12700K, 32GB, NVME's, 3070 Ti OC etc.

I like all sorts of games - but keep in mind I've not gamed for like 5-10 years so I'm pretty out of the loop (eg some old references).

Things I like, different Games series' like Far Cry, Tomb Raider 2013 Reboot series, Crysis, Bioshock, Portal, Modern Wolfenstein + Doom series, Deus Ex and Hitman look good?

I prefer Solo Campaigns most of all, but also really enjoy online gaming especially FPS like America's Army, Insurgent and I imagine Battlefield and COD series etc.

I'm looking forward to the Assassin's Creed type open world/Far Cry-esque adventure/explorer/walk and talk type stuff and other similar/tangentially related games like Skyrim etc?

Death Stranding, Days Gone, stuff like that look fun?

Cyberpunk, Watch Dogs?, Racing Games, puzzler games, 2D side scrollers/platformers, Indie.

You get the idea.

I'm particularly keen to play big epic AAA games that look amazing with/out RT/DLSS etc as I'm jumping from a 7970 to a 3070 Ti OC and I'm really keen to see what I've been missing!

So by all means please give me a list of the most beautiful games that actually have great gameplay too!

I assume I'll try out one PC Game Subscription service each month for a while and see what they're like?

So yeah - any other advice you can give would be awesome



Thank you for your help!

 

[DXCHASE]

Hands down by far the best subscription service with the largest variety of games to choose from for pc is Microsoft's. The site is telling me that its 8.99 right now.

Buy PC Game Pass — PC 1 Month | Xbox

Access over 100 high-quality PC games on Windows and an EA Play membership. Download and play new games from Xbox Game Studios the day they release—plus recent blockbusters and critically-acclaimed indie games. With exclusive member deals and discounts and a huge variety of games from every...

www.xbox.com

Now if you are crazy for ubisoft titles and dont want to buy them all, you can grab that one, its 14.99 though which, for its catalog being ONLY ubisoft games is kinda steep.

EA's "origin" pass is apart of Microsofts, so no need to worry about that one.

Playstations is bad, hopefully itll get better and be cheap like MS's in the future but id stay away from it.

Humble Bundle isnt really a subscription to a library of games, just to a collection of games that you pay money for but at a steep discount (15 bucks for like 12 games) usually includes 1 or 2 AAA games but they are random and you dont get to see what will be available until it is (usually like the 3rd or 4th day in a new month, every month it changes.

 

[Brian Boru]

Read this:

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

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...

forums.pcgamer.com

 

[JimmyRecard00]

@DXCHASE
@Brian Boru



Have you guys found it worked out financially to use these kind of services compared to buying things on sale (to own)?

Are there any real drawbacks to using these services - eg things disappear without notice or they don't have proper cloud save games etc?

Playstations is bad, hopefully itll get better and be cheap like MS's in the future but id stay away from it.

Humble Bundle isnt really a subscription to a library of games, just to a collection of games that you pay money for but at a steep discount (15 bucks for like 12 games) usually includes 1 or 2 AAA games but they are random and you dont get to see what will be available until it is (usually like the 3rd or 4th day in a new month, every month it changes.

Why is Playstation's service so bad?

Are they bad ports? Is there anyway to check some list to see if PC Games are Ports (and good or bad?).

Re Humble Choice - I didn't realise until last night that you do get access to a tiny selection of indie games part of the Humble Trove - which gradually grows. But yeah - it's not something I plan on using.

Read this:

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

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...

forums.pcgamer.com

Cool, thanks man


Thanks for your posts so far

 

[Brian Boru]

Have you guys found it worked out financially to use these kind of services compared to buying things on sale (to own)?

I haven't used a sub service yet because I play a lot fewer games than most. For me, buying 1-5 years after release during a big sale works out best, because I get huge replay value from the games I like.

I haven't looked into it, but I would worry about if/how mods would work with subbed games—mods are a big part of my enjoyment of games, so I certainly don't want to give that up.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

Why is Playstation's service so bad?

Are they bad ports? Is there anyway to check some list to see if PC Games are Ports (and good or bad?).

I've never used it, but if I understand it correctly, all of the games are streamed. So they're not ports at all. It's just streaming the game to your PC from the cloud, and the client handles your inputs.

