Xbox Game Pass Suddenly Doesn't Feel Like The Best Deal In Gaming Anymore

With Microsoft closing studios, fewer new exclusive releases are expected for Xbox.

[shinoff2183]

Not sure it ever was. It's upside was day 1 releases from 1st party. Few and far between plus it is just a rental service where you don't pick. It is fairly cheap for now that's a bonus. I think the beat deal in gaming is gamesale on reddit , and watching amazon

[Eonjay]

I got PSPlus and let me tell you it already feels like too much. As in, its nice to have all these games to play, but I'm still human and I only have a limited amount of time for gaming. The selection is definitely larger and better than Game Pass, but keep in mind, its 'Value' isn't something that normal people can really cash in on. Perhaps if you had it for GP ultimate, to get day on MS games, and only those games, and MS delivered on some bangers, it would be cool, but the same thing applies as with Plus. You are going to wind up paying for more than you actually use over a five year period. With GP set to go up in price, this exacerbates the situation. Plus you still got to PAY for games that aren't in the services that you want to play like GTA 6.

The only conclusion is that you pay more. You will not be able to get around that with any subs in the long run.

[neutralgamer1992]

As a subscriber to Game Pass, I believe the service has the potential to be the best in gaming. However, to achieve this, it needs to consistently release three first-party exclusives each year: one AAA title and two AA titles, all with Metacritic scores of 82-85 or higher. Currently, it feels like we are not seeing this level of quality from Microsoft. Since acquiring numerous studios, the only standout game has been Hi-Fi Rush, and unfortunately, that studio is now closed.

I suggest that Microsoft's CEO consider bringing in experienced leaders like Jack Tretton or Shawn Layden to guide Xbox. Their leadership could help the Xbox brand become more competitive with PlayStation. Phil Spencer and his team, despite their efforts, seem to be struggling to keep up with the competition. It's concerning that Microsoft, having invested so much, is still unable to confidently report sales numbers without appearing lackluster compared to competitors.

Phil Spencer once mentioned that if Game Pass didn’t reach a certain threshold, they would reevaluate their strategy. This moment might be approaching. By 2030, there seems to be a higher likelihood of Xbox shifting to a software publisher rather than being a strong competitor to PlayStation or Nintendo.

The acquisition of Bethesda, motivated by fears of losing Starfield to Sony as a timed exclusive, hasn’t yet yielded the desired results. Over the past decade, Xbox has struggled with a series of underwhelming releases, and it’s time for a significant change to turn things around

[Notellin]

It was only worth it for me when I got 3 years for $45 per year. I'm not paying $18 a month to wait 6 months for their next first party release.

This service would work better for me if it was cheaper and you got their exclusives 3 or 6 months after launch. My gaming group all bought three years because of the low price and we ended up playing a lot of smaller games we would have never tried.

I can't play or keep up with all the new content and I suspect most others can't either. I just feel like the service is better in the other direction instead of focusing on the big budget IPs and "AAAA" budget games.

[Jingsing]

All you can eat model has been the biggest fallacy going since restaurants did it in the 90's then stopped. Because you can't eat everything and you end up enjoying nothing trying. Best model is buying the game you want.

[ChasterMies]

What shinoff2183 said. Xbox’s marketing was so good that this “best deal in gaming” mantra took over reality. Epic Game Store Freebies on PC are the absolute best deal in gaming. PS+ for PS4 and PS5 have always been a better deal than Game Pass because PS+ has always cost less per month. And of course there has been the problem of Microsoft failing to deliver quality titles to Game Pass. When the games you want to play aren’t on Game Pass, then Game Pass is not a good deal.

[ThinkThink]

Still the best deal in gaming for me, at least until it isnt.

[Snookies12]

It most certainly is the best deal in gaming. It's definitely not GOOD for gaming. But, the value is undisputable right now. I fully expect that value to decrease within the next year or two though. It has never been sustainable. It's only a matter of time.

[Eonjay]

I really have a hard time with calling these subs value. This is because as I tried to explain above, I link value to not just money but also time. You can't play all the game in the service to completion. Most games you would never touch. You may 'try' games with the service, but you are only going to play the games you enjoy. Games you come back to and play for years. If you are paying $200 a year for a service for 10 years, thats $2000. With that much money, you can just buy and keep all the games you are actually gonna want to enjoy. This is just my analysis btw and its subjective based on what I define as value which may be different to you.

