As more companies make the transition to web-based services, certain fees arise that have to be covered somehow. There’s hosting, server usage, advertising, and sundry other expenses. In-your-face advertisements and pop-ups are much easier to avoid now, but that in itself can make things harder for a web site or business looking to turn a profit. As gamers, most people are no strangers to the concept of subscriptions. The internet is littered with pay-to-play games, and big titles like World of Warcraft and EVE require a monthly fee. On top of this, services like Xbox Live and Playstation Plus are in place to offer something a little more robust to the people out there willing to pay a subscription.
Microsoft just posted the third quarter of its 2024 fiscal financial results. The software maker made $61.9 billion in revenue and a net income of $21.9 billion during Q3. Revenue is up 17 percent, and net income has increased by 20 percent.
Xbox content + services up 62% while hardware down 31%... seems about right with the way they tout you don't need the hardware to play. People can play on their phones or smart tv or other means. I don't hardly play on my consoles directly since getting devices like the logitech g-cloud and ps portal. Which is to also say I have been playing more digital than physical because of these devices.
As of right now, there are no monopolies in the games industry, and for the sake of the medium as a whole, they never should either.
And yet the biggest tech companies in America are essentially that. They buy up all the small comps only to kill them off and steal what they have, and if they can't buy em they bleed them to death.
Eventually they’ll realize the value is with the employee not the company. Buying an IP means nothing if the people who contributed are let go. They’ll get it one day.
tech is different because they buy threats and then kill them. Twitter bought Vine and did nothing with it. Despite people seemingly liking it. Could've had tiktok a decade before bytedance. go figure.
They buy IPs not talent. That's why these buyouts never work and the IPs die. Right now it's too expensive to develop games - but I expect that to shift maybe as AI tools can make it easier. The best games have been indie games for awhile as big developers fuck their ips to death with "games as a service" -
Gary Green said: We have a juxtaposition of 2D and 3D visuals, flashy turn-based combat, quirky anime characters with cheeky dialogue with plenty of partial nudity; Yes, this is a Compile Heart JRPG. Whilst the engine is borrowed from Hyperdimension Neptunia mk2, Mugen Souls is more of a Disgaea spin-off. It’s not a strategy RPG as such, it merely sits within Disgaea’s ever-expanding universe (Multiverse? Netherverse? Your guess is as good as mine). You won’t find cameos though, since Mugen Souls is a franchise which aims to stand on its own two feet.
I think their both great service, although, PSN peeps are fortunate enough not to have to listen to a lot of little kids on XBL. I do prefer XBox online a bit more, but the sheer amount of great singleplayer games on the PS3 overthrow the online gaming on the 360.
Wii needs something like this too...
Subscriptions done right are a good idea IMO, but there should always be a free, lesser-privileged option for the sake of accessibility and variety IMO.
I definitely prefer the stuff Xbox offers me even if I have to pay for it. Well worth the money to me, can definitely see a case for it not being worth it to someone but I don't mind paying.
They are both completely different.
PS+ is a Subscription of discounts free games and also access to betas and demos earlier etc.
Live Subscription is built on actually paying to play on. Which is why people pay for the sole reason of going online to play. The features and stuff is nice on live but I doubt thats why people pay for it in my opinion. Then again to each is their own some might actually pay then to just play online.