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[sendit]

These emails just keep getting better.

I suspect a shake up for the Xbox division in the near future from the hand of Satya Nadella.

 

[ReBurn]

Here's the thing, when I think about the best games I've played over the last couple of years the vast majority of them are not on a subscription services and haven't been since release (and will likely never be, in the case of TOTK).

So fundamentally it depends on what you want from all of this. Personally saving money on my hobby has never been a focus of mine, it's a cheap hobby (per hour) as is. I already have over 1300 games spanning most genres in my steam library alone, I don't need a rental service to duplicate what I already have access to. What I'm concerned about is making sure I can enjoy the best of what this hobby has to offer as and when I want to, subscriptions don't offer that.

A subscription only policy means missing out on (and/or indefinitely waiting for) Elden Ring, Diablo 4, Street Fighter 6, TOTK, Ragnorak, FF16. No thanks.

I get that. There's nothing wrong with paying more money to get the best experience that you can. At one point in my life I did the same thing with gaming. As I've gotten older and I've added other pastimes that I prioritize over that need for a day one premium experience. That's why it's good for multiple options to exist.

I don't want the premium purchase model to disappear. I just also like that people can play video games for less than 20 bucks a month and I think that option should also exist. I used to buy movies and music on disc and that was the only way I would consume them at home. These days I'm fine with Spotify and paying a few bucks to rent a movie to stream. I used to have a huge physical game library as well. But now I'm fine waiting to buy digital games super cheap or paying Sony ten bucks to play whatever is on offer. I can still buy new games at full price if I want to, but I rarely want to any more.

 

[Bo_Hazem]

 

[Slicker than your average]

No surprise they considered doing it. According to the vocal minority gamepass is there to save them and lift them out of poverty.

To MS they realised they're spending nearly a 100 billion on publishers and studios in total and the cost of games and marketing that sub itself might be a little on the return.

 

[ZoukGalaxy]

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

They'll introduce a cheaper plan that's not day 1 content then substantially raise the price on the day 1 when they get the content rolling

Can see both of these happening. Ad-supported cheaper tier for like $5.99/month with only a few Day 1 games (basically the games they know would not sell a lot anyway, like Pentiment and Grounded). Then raise regular Game Pass & Game Pass Ultimate by like $5.

They should also end some of the stacking loopholes with VPN tricks some people are obviously abusing, and cut down how much MS Reward points can contribute to monthly payments. But they really do also need an annual option like Sony & Nintendo offer.

And finally, get rid of XBL Gold by giving current XBL Gold subscribers their remaining sub amount converted to Game Pass Ultimate, and just take the hit on the difference. If they do that Game Pass could actually start perhaps meeting internal revenue targets and have a better ARPU.

 

[Alex Scott]

One day they will.

 

[MarkMe2525]

Their actions speak louder than words.

They are increasing prices on everything despite low sales because their operating income is clearly not great.

I think maybe you just don't want to take a real look at their actions.

Or like many other companies operating internationally, they are a just in prices to compensate for currency depreciation. If they were the only company making changes such as this, then your assumption would have more credibility. Of course, it could be a little of both.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Or like many other companies operating internationally, they are a just in prices to compensate for currency depreciation. If they were the only company making changes such as this, then your assumption would have more credibility. Of course, it could be a little of both.

No, the dollar is still close to a 10-year high and it's gone up in value the past few days. Plus, it's still very strong versus most of the other currencies. Not to mention the price increase was only for Xbox Game Pass, not PC Game Pass.

If your idea were to hold true then the price on both would've gone up, not the one that MS have publicly said growth had stagnated (Xbox).

 

[MarkMe2525]

No, the dollar is still close to a 10-year high and it's gone up in value the past few days. Plus, it's still very strong versus most of the other currencies. Not to mention the price increase was only for Xbox Game Pass, not PC Game Pass.

If your idea were to hold true then the price on both would've gone up, not the one that MS have publicly said growth had stagnated (Xbox).

I was not speaking of the dollar, but to currencies internationally. This is regarding the price increases that are not happening in the US. That's why I stated it could be both.

No, the dollar is still close to a 10-year high and it's gone up in value the past few days. Plus, it's still very strong versus most of the other currencies. Not to mention the price increase was only for Xbox Game Pass, not PC Game Pass.

If your idea were to hold true then the price on both would've gone up, not the one that MS have publicly said growth had stagnated (Xbox).

But that does not hold true to many currencies internationally. This seems to be the impetus of the price change outside the states, but I admitted it could be both.

 

[PhillMeCream]

I don't even play xbox games like that but I still pay the $15 a month to play day 1 games

 

[Shubh_C63]

Day one on GP is so consumer pro but damn imagine just how much money it is eating out of MS.

Sooner or later, no way they can keep their promises on Day one GP releases of AAA games. Either pivot entire sutdios to make GaaS AA quality that makes sense on Day 1 GP or after 4 years AAA released will come after the internally mandatory first expansion of their AAA release on GP to retain the original buyers, attract new ones, gain market eye balls even more.

If I was an asshole CEO, that's what I would have done.

 

[Silent Viper]

If Phil gets ousted I suspect their whole gamepass strategy will change.

Yup. Once Phill gone. You will see go back 360 days Xbox.

Many fans will love it tbh

 

[pasterpl]

I love how these 4 years old brainstorming emails are taken as official plans by some.

 

[Filben]

Of course. They're a business and consider hundreds of ideas every week. And obviously if you go the opposite direction of your competition you reach the point where you question said direction.

I'm no subscriber anymore on PC, so I'm indifferent personally. But it's probably wise to stick to their current route because that's a big difference to your competitors and for people who don't care about Sony's exclusives a good selling point to choose Xbox over PS.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

Or like many other companies operating internationally, they are a just in prices to compensate for currency depreciation. If they were the only company making changes such as this, then your assumption would have more credibility. Of course, it could be a little of both.

Again, they're raising prices even as their sales decline in the THIRD year of the product life cycle... we're talking about a massive decline in sales in year 3, massive.

 

[Gamer_By_Proxy]

They basically did. Now you have to pay for “early access” to get their games on the real Day 1.

 

[mckmas8808]

Not making people buy games to be able to play them is where it's going anyway. It's just a matter of when we get there.

 

[Warablo]

That's their ace in the hole, if it went away. They'd be no different than other sub services. Granted I do think Game Pass is better than other subservices even if day one releases went away.