What is your opinion on gaming subscription services?

[SvennoJ]

It's clear we're just going in circles, the value proposition is simply too great.

And yes, there is an underlying tone of MS vs Sony going on as well. However Sony is doing the same with PS Now, Sony introduced the 'free' games with ps+ (as an answer to Live Gold) and online passes. Sony is adding MTX as well. The only difference between PS Now and GP is the budget for user acquisition behind it.

This thread goes kinda hand in hand with the 7th vs 8th gen thread. It seems most people didn't like 8th gen all that much, 7th gen being heralded as much better. So the consensus seems to be there that game creativity/variety is in fact declining. Same with BC, rather playing old games with better graphics/fps. And game subscriptions are perfect for that.

Gaas also has its popularity, which is understandable considering the majority of players always gravitated to yearly franchises. Plus the ongoing success of Fortnite can't be ignored. Game subscriptions fit perfectly in there, the big publishers can simply update their Fifas and Cods with a steady income instead of coming up with a new campaign and/or direction. Not that Fifa did that anyway.

For me the writing is on the wall, the same will happen as what happened to tv. Initially it was great to have access to all kinds of 'different' shows from across the world. Now it feels like I'm scraping the barrel while all the stuff I'm interested in is split over different streaming services.

GP does make releasing incomplete games more 'excusable'. A game on gamepass from day 1 gets far less scrutiny than without gamepass. Same with games released on ps+ day one (there are some). It's 'free' so it's allowed to release incomplete.

Anyway I wonder what gaming will look like in 5 years. The current boost from the pandemic will be long gone, the recession will be in full effect and more competition/fragmentation in subscriptions services which will have to start earning a profit at some point.