Playground Games: Because of Game Pass, People Come Back 6 Months Later

Playground Games Principal Game Designer Mike Brown shares how the subscription service makes gamers come back to play even after six months.

[VersusDMC]

I like how in the article they say the library is there for free...

I replay Dead Space 1 and 2 on my PS3 every once in awhile and that's free for me to replay. I don't have to pay 15 dollars a month to replay them.

[Andrew336]

Cool story.

[King_Noctis]

It is “free” for you to replay because you had already bought the game outright. You can do the same thing for any game on Gamepass.

[dbcoops]

Its not free if you're paying a continuous subscription fee.

[King_Noctis]

“ Its not free if you're paying a continuous subscription fee.”

And it is not free for the OP as well because they have to pay for the game upfront.

[dbcoops]

A one time fee and a continuous subscription fee are two entirely different things but ok.

[King_Noctis]

“ I replay Dead Space 1 and 2 on my PS3 every once in awhile and that's free for me to replay.”

That was the point that the OP made, and I just replied to that point. I did not say the subscription service is free, and on that note buying a game outright is not “free”.

[Yui_Suzumiya]

Shoot, I have all 3 Dead Space games in excellent condition for PS3 including all DLC and Extraction. Love them. Hope they do a Remastered Collection of those next similar to Mass Effect and BioShock.

[OneLove]

Whats the point of comments like this🤷🏾‍♂️

[strifeblade]

I actually got game pass for 3 years, For 180$ and then I game share with a friend so we got game pass for 90$ each to play hundreds of games. You? You payed 90$ for Rachet and Clank. Go play that in three years and you tell me who got a better bargain😏 OHHHHH DISRESPECTED.

further aren't you the Sony player who jumped to buy PS+ during the PS3 era where you payed a subscription to get a few free games back when sony online was free? You probably were so it's funny to see sony gamers knock game pass when they paid for something inferior back then🤣

[Lore]

Don’t people who own their games come back after six months as well

[CYALTR]

I'm sure that they do, it has just been there experience that when the game was on Game Pass there was more continuous interaction. I think they are just sharing how things went with Forza Horizon 4. It sounds like they weren't really sure of the idea at first, but it is working for them.

This isn't a solution for all developers, but I think it is silly to just deny the one's that are seeing success with it, just because you don't like the concept. It seems to be working well for some, I haven't really seen many complaining, but perhaps they don't want to go on the record against MS.

[Lore]

I actually don’t mind gamepass, the issue I have is that I’m methodical about my choice of games, and gamepass either has zero games I want to play or has games that I already beat and have zero interest in going back to. The “Netfix” of games business model works well for tv and movies, but is entirely different for me in regards to video games.

[Tedakin]

@Z501 I can play Dead Space for free too with no sub service. I own all the games.

@ron_danger Oh I thought he "swooped in to try to make it a fanboy fight" first.

[Ron_Danger]

It’s nice to see you are self aware and are able to see that you tried to make this into a fanboy fight. Very big of you to start acting like an adult.

[Tedakin]

You said I swooped in to make it a fanboy fight. That's what he did first and I simply replied. And I'm not sure if you're new to N4G, but this entire site is nothing but petty fanboy fights.

[Ron_Danger]

He didn’t though. He pointed out a lie that the article repeatedly pushed and you got defensive and brought up the ps5 not having BC for ps3 games. So yes, you swooped in and tried to make it a fanboy argument. And I’m well aware of the fanboy fights on n4g... I’m currently trying to help a user understand this exact point.

[SlothLordPootus]

"Players would gain access to a library full of games and all for free with most of them to own permanently."

I'm confused about them saying they are giving them away for free, to own forever. Is he talking about GWG or GamePass? Does GamePass give you free games to keep forever? I understand some games are on there perpetually while you subscribe, but you don't own them. On GWG, you do own them, but I don't think that's what's being discussed?

[Highrevz]

That’s worded badly imo but some people think you buy gamepass and it only gives you a discount 🙈 it sounds silly I know but people get very confused with Gamepass.

GWG isn’t free and you technically don’t own them for free. Xbox360 titles was free once already claimed so no need for Xbox Live but that’s not the case with Xone games

[Soldierone]

I'm confused. If I buy a game I don't randomly not have it 6 months later, it's still there for me to play..... "for free" so why would it being on a service magically make that different?

