Blrd

Not likely Steam,maybe epic, Xbox and Playstation doesnt make money from their console they sell their consoles at a loss and makes it up in the software ie: games,online multiplayer, and whatever else. The third Party publishers are going the subscription route with EA+ and Ubisoft +

I think it'd be awesome if Nintendo went down this route, but I don't see them ever doing it. Imagine getting access to various Switch titles, just by paying a monthly/year fee. I think they really should add more to their Online service, half the games they've been adding to the NES/SNES/N64 line up haven't been too impressive as of late.

No they won’t because it kills AAA development. Some may do it for releases that have already made a profit but not for new releases like Microsoft is doing.

I love slash hate gamepass because I don't own any of them.

Gamepass is fine for people who are casual players but if you are acting going to put in the time and want to own a copy of the game, it does you no favors.

I think eventually it will result in game pass like services for all companies down the road. We're nearing an all digital future anyway, and I could see more companies jumping on board. Whether that is bad or good is up to you. I think it could hurt, but could also be beneficial to some.

If this does take off for other companies, then I could see prices going up for these services, since more and more studios will jump into it.

GACishere said:

Not likely Steam,maybe epic, Xbox and Playstation doesnt make money from their console they sell their consoles at a loss and makes it up in the software ie: games,online multiplayer, and whatever else. The third Party publishers are going the subscription route with EA+ and Ubisoft +

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I don't see Steam or Epic doing it because they don't really need to. Plus Epic releases a ton of games for free already, I don't think they care to do something like gamepass.

Jay said:

I hope not. I’d rather a developer go into a project know that they are competing against everyone else for my $60 dollars rather than them trying to compete for my attention.

For instance, let’s say Gamepass type platforms pay based on “# of hours spent” in game. Well the developers are going to make games that maximize engagement over experience.

We will end up with iOS App Store type games and all the deep, enriching experience will go to the wayside. Gamepass is a good business model for monetizing older IPs but that’s it.

I can see the owner of the service financing AAA development to make the service more appealing but there is little in it for 3rd parties.

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These are all really good points. These studios have to be making something from the deal, and my guess is it's something similar to hours played like you said. I could see that working well for multiplayer games, but then you have the linear single player games that probably won't be played for too long before they're deleted.

I could see them counting the amount of downloads as well towards the deal. But I can't see that equating to too much profit.

Jay said:

100%. There is little upside in releasing a AAA title on game pass or equivalent service. They are definitely here to stay but I see them thriving with games a year or two after their release date.

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Someone in corporate bought into the “subscription is guaranteed monthly revenue” which isn’t always a good try thing. In some cases you end up guaranteeing less revenue then you would have made with standard ops. That’s why I would only do subscription for assets that have already made a return.