[helicoptergirl]

It only DEPENDS on how much you game and how many different games you play in the space of a year. I honestly believe, that for the vast majority of gamers, this is no way, shape or form is "the best deal in gaming".

My statement proves correct imo because GamePass is failing.

[crazyCoconuts]

For console, it's over $200 / year for GamePass.
Most of the 3rd party games they bring are no longer impressive. The first party games have not been good.
My opinion is the PS Essentials is currently the best deal in gaming at $80/year and you get decent games to keep every month. GP on PC for $120 is good too.
If NEW COD gets added in without a price increase, PC GP would truly be great.

[Chocoburger]

"Suddenly", my gosh are people so slow on the uptake.

I've been saying this for years, its just a rental service nothing special, and you don't get to pick what the rental catalogue is nor how long it lasts. Anything can be taken away from you on a whim, even while you keep paying.

You know what the best deal in gaming is? BUY your games on disc / cart, OWN THEM, play them as much as you want, and no one can take them away from you.

Tapes and cartridges from the 80's still work to this day, and people can still enjoy them without having to pay any additional fees. That sounds like a far better deal than a corporate rental service.

[Hofstaderman]

This. Playing xenogears on my OG PS1 right now. Just got to Dazil and have most deathblows learnt but not accesible due to my level. What makes it bearable on a 4K tv is a AV to HDMI upscaler. Obviously has limits but good enough for me. No worries of the game being removed from a service too.

[darthv72]

That's the whole point of renting... you rent, you play, you buy your own copy if you feel the need. What GP is doing is no different than the blockbuster or hollywood videos or every mom and pop rental shop. And people would buy their own copies if they liked what they rented.

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

Good luck getting some of these fanboys to understand that…

[ApocalypseShadow]

No. What game pass has done is tried to increase the idea that games have no value when buying. Only that the SERVICE has value through renting. Rent what you like when you like on any platform you choose that we're on for pennies.

When you push the idea upfront that developers games don't need to be purchased, not only does it hurt those developers, it hurts the industry with less revenue and profit to be made. Microsoft doesn't care as the only thing they care about is the subscriptions. They'll just replace you as a developer or your game with someone else if you go out of business or fire employees to stay afloat.

We have not seen one instance where Microsoft cares. They didn't care about Tango even if they made a good game that Shadow launched on game pass and killed the games sales. What makes you think they care about any other developer big or small? It's all about game pass right? This great rental service that's been known to kill game sales as Microsoft no longer reports them. And we've seen every NPD and worldwide sales of games on Xbox that are dwarfed by Nintendo and PlayStation game sales.

The selfishness of thinking about this bullshit value of the service is why many developers and employees have been hurt. The nonsense of Microsoft buying up publishers to prop up the service resulting in even more job losses.

You and Truth are part of the problem.

[shinoff2183]

That may be the point from gamepass but we all know a majority of the base isn't doing that. Most are using it for their gaming period.

[romulus23]

Yeah and where are those Blockbuster or Hollywood Videos now? The problem is you claim people will "buy if they feel the need" but they clearly are not doing that and the numbers prove it, MS is removing physical games from stores becasue they know people aren't buying them.

[darthv72]

@romulus... well the fall of BB and HV was due to the declining markets for physical media. something that has been happening to gaming as well. The PC market is 99% all digital and it doesnt seem to stop anyone from buying. Consoles are becoming no different. People used to try before they buy thanks to demos... now it happens that these demos are the full thing. And yes, people ARE actually buying the games as a result of GP. You, shin & shadow just arent paying attention, or you deliberately choose to ignore that fact.

[romulus23]

I'm not deliberately choosing to ignore anything, everything I stated was based on verifiable facts, the fact is physical xbox games aren't selling if they were xbox wouldn't be removing them from stores and we know that's happening becasue we've gotten numerous articles to that very fact. We know because it was reported from their own documents that Microsoft admitted gamepass cannibalizes game sales, that's a fact. No people are NOT buying physical xbox games due to gamepass and you claiming they are doesn't change that. No one is paying a subscription fee to play Hellbalde 2 for nine hours to then turn around and buy the game for $70 when it has no replay value. Not sure if you're trying to convince yourself or everyone else but the gamepass "try before you buy" is a myth, it doesn't happen. Maybe if it did Tango Gameworks would still be around.

