Access to Xbox Game Pass Worth $6,300 in Games for 2021

[Raevenlord]

Microsoft is well on its way towards becoming the Netflix of videogames, considering the running success of its Game Pass subscription service. The idea is simple: players pay a monthly fee (starting at $9,99 for PC or Xbox-specific subscriptions) and they receive access to a curated portfolio of game experiences. The platform is bolstered by the fact that Microsoft's first-party titles are made available day-one for Games Pass subscribers. In 2021 alone, this approach by Microsoft gave gamers access to games like Halo Infinite, Age of Empires 4, Forza Horizon 5, and the incredibly quirky Psychonauts 2. But is it worth it to have a Games Pass subscription, thus waiving ownership of those actual games?

Your mileage will certainly vary; but in pure dollar terms, it's difficult to argue against the idea. According to The Loadout, Games Pass subscribers were given access to around $6,300 worth of games throughout 2021 - that's how much a consumer would have to pay, day one, to own all of the games that Microsoft included (and sometimes rotated out) of its Game Pass library. A yearly Game Pass Ultimate subscription (for PC and Xbox games) would give you access to the same cadre of titles for a much more modest $15 a month - $180 in total. In March alone, Games Pass subscribers saw the floodgates open to around $960 worth of games (and potentially thousands of hours of gameplay) with the addition of Bethesda Softwork's titles to the service, following the $7,5 billion Microsoft acquisition of parent company Zenimax Media.



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[Imouto]

Well, that was disgusting.

 

[Dux]

I renewd the sub only because of Halo Infinite. It's €1 for 3 months. Got some 150 free games on Epic store worth thousands of $.

 

[Makaveli]

I have a friend who is trying to get me to sign up for game pass but i'm not really into paying a monthly fee to do so.

 

[Solid State Soul ( SSS )]

TPU comments about game pass depress me deeply

Game pass is hand down the greatest value for gamers today, but of coarse, there's always someone who's got a bone to pick about something so positive

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

I have used it but not presently using it.
You can cancel at any minute after all but I would say it Is amazing value for money, and I did get to try some games I would not have bought.

 

[mechtech]

and only play $100 worth of them

 

[Space Lynx]

TPU comments about game pass depress me deeply

Game pass is hand down the greatest value for gamers today, but of coarse, there's always someone who's got a bone to pick about something so positive

I agree 100%. It's a wonderful and welcome new business model.

 

[Lionheart]

Well, that was disgusting.

What your comment? Very pointless as well.

The best value in gaming right now is the Xbox Series S + gamepass plus it makes for a great emulator box, yes you can do more things on PC's but lets be honest, budget builds are outta the question on the GPU side.

 

[Testsubject01]

I agree 100%. It's a wonderful and welcome new business model.

Well, I still prefer GOG above all else. Subs are sneaking their way in way too many things.

 

[windwhirl]

Not entirely surprising if people sign up for this en masse. The numbers are there, can't argue with them.

What would be interesting to know is how this is handled when it comes to third party games that are included in the Game pass. Like, is there a fixed amount of money that Microsoft pays to include games in the game pass, and then adds some sort of royalties according to the total time played each game has achieved, etc.

 

[TheGuruStud]

TPU comments about game pass depress me deeply

Game pass is hand down the greatest value for gamers today, but of coarse, there's always someone who's got a bone to pick about something so positive

Yeah, that happens when not a single game is worth playing. There's two I think I played, but what good is that if you've already been done with it forever.
A bunch of turds is still turds.

 

[windwhirl]

Yeah, that happens when not a single game is worth playing. There's two I think I played, but what good is that when if you've already been done with it forever.
A bunch of turds is still turds.

That's highly subjective. Not everyone plays the same games. I personally don't see any appeal in Mortal Kombat and yet a lot of people like it. Same with Among Us (and btw, I'm sick and tired of the sus and amongus jokes), and so on and so forth.

 

[timta2]

What your comment? Very pointless as well.

The best value in gaming right now is the Xbox Series S + gamepass plus it makes for a great emulator box, yes you can do more things on PC's but lets be honest, budget builds are outta the question on the GPU side.

I think he was talking about the gross marketing, which was my first thought, too, as I read this article.

Maybe it's better now than it was when I tried it a couple of years ago, but I was really not impressed, with only a small number of games I had any interest in.

 

[umdterps71]

Game Pass works for me because I go through streaks with games. I'll go hardcore on them for 6 months, get tired of them, sell everything and pick back up 6 months later. Its easier and probably cheaper for me to simply unsubscribe and resubscribe as needed. My circumstances are probably unique though.

On a side note, there are ways to get gamepass for fairly cheap.

 

[Ruru]

I have the Ultimate subscription myself and one reason is that it has EA Play sub on it as well.

Personally I like their way and I sometimes buy a good game elsewhere if I've liked it on Game Pass; just because it's not sure are those games there forever. Just bought NieR: Automata from Steam (it was on sale, 19.99EUR) after trying it with Game Pass.

 

[Solid State Soul ( SSS )]

Yeah, that happens when not a single game is worth playing. There's two I think I played, but what good is that if you've already been done with it forever.
A bunch of turds is still turds.

