I No Longer Think Subscriptions Like PS Plus & Xbox Game Pass Are the Future of Gaming

Gaming is a much more active hobby than movies or music, where the commitment is much smaller. A film takes, on average, two hours to watch; a full-length album about 45 minutes to listen to. And, crucially, you can combine these things with other activities: People listen to music and podcasts while you’re at the gym, and you’ll sometimes watch television shows while you’re doom scrolling on your phone. Neither of these things are possible with games, where the vast majority of releases demand your entire attention — usually for tens if not hundreds of hours.

[LG_Fox_Brazil]

I am actually surprised someone would think that subscriptions services were the future of gaming at any point

[IMissJimRyan]

I think it's too soon to discard those services as the future. Things change when people change. Old fellas would stick to the old model, but as Uber proved, a new generation already accept that they don't want cars. The same will eventually happen at games.

Not now, not in one shot, not with old guys and gals.

[SICKINDIVIDUAL]

Most of the new generation can't afford cars...it's not they don't want them.

Uber is just a glorified taxi service.

[NotoriousWhiz]

And eventually when new games cost $100 - $150 a pop, will the new generation be able to afford games?

[northpaws]

Things work like that, if we don't think it is the future and don't buy into it, then it won't become the future.

The new generation didn't accept that they don't want cars, the new generation is just lazy.

[darthv72]

to be fair... it is a generational thing. Conveniences have always been something that younger gens take advantage of vs older ones. Especially as newer conveniences come into the picture. Let's look at food delivery services. My kids order door dash and uber eats instead of going to the store and shopping for food to prepare. I still like to cook, so I go to the store and get stuff to make for dinner. I know there are plenty that once they get hooked on a convenience, its hard to break away.

[S2Killinit]

MS drilled it into their fans that subscription was the end all of gaming. They were so sold that they even failed to see that for all the years Gamepass was a thing they really only had a handful of the infamous “day one” (the real selling point buzz word of gamepass)

[Pepsi_Man3000]

I think most if not all of us would like cars so we can take ourselves where we need to go. Theyre just not so easy to afford

[Unknown_Gamer5794]

MS and other companies paid off the games media to push that narrative, as they want such a future to come true. What better way to DRM games than to have them tied ti a subscription? Getting the media on board with the narrative may mean investors and even the consumer might start to buy it.

What they forget is you have to be the market leader, or at least a close second to have any say in what the future of said market is, and Xbox is a distant third. As there are only three major players, I think that is more like a country that hasn’t made the podium in a long, long time trying to dictate the future of the Olympics.

[darkrider]

Exactly. They tried. But they failed big time. It's even worse they made their only customers stop buying games...

[Hofstaderman]

This.

[IamTylerDurden1]

It's part of the future but the idea that it's the entire future is undetermined. Rn, Sony is dominating while getting dominated in this area. Idk about future but it's certainly not the present. Ppl still enjoy premium quality and native hardware over streaming and services and gross revenue backs this.

But the great perceived advantage of Gamepass could be nullified instantly. If it truly is the future Sony merely needs to utter one phrase to essentially dominate that space over night. First party day one on Plus.

[Jin_Sakai]

It’s an additional way to play games. That’s about it.

[Godmars290]

You mean "access".

One that devalues new releases just like trying to stream major movies instead of theater devalued them.

[crazyCoconuts]

I'll say this.. Since I got PS Extra I have spent FAR less $ on games, because I'm biased to play games that are on the service. This can't be good for gaming companies... Can't be sustainable

[Knushwood Butt]

I've spent less too. Kind of regret buying RE4 Remake as I've hardly touched it. I've mainly been playing GT7 (I did spend on psvr2), Far Cry 5, and Far Cry New Dawn. The latter two off Extra, which paid for itself the second I downloaded Stray.

[sadraiden]

Don't fret about sustainability. Your favorite game company isn't going anywhere. Microsoft and Playstation pay the publishers to have their games on their streaming platforms.

But also, companies aren't your friends. Don't fetishize capitalism.

[crazyCoconuts]

Fetishize capitalism? Wth? Lol
All I'm saying is I think these awesome deals like what we're getting with PS extra won't last forever that's all. I'm not fretting. Plus I don't think the publishers are the ones losing money- it's Sony and MS that probably aren't turning a profit on these services

[Leeroyw]

Spare me on your communist ideas. Capitalism gets you your cheap games and means they are reasonably uncensored. See how the opposite of capitalism goes everywhere else when it comes to gaming.

