| The_Liquid_Laser said: Here is the thing that Microsoft and big tech companies don't get. Gaming is fundamentally different from watching movies. Before streaming services came along, how did people primarily watch movies? They rented. Some bought DVDs, but this was the minority. Most of the time when people watched a movie they rented. This is because an average movie is only 2 hours of entertainment. Most games are far longer than 2 hours. That is why people buy games instead of renting them. Sure Blockbuster had a decent game rental business for a while, but it still wasn't as popular as the buy/sell/trade model. People like to own their games, because they are a lot longer. Streaming games will not take off like streaming movies did. Some will like it sure, but streaming movies was massively adopted by almost everyone. Lots of people are not going to want to stream games. They want to own them. All of the games you want to play for one low monthly price is not really a good deal. A lot of the games I own take a month or more to play through. It's like going to an all you can eat buffet and then only getting one item. If I own a game, then I can come back to it whenever I want, even many years later. I can also trade or sell it. You lose a lot by streaming, and the benefits you gain don't necessarily balance with the disadvantages. I am sure they do for some people, but there are lots of people who really are never going to go for it. Streaming for games is not going to become the new standard. It is not "the future". It's just another type of platform. Some will like it. Others will adamantly stick to physical media. |
People do what their habits teach them. For people over their 30 maybe streaming will never be a thing, but for kids who will start playing on streaming buying games will be pointless once they becomes grown ups and starting buying things for themselves
Do you know how most of people used to consume music? It wasn't renting, it was buying because a song isn't something you listen one week and then get bored of it, music is something you buy today and keep listening for years
Yet everybody adapted to streaming really fast, because streaming is readily available. As long the music is avaible people will subscribe, it's not like singers will take their library from services
For games, it will be the same. Subscriptions are fairly new and buying still common, big players and publishers don't have their stabilished services yet, but once the market consolidates (probably will take more 7-8 years) customers will start to trust some games will be avaible in the service forever and then they will naturally move away from buying until buying start being a niche habit just like buying CDs and some publishers will barely bother releasing physical media unless it's for a premium price like vinyls, then customers will need to choose between paying the premium price for their physicals or just engaging in the cheaper media for mass consumption