 

[Rakhmaninov3]

I love it because I get to try all kinds of games I wouldn’t have paid $10 or $20 or $60 to own and then try

 

[Mussels]

I got the three month trial for $1 and plan to coop halo infinite when that comes out, as well as spam it for 'free' games so i get my moneys worth when it makes me finally pay

 

[Ruru]

I got the three month trial for $1 and plan to coop halo infinite when that comes out, as well as spam it for 'free' games so i get my moneys worth when it makes me finally pay

Sucks that it's not (at least yet) a part of the Master Chief Collection which I have on Steam

 

[watzupken]

In my opinion, the value of the games in Game Pass don't really matter. People subscribe to the service if there are games that they want to try/ play. I believe 90% of the games may not appeal to you. Unlike Netflix or any movie/TV streaming platform, a game may take quite a long time to complete. And because you can watch shows a lot easier on the go, you can finish a long series fairly quickly. For people that have the time to sit for hours a day to game, I think it will make sense. If you don't, the subscription will expire before you get to complete any game. I've used it for half a year and decided to stop the subscription because it is like me donating to MS. I do agree that it is good for trying some games out.

 

[Vayra86]

And all of that 6300 is rental service with no semblance of control. Oh shit, you were halfway along in game X? Too bad, its gone.

Your entire save history is also tied to the service.
Good luck replaying something you loved - you'll likely end up buying it after all.
Modding is another aspect under pressure here. Not exactly something beneficial to gaming in the long run. But... if you are super casual and will only ever love the all-you-can-eat style of gaming, this is definitely for you. Who cares about replay value in games, right? You just subbed to it and forgot about it anyway. The content doesn't even have to be great- its there and its free, your time has been spent. Much like fast food. Belly full, burp. Never mind long term health. What's up for tomorrow? Ah! They have just added more burgers, cool!

There is no profit here, it just looks that way. A nice business model, but I do prefer control and actual consumer rights, instead of subbing and having just a right to access - for as long as it lasts. You have no control. Whatsoever. All your market influence/power as a consumer is transferred to MS/cloud provider. Once you're tied to the service, you're a sheep in the flock.

In the long run, this business model will destroy a lot of what's good in PC gaming. Its effectively turning it into a console ecosystem. But hey, at least you paid one dollar a month for a few months at some point in your life. Weeeee... the value! But sooner rather than later, the overall quality of the content will have devolved so far, there is no going back. In todays environment where services do NOT control the market just yet, we have space for all those indie devs reinvigorating games and concepts. Now consider a world that has been fully platformed by cloud services, and a small indie dev trying to make his thing work in that market. It won't happen. You can look at how devs struggle with app platforms on mobile right now for good examples. The amount of proper games on mobile is virtually nonexistant. Successful concepts simply get bought or stolen by Google/Apple/*insert tech corp*

And don't forget, there is a whole world of analytics behind these services. You're not in control and content is fed (and removed) to maximize profit, not maximize entertainment value. These analytics are not transparent. Its social media algorithm hell all over again. Commercial gain is the only and ultimate driving factor, killing talent and creativity, while promoting herd mentality.

I wouldn't even use these shitholes if they paid me.

In my opinion, the value of the games in Game Pass don't really matter. People subscribe to the service if there are games that they want to try/ play. I believe 90% of the games may not appeal to you. Unlike Netflix or any movie/TV streaming platform, a game may take quite a long time to complete. And because you can watch shows a lot easier on the go, you can finish a long series fairly quickly. For people that have the time to sit for hours a day to game, I think it will make sense. If you don't, the subscription will expire before you get to complete any game. I've used it for half a year and decided to stop the subscription because it is like me donating to MS. I do agree that it is good for trying some games out.

Yes, and if you do have actual time to do more than casual gaming, you're probably still better off just buying the stuff as you will spend lots of time in it anyway. The only way these services really generate value is if you visit a lot of content for a brief period of time. But for gaming, that's like not playing anything, or getting information overload and ultimately not enjoying much of it. Hey, but at least you can say 'you got your money's worth'!

It kind of reminds me of those buses full of Asian tourists we get in Europe. They spend thousands of dollars for a two week round trip through Europe, a crash course past all the sites that 'matter' where they're allowed to go out and walk around for all of ten minutes as if you'd walk your dog. In the end all you've got is brief flashes and the idea that you can say you've been there, plus complete exhaustion.

TPU comments about game pass depress me deeply

Game pass is hand down the greatest value for gamers today, but of coarse, there's always someone who's got a bone to pick about something so positive

You're just more naive than others about this. But we have examples of how platforming kills markets right now, evolving as we speak. Also, if you've paid attention, PC gaming was never expensive, it only is if you feel like diving into every launchday patch and buy maximum price to be 'first' on every release. You can also postpone everything a year and buy at 5 dollars feature complete. So much for 6300 dollars 'worth' of games. If its even a quarter realistically, its optimistic.

I remember saying similar things pre-empting the current ideas about social media and how they influenced us the wrong way. This is the same thing, all over again. And remember, if its cheap/free, you're paying with something else. I've just described how the free lunch is not free.

 

[TheDeeGee]

I've got over 260 free games on Epic now, and i didn't have to pay anything, and i get to keep them.

 

[windwhirl]

I've got over 260 free games on Epic now, and i didn't have to pay anything, and i get to keep them.

To be fair, yes and no. If EPIC goes belly up, it will take everything with it.

Realistically, the only platform that does allow you to truly keep your games is GOG.

 

[Vayra86]

To be fair, yes and no. If EPIC goes belly up, it will take everything with it.

Realistically, the only platform that does allow you to truly keep your games is GOG.

No it'll get bought and the new owner will definitely want to keep its massive account database. Those are customers you've got on the platform right there. The market will likely do its job. Take content away and you know they're not going to come back.

We have no precedent yet. But that's much more likely than it going belly up and nobody caring about it.