this post was submitted on 19 Oct 2023
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[–] TheGrandNagus 51 points 1 year ago (3 children)

Almost like they price it cheap until they conquer the market, then jack up prices

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

MS probably doesn’t even make a profit with GamePass. They spend hundreds of millions to get Triple-A games on the service. GamePass is great for the consumer but in the end it will destroy the industry as we know it and give MS way too much power in the industry. People like to shit on Epic for their exclusivity deals, but MS is doing the same with GamePass. MS is trying to monopolize the customer base. And once they have achieved that they will not only raise their prices but lower the amount they will give to developers. And before you say MS doesn’t do exclusivity deals and you can still buy those games on Steam, many people will stop buying games if they can get them from a subscription service for cheap. Like the commenter above.

[–] TheGrandNagus 11 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Phil Spencer confirmed it's not making money in the FTC leaks. That's why in MS's financials they don't disclose gamepass financials.

It actually staggers me how widespread the belief that MS won't up prices is. I wonder if they thought the same about Netflix or cable TV subscriptions? Lol

And yeah, also in the FTC leaks MS stated they'd love to do a hostile takeover of Nintendo or Valve if they got the choice. I don't know why people think Microsoft are on their side. They're a 2.5 trillion dollar company with a history of anti-competitive behaviour lol

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I dont think anyone doubts the prices will go up, but if it costs less than a AAA game every few months then people will pay it for the ability to play those games without a console or PC and to be able to play multiple games for the price of one

[–] LemmyIsFantastic 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

And again if that happens I'll happily evaluate the value. For now I'll choose to save thousands and use that money in the future for theoretical price hikes.

It won't, it's just slippery slope bullshit, but I'm ready with three money I saved.

[–] TheGrandNagus 3 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

You don't think MS will up prices? Lol

Phil Spencer in the MS FTC leaks literally said that Gamepass isn't making money. Now, personally, I'm of the belief that MS is a for-profit company rather than a charity, in which case they'll up prices.

They have to up prices or shut down gamepass. That's not my opinion, that's capitalism. Microsoft will not keep gamepass if there's no possibility of making money from it, and there isn't at current pricing (source: Microsoft).

And save thousands? Thousands? You'd seriously be buying more than 33 AAA games each year for full retail price? Then never playing them again? Sounds like you're exaggerating by a pretty large amount lol

[–] LemmyIsFantastic 2 points 1 year ago

Oh at least 30. I probably clear a game every 2-3 weeks. And even if they up prices

I'll deal with prices as they come for now, I'm saving, yes thousands and playing more games than ever.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

This only really works if they start making games exclusive to gamespass

[–] TheGrandNagus 4 points 1 year ago

I don't think that necessarily has to be true.

Even so, MS is already dabbling with buying publishers and wielding them as a weapon through enforcing exclusivity. See buying Bethesda and destroying development of the PS5 port for Starfield. I think it's naive to think this will get better and not worse.