[jjb1981]

I agree, the only PS games I've purchased recently are PSVR2 games. I don't use Game Pass anymore. With all the free games I get from Epic and Twitch Prime, I spend even less. The only games I'll be buying this year are TotK, D4 and FFXVI. Everything else is a wait and see where it will be free or on PS Extra.

[porkChop]

They were never the future, they're just an option. There will be cases like low income families, for example, that will only sub to GP and PS+. These services are valuable to them, and they wouldn't otherwise have been spending much money on games to begin with.

But people still buy games and people will always buy games. Streaming is super popular in music, TV, and film. People still buy albums, TV show box sets, and blu rays.

[shinoff2183]

People do still buy games absolutely but some people haven't been which is a huge cause of concern.

[Hofstaderman]

MS is certainly feeling it by their own admission. They used the word “cannabilizing”.

[GamesAsAService]

This is the best take so far.

It is just another OPTION.

For some people it makes sense. For others it is not.

I have PS Extra, GP, and still bought the Hogwarts legacy which I enjoyed. I don't often have time to play games at this point in my life, but I can check the PS Extra, GP catalogue when I have some downtime to see if anything peaks my interest.

If something I am really anticipating drops outside of these services, I pick it up.

[crazyCoconuts]

You have PS extra, GP, buy games but don't have time to play games. Gotcha

[crazyCoconuts]

"People still buy albums, TV show box sets, and blu rays."
Not a lot actually. Those industries have changed dramatically.
In terms of games though as long as subs don't become very popular all is good

[PhillyDonJawn]

Just an additional way to play. Why would anyone think subscription gaming only would be the future?

[SICKINDIVIDUAL]

Ask Microshaft.

[Aloymetal]

😂👍

[EvertonFC]

MS thought it 🤣😂

[PhillyDonJawn]

When have they said that? Phil stay talking about giving gamers more ways to play So I doubt they saw a gamepass only future. Every type of media has added subscription services but the traditional way still remains. (Music, Movies, TV, gaming) limiting yourself to only 1 way to watch, play, listen make no sense.

[sadraiden]

Tons of people only play FIFA. Instead of spending $60-100 (depending on where you live) on the new FIFA title, you could just have GP and save money.

[anast]

I have been saying this since I came to N4G. Better late than never.

[lodossrage]

A lot of us here agree with you and that way of thinking.

The problem is MS has been doing everything they can to make customers feel otherwise. Need proof?, Just look at the comments on this site. How many times have we seen "I'll just play it on Gamepass", "This is why I love Gamepass." "I'll be playing this on Gamepass day one", etc.

They even marketed Gamepass harder than their own actual games.

Their base is conditioned to want things on the cheap at the expense of their final refuge of ownership.

[anast]

So true. They aren't with it enough to realize that ownership is always cheaper than renting.

[chobit_A5HL3Y]

there's value in subscription-based services IF they happen to have what you like. it's just like netflix; they have a lot of stuff to watch on it, and technically it's a really good value, but whenever i was scrolling through the menus for stuff to watch, i ended up just watching youtube or something else entirely instead.

it's also bad for the industry as a whole because it just encourages company's to straight-out buy other companies, devs, publishers. it's be better if sony and ms couldn't buy companies but had to start their own in order to have full control. ms is in a panic because they have essentially zero good first-party studios and pretty much zero actual good exclusives lol that's bad, though, because now ms is just buying companies instead of having to actually put any effort into making the industry better. they're forcing competition through the wrong means.

[jznrpg]

Subs are a side option to me but not the main serving.

[Godmars290]

Only one company as been treating them as such.

And we all know who...

[darkrider]

Funny after hundreds and hundreds of news trying to sell the idea that services are the future of gaming now are hitting a huge wall. Services were just an option. Never the only path.

The problem with Microsoft is that they went with everything with GP and after 7 year the reality is no matter how cheap it is or day one games, it just can't get enough subcribers. It will never got 100 millions or like Netflix 200+ millions Subcribers. It's crystal clear to see. Anyone knows that GP already hit the ceiling. 25 or 30 millions and that is a drop of water in the world of gaming...

[OhReginald]

Stop treating games like TV shows . Jfc...

[RNTody]

Why would anyone outside of Microsoft ever think it was the future?

[REDDURT]

Make a new console and make it just digital if they believe this.

I would not but let’s watch console games die then.

[MIDGETonSTILTS17]

Yep, very few games are consumed like music.

It’s a deeper investment in time…. You don’t have to learn how to listen to music.