[shinoff2183]

Darth

Your full of sht man. Microsoft has come out in those hearings saying themselves the gamepass has killed sales.

I've never denied that there are Xbox players that buy games. Never, not once. I will say the majority of the base does not buy games.

https://www.ign.com/article...

https://www.forbes.com/site...

It was reported pretty heavy. Not sure how you missed this, and again I'll point to the 4 releases on ps5 as another argument of the same argument.

[Flakegriffin]

And how did those stores end up?

[Christopher]

You mean those places that don't exist anymore?

[gold_drake]

i agree with you 100%

it is a good deal, dont get me wrong, but you dont own anything you play and you have no control over any sort of ownership whatsoever. if a game gets suddenly removed and you havent finished it ? well, too bad.

i think people always seem to forget that detail.

[Fishy Fingers]

I'll probably download 4 of the games they announced coming today over the next month for £9. Seems ok to me.

But then, I tend to play single player games and i rarely revisit so a "rental service" suits me. Pretty much everything I play on PS is via PS+ extra.

[monkey602]

I am the complete opposite. I have ditched both GamePass and PlusExtra because I find I just add stuff to my play later queue and end up playing all the games I've bought instead. I went a whole year on both services and barely used them at all.

[Fishy Fingers]

Arent options great.

[monkey602]

Sure are. I've stopped buying new releases day 1 too so it might come to the stage where I get through my backlog and whatever I have skipped over for a later day might start showing on these devices and make it too tempting to pass up. Not sure how I feel about the services as a whole either though.

Even now, I just finished playing Mutant Year Zero and kinda want to pick up Miasma Chronicles. I could get Plus Extra to play it but I'm tempted to just buy it on sale instead

[shinoff2183]

Same. I've had both services for awhile now and barely use them. Buying games just makes more sense. I just gotta cancel still though

Mutant year zero was an awesome game btw

[ApocalypseShadow]

This is what I was telling gamers a while back. I found I played games I bought because they had value to me. If I'm spending money, then I need to play them. Like when I was younger and I saved up to buy games at Toys R Us. I wanted to play Mega Man. I wanted to play Castlevania. I wanted to play Punch Out. I wanted to m play Metroid. So, I saved or earned to get them and played them to death because they were fun and I was interested.

Games given to me in Plus were just throw away games that meant nothing to me. I tried a few but didn't have time to be trying all the games I weren't really interested in or I would have bought them already. I'd rather spend that time playing Horizon or GOW or Ghost of Tsushima, Uncharted, etc.

Renting sounds more like paid demos that used to be free to try on old discs in magazines. I miss that. You should be able to try any game for a short time and then decide to buy them. Not the way things are set up now. Games lose their value with the buffet nonsense. Haven't paid for online in years. And even then, I paid at a discount. And only because someone else asked me to play with them online when local multiplayer is more fun to me.

[DustMan]

i did the same thing, can't let the backlog continue to grow!

[Unknown_Gamer5794]

It was always overrated. It only ever appealed to a certain subset of gamers anyways, which are the type who don’t care about owning games and are content to just experience them once and move on…or people who wanted to play CoD without buying it. It never seemed that glamorous to me, and I’m not at all surprised it has turned out to be unsustainable for MS.

[attilayavuzer]

Looking at GP attach rate for current gen Xbox (70%), the actual subset is gamers that want to purchase games.

[shinoff2183]

Crazy thing is, some of these younger people will be so upset in the future when they wanna go back and it no longer exists due to companies setting out to kill physical media(Microsoft). Their gonna be pissed

[OneLove]

Says everyone who doesnt have it💀 its even more funny that an article saying tons of games coming to game pass is released at the same time as this lmao.

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

Still feels great to me. I pay yearly and I save so much money and I play games I would otherwise never try out. If there’s a better deal in gaming please let me know so I can sign up.

[shinoff2183]

Amazon.com

[SPEAKxTHExTRUTH]

You’re joking right?