 

[DXCHASE]

I've never used it, but if I understand it correctly, all of the games are streamed. So they're not ports at all. It's just streaming the game to your PC from the cloud, and the client handles your inputs.

Exactly this. Im hopeful that down the line, when Sony has more PC ports, this service will be viable. Even right now you cant play the God of War PC version with it. Thats why Sonys is bad.

Have you guys found it worked out financially to use these kind of services compared to buying things on sale (to own)?

Are there any real drawbacks to using these services - eg things disappear without notice or they don't have proper cloud save games etc?

Well, i currently am not subscribe to it because im not using any of the games at the moment. It does work out financially mainly because the library is so massive, also, if you find yourself playing a lot of the games on there or, like myself, you have a wife and kid to share it with that also use it, even with their own accounts, its pretty cheap.

Drawbacks? There are some, first and foremost, all the games come from the Windows Store, not Steam, they are different versions and sometimes Windows versions of the games can be janky or not work properly, or having missing features such as DLSS/Raytracing. But these dont, in my opinion, really bring down the experience because the games do work. When you stop using the subscription, you lose the ability to play the games, this is kinda of a given with the whole thing so its not really a drawback rather than a precaution to subscribing, imo.

Also, price. I cant say for certain, but the 8 or 9 buck price is for new users and when it re-ups every month i believe the price goes up to 14.99. But still at 14.99 MS subscription is still the best. I could be wrong on this pricing though.

 

[Brian Boru]

I could be wrong on this pricing though

"Subscription continues automatically at $9.99/mo"

 

[WoodenSaucer]

"Subscription continues automatically at $9.99/mo"

Yeah, it's only $9.99/month for the PC version. If you have an Xbox and want the Ultimate version, it's $15/month. For Xbox users, that's a great deal because otherwise, you'd pay $10 for GP and another $10 for Xbox Live Gold.

I'm actually considering getting an Xbox Series X and Game Pass Ultimate. I found out it's possible to use it with two accounts on two Xboxes if you make the Xbox with the other account your Home Xbox. That will come in handy for my son and me. Plus with the Ultimate version of Game Pass, you get PC, too.

 

[ZedClampet]

Also, price. I cant say for certain, but the 8 or 9 buck price is for new users and when it re-ups every month i believe the price goes up to 14.99. But still at 14.99 MS subscription is still the best. I could be wrong on this pricing though.

No, it's only $9.99 for the regular service. $14.99 is for the version that lets you stream games like Playstation's service, and also play on your Xbox if you have one.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

No, it's only $9.99 for the regular service. $14.99 is for the version that lets you stream games like Playstation's service, and also play on your Xbox if you have one.

The $14.99 version comes with PC, Xbox, and also Xbox Live Gold for multiplayer. I believe that's the only version that includes EA Play, too.

 

[ZedClampet]

The $14.99 version comes with PC, Xbox, and also Xbox Live Gold for multiplayer. I believe that's the only version that includes EA Play, too.

No, there are two versions of EA Play. The normal one comes with the 9.99 version. The 'big' one comes with the $14.99 option. The difference between the two is that games are available on launch day for the $14.99 version. For the other one, you have to wait a few months.

 

[WoodenSaucer]

No, there are two versions of EA Play. The normal one comes with the 9.99 version. The 'big' one comes with the $14.99 option. The difference between the two is that games are available on launch day for the $14.99 version. For the other one, you have to wait a few months.

Nice. That's good for me, since I'll be getting the $14.99 version. I'm not sure I'll play many EA games, though.

 

[D10S]

I haven't used a sub service yet because I play a lot fewer games than most. For me, buying 1-5 years after release during a big sale works out best, because I get huge replay value from the games I like.

I haven't looked into it, but I would worry about if/how mods would work with subbed games—mods are a big part of my enjoyment of games, so I certainly don't want to give that up.

yeah, even if new games were cheap (which they aren't), there's still the problem of needing months of updates for the optimal experience.
e.g. starfield shows no sun on amd cards, which it friggin comes with /facepalm/.

 

[Slasken]

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate suits me best. I mostly play on PC, but I also have a Series X, and I have yet to buy a game on that console.

I use game pass on PC mostly to test games. If I like them, I buy them on Steam or GOG.

 

[jasonsmalls888]

I like: Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Epic Games Store, NVIDIA GeForce NOW