[tombfan]

I paid the premium plus subscription and to my surprise, I haven't completed a single game offered there. Not because I don't want to, but because I lack the incentive to do so, I like to purchase my games.

[JackBNimble]

Maybe if there was something worth playing I would subscribe too, but there's not so I won't.

[VersusDMC]

People are assuming the inevitable subscription future is everything on gamepass and PS extra...but if subscriptions become the norm it will be Capcom pass, Bandai Namco pass, SquareEnix pass, etc.

[PhillyDillyDee]

Theres merit to that thought. However, aside from PC, when the majority of gamers are playing on one of 2 and a half consoles (sorry nintendo), the access those companies have to these devices will be highly restricted by sony/ms/nin.

We saw with stadia and luna that gamers in general aren’t exactly open to a streaming only platform.

[Ra3030]

"I No Longer Think Subscriptions"
What was the reason to ever think rental services were the future of anything? Oh wait never mind I know ...Microsoft said so...am i right?

[MetroidFREAK21]

Well I mainly use PS Plus for cloud saves. I hardly play MP games on PS5, but its nice to have whenever I decide to hop on MWII

[JackBNimble]

Ps plus is one thing, extra and premium are complete garbage anyway.
But if cloud saves are why you justify ps plus then you would save money in the long run if you just bought more memory for you ps5.

[MetroidFREAK21]

I have a 4TB SSD

[JackBNimble]

So why are do you care about cloud saves,is it really worth $60 a year?

[MetroidFREAK21]

@Jack... Yep. Been doing it since late 2018

[Nerdmaster]

I always praise Game Pass, which I use in my PC.
However, for a couple of weeks already, my games list doesn't load anymore; when trying to run any GP game manually they don't open, and I tried everything, including checking Windows and apps (Xbox, gaming service...) updates, reinstalling the apps by following Microsoft's support page and whatnot. I had trouble in the past with GP, but it was usually just a new Windows update that didn't install itself. That's not the case anymore.
So I'm just about to cancel my subscription, not for thinking GP doesn't provide a great value, but just because Microsoft seems to be unable to make anything truly work.

[GhostScholar]

The numbers suggest subscriptions are the future

[CrimsonWing69]

So then what will be? I feel like people may have said the same thing about music and movies.

[Lore]

Why would anyone pay for a gaming sub service when they generally have none of the major releases at launch and gaming takes up a lot of time that most will only play 1-2 gamer per month. This is very different than a netflix sub

[Hereandthere]

PS Plus extra 99.99 a year is a steal. i sub to premium so i can trial games.

[XiNatsuDragnel]

Subscriptions ain't the future tbh

[Elda]

I don't think I'll sub for PS extra or premium when my year is up. I'll continue paying for the essential tier basically for the online services. I've had PS Premium for 6 months & I barely use it because most of the games on the service I've played already. GP I'll keep subscribing to due to just owning an XB for the first time & one day I want to try out the XB classics whenever I get a chance to. For me this year GP has been better when it comes to new titles. I played Wo Long & Atomic Heart & didn't have to pay full price because most new games I pay retail price on day one of release to play on my PS5 knowing most of those new titles aren't on PS Plus or GP due to the games being new AAA titles.

[Futureshark]

Amusing that for so long people were saying Sony needed to catch up with Gamepass, and now they have with their 3 tier sub scheme it's all over and not the future after all.

[gold_drake]

funny that anyone thought that it is lol

[DOMination-]

In order for it to be the future where its successful it's going to take all of the major players to get together and come up with a de facto standard service where everyone agrees to release their new games on and that can be accessed everywhere. Its hard to imagine that ever happening for console gaming

[RaiderNation]

Its only the future if you can prove to me that high quality, big budget AAA games can be thrown into these services on day one and be sustainable WITHOUT altering game design to include microtransaction or advertising revenue. So far I havent seen any evidence this is the case. When I start seeing games like God of War, Final Fantasy, Zelda, Horizon, Resident Evil, etc go into these services on day one, then I'll believe!

[PhillyDillyDee]

All streaming roads lead to advertisements. Its the only way these companies can make any real money with this type of service. The future of gamepass style services will be the same.

[sadraiden]

Naive me jumped on PS Plus when it first became about receiving free games (up until then, a glitch allowed me to play PS4 online for several years without actively having a subscription). Sometimes you go through financial trouble, so I cancelled the PS Plus, only to realize that I didn't have access to any of those games anymore. I never re-activated my subscription.

[drunkenspy007]

It's the present of gaming

[Starman69]

Sony have done it perfectly!