[shinoff2183]

Nope. I've gotten so many games off their super cheap. Alan wake 1 11 bucks, infinite wealth 35 bucks. So no I'm not kidding. If your playing games on gamepass that you never would've given a chance that's on you open your mind a little

[Elda]

If you want to play new first party XB games when they are finally released which has been scarce for a while then it's a good deal especially for people on a fixed income & don't want to pay retail price for a game. You're not going to play newly day one released AAA muti-plat games on Gamepass so folks will have to pay retail price for newly released AAA multi-plat games. Gamepass does get some decent AA & Indie games day one of release every now & then so the service is not that bad when those new decent games land on the service. I buy all my AAA exclusives & multiplats day one of release at retail price for my PS5 & Switch. For my XBSX I use it for Gamepass only.

[shinoff2183]

Pretty much. Ms wants to kill physical games so bad I won't purchase from them. I stick with buying ps and Nintendo games

[MrBeatdown]

The biggest selling point has always been it's potential... Getting a great lineup of exclusive first party games on day one.

Microsoft can't deliver though. Last year would have been a joke if Microsoft hadn't bought Bethesda. It's all promises of games that never come, supplemented by a publisher they bought out.

[Einhander1972]

Well one things for sure it's not the deal it once was. not even close. I remember when they were adding 3-5+ AAA with 15-20 games total a month and charging a dollar.

Now, I was looking at the list of games this month and it's 9 games with the highlight being Hellbalde 2 which honestly seems pretty underwhelming at 30FPS and 6-8 hours long then the next highlight is Immortals of Aveum and Lords of the Fallen both games already on PlayStation Plus given out so you get to keep them. And Lords of the Fallen was on PS+ way back in 2016. Humanity and Moving out 2 both launched day 1 on PS Plus.

And the rest of the games are just a bunch of super budget indies from companies no one has ever heard of.

This is what Game Pass looks like when the cost comes in line with the profit and stops being totally subsidized... (It's still being subsidized) heck it looks like this and they are already closing studios and have already raised prices and will probably raise prices again soon..

It's hard to see this a "big month" pulling in any new subscribers if something like Starfield couldn't.

It's completely possible that game pass is going to implode under it's own cost.

[VincentCastle]

Isn't the new lords of the fallen from 2023 that's being added to gamepass?

[Petebloodyonion]

PlayStation Plus is so incredible that it can warp time :) Yes, it can make a 2023 game appear in 2016 :)

But just pointing out that Gamepass still adds an average of 16 games per month because they announce it in 2 waves.
Big games for May
- Jedi Survivor, Hellblade 2 (day 1), Lord of Fallen
Please care to mention what's sucking bad in this offering?

[shinoff2183]

Medical may be the one I'm interested in but even then if it checks out on doesitplay.org I'd rather just purchase it physically

[Elda]

For folks like me the only game that I'll try on Gamepass this month is Hellblade 2. Jedi Survivor I bought day one & played already, Lords Of The Fallen I bought day one & haven't finished it yet. When it comes to some interesting newly released AA & Indie games, sometimes those games may be released on Gamepass on day one & the service can come in handy if you don't want to spend retail price on those games. There's no use for Gamepass or PS+ when it comes to newly released AAA multi-plats knowing they don't land on those services on day one of release, neither does AAA PS exclusives land on PS+ on day one of release. Those services aren't all that if you're a person that always buy games on day one of release, though with the exception that MS puts their first party AAA titles on GP day one which is a benefit. At this point in time seeing how things are going, MS/XB may stop that & put those first-party titles on GP months later after they release to see if folks will buy them at retail price first & foremost on day one of release.

[purple101]

Both those games we can get physical for £15 each off ebay. Hellblade is 8 hours long.

while taken as one month, it appears good value, but paying £180 per year, for games like this, does not add up, game-pass works if your a game enthusiast who plays 30+ games per year, then yes its in your favour, but if you just want to buy a couple of the years best releases, physical release, brought on sale, is the way to go

[Barlos]

It never was. I've never been about subscription services for games. I prefer to buy them, not rent them.

[Hedstrom]

I think its a good deal for gamers for now. Its killing the industry, but thats another question.

[Kinza55012]

Duh! We've been saying this for years.

[derek]

I have playstation plus premium and for the most part I end up playing games I've paid for directly that are not on the service. Subscriptions are always great in theory but in practice are mostly just a waste of money. This is true especially for videogames as you only play a set number a games a year if your a typical adult. Plus the day and date selling point is meaningless given Microsofts piss poor game output. It has also hurt Microsofts ability to sell games to its customer base who expects games to be free. They've had to invent bs metrics of success losing the ability to judge the most important metric for videogames, sales in units/dollars. This makes it hard for the developer as they have no way of knowing what the target is. Gamepass is a big part of the reason for the state Microsoft is currently in.