[chiefJohn117]

Right there is no difference cause both ways the game is available but! I personally have noticed I return to play old games myself on gamepass. When I usually dont when I own them. Idk what it is but GP simply has that power. I think when you own physical ppl usually sell the game afterwards. Which my be why the data shows gamers return to old games via GP

[NotoriousWhiz]

One reason which someone mentioned earlier is that when you buy a game, you can come back to it anytime you want. With a game pass game, there is a pressure to come back to it before it gets removed from the service.

[CYALTR]

I have to agree with @chiefJohn117 about that. It has been my experience as well, and I don't really understand exactly why either. I suppose I could do a deep psychological dive on myself to try to figure it out, but I think I will just pull up another game from my Game Pass backlog to play!!

[northpaws]

I can see a lot of MP games players drop massively when it leaves game pass, is that a valid concern?

[enkiduxiv]

Man, that's surprising. I would have thought that all those "free" and "high quality" titles that Game Pass was constantly adding would keep gamers too "engaged" all the time to go back to old stuff. All joking aside though, it's the Netflix of gaming. It's an ocean of special interest indie titles that few people will try even for free. Along with that is the occasional AAA gem, but Microsoft's first party titles are about as interesting as watching Bright on Netflix. Of course everyone is going back to Skyrim and Borderlands. What else are they going to do?

[Ratchet75]

My only concern with multi-player games on gamepass are third party games like Back 4 blood. How long the game will be available on the service?
Take Monster hunter world for example
I still play the game on a weekly basis but now I am gonna have to buy the game when it leaves the service next month.

[Killer73nova]

It's been on there for 2 years. You will even get a discounted price to buy the game. Or if you don't want digital you can buy a used copy for less then 10 bucks

[Petebloodyonion]

It's how game creators can make extra money with Game pass
Sure you can play the game on day 1 but how long does it stay? RDR2 was on the service for a very short period of time.
And if you buy it after, well it's an extra sale that perhaps the game maker would have not normally made.

[Father__Merrin]

Sony is selling twice as many units as Microsoft even with Microsoft £249 entry price. The moment everything is back to normal PS5 will explode worldwide.

As of now Xbox Series SX are just subscription boxes that's what Microsoft wants to funnel you all into

[rakentaja]

You will not understand the value of GP until you actually use it. For more than two years I didn't even think about using it once, I thought about trying and I'm fascinated by it now. Microsoft doesn't force you to do anything. People keep subscribing to a service just because they really like it.

[King_Noctis]

Even if Sony selling 10 time the amount of console compared to MS, how does that change the fact that Gamepass is a great value?

[Orchard]

"Even if game pass is popular how does that make owning your games not a great value?"

Because games are now $70 and 99% of games are a 'one and done' game.

[Petebloodyonion]

And it's so different with PS5 because there less than 5 games out of the whole complete library that can only be played on Ps5?

It's a good thing we're not in 2014 anymore when Frame boosting a game like TLOU and GOW3 for 40$ (sorry I meant remastering) was the big thing to make us wait for the real AAA game The order 1886.

[tbagmonster]

if you hunt around you can get 2 years of game pass ultimate for 90 bucks, that gets you over 380 games, many new ea releases, all new ms first party games, xcloud and streaming from your console. thats value and a great deal no matter how you slice it.

[jcole97]

If you like gamepass, great. If you don’t, great. Just play your games in whatever way works best for you. Simple. No need to start a fanboy war in the comments.

[Rimeskeem]

I enjoy getting a month so I can play a new release for that week or so and then I just cancel and wait.

[waverider]

This kind of publicity ads never stop.

[Petebloodyonion]

I think the reason for this versus owning your own game or checking your free PS+, Gold library is the Netflix approach of suggesting you a bunch of games to play next based on different categories.

Like:
- Games that can be completed in a short time.
- Coop game selections
- Story driven
- etc.

[Donjune]

Gamepass is the shite!!

[Imortus_san]

Once I play the game to the end that's it, I never touch it again, unless it a Shoot em Up or bta em up, all other are a no go.