[Reaper22_]

It's still the best for me. Couldn't care less what others think.

[shinoff2183]

Until the base kills it because it isn't sustainable. These are the things killing the industry right now. A whole base stop buying games. Others to. I'm sure there's some ps players that do the same thing

[andy85]

It hasn't been for ages simply for the fact they don't offer discounts. Getting PS Extra for 30% off made it half the price of GP with a lot more overall quality on the service.

[gleepot]

nah, it still is

[romulus23]

It's a good deal for gamers but not for xbox or the industry at large. It cannibalizes game sales, it's not sustainable and when it's responsible for or even partially responsible for the closure of studios and the price inevitably increases than it becomes not good for gamers or xbox.

[tombfan]

Next year I'm not paying even for PS Plus Extra. Just normal Plus is OK, I don't even play the games "on rental", so, the three free games are still a top in my opinion.

[lucian229]

lmao this isnt sudden; anyone with a brain knew this

[REDDURT]

This is just sony fandom jelly. If Sony did it suddenly it’s great. Stop being fanboys.

[CrimsonWing69]

It’s a good deal for the consumer, but absolutely crippling for most devs/publishers.

[glenn1979]

So far for ME it is a good deal

[Petebloodyonion]

I'm sorry but what's the deal with evaluating a product with some "IF" and "it's possible that in the future"?
here's the author's answer to the current situation:
"Currently, of course, Game Pass is still an excellent deal for anyone looking to play multiple games in its catalog on a smaller budget."
All the rest is subjective to uncertain things we do not know about so why try to make them like it's a reality?
If things change like fewer games, a price hike, etc then fine with reevaluating them but it's not the case TODAY!

So the question is as a CONSUMER is it a good deal to have access to a huge library of games a little price?

Also, I find it quite curious how many are fighting for the GOOD of the INDUSTRY with how Gamepass is destructive and such yet no one is forcing Sega, Capcom, Remedy, WB, or Ubisoft into putting their games on such a service nor have they complained about it.
But funny how the same bunch are screaming about the lack of physical disks released for some games when these companies have been quite outspoken about how second-hand markets hurt their sales.

[PRIMORDUS]

I believe that if the buying of Activision Blizzard was stopped by the Governments, I have a feeling that those studios would not have been let go by MS. I was always against it right from the start, and now here we are. To the ones that wanted that, good fucking job.

[smashman98]

The promise was always that once Xbox Studio releases got rolling it was going to be non-stop games for the players. The reality is Xbox is about to get rolling and now there are whispers of price increases, tiers, call of duty not being included. All of this after nearly half a decade of subpar content and an extremely staggered release schedule, alongside unkept promises. You can't blame gamers for being unenthused about the future of gamepass.

[Nerdmaster]

I am truly sorry for the recent layoffs, especially since I have a few friends in this industry.
However, as a customer, this won't change the value of Game Pass to me. The article points out that the number of exclusives may diminish, but I don't think exclusives are that necessary, as long as the quality of the games that are added, even if not exclusives, is good. Many games which I was thinking about getting on Steam to try them out, were released on GP.

[__y2jb]

Gamepass isn’t a good deal.

I spent £30 on lies of p recently when I saw it on sale and for the past couple of months I’ve spent all my gaming time making my way through it. So I’m playing the game I want for the price I wanted to pay and I own the game. All this without a monthly direct debit to Microsoft. I’m happy to continue this way.

[Markusb33]

i never was for devs, how can a service that you can exploit for $1 be beneficial or profitable for future development ?
The main reason you dont get sequels i because sales were too low on the original usually, the number of people who played the first 5 mins of any game in a service doesnt usually translate as a positive thing for a company

[anast]

It never was. I've been saying this. It was obvious from the start. But game writers have to sell their products to get paid.

[Father__Merrin]

It never was

[isalas011981]

It never was. You will never be able to "own" any game and once you stop the service, you are out of all that money and out of all the games you want to play.

[Flewid638]

It never did.

[StormSnooper]

Suddenly? Brother, it was always a fake PR scheme. People literally think they are getting all games on day one, not realizing that there are like a couple of big first party games per year. If that.