I never understood the praise at all. It’s literally turning DRM into a business model.
Comment on Xbox: "Price Increases Are Never Fun For Anybody"
EncryptKeeper@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I remember when GamePass was first announced and everybody lauded Microsoft for being “pro-consumer” and outright cheered when they started buying up independent studios.
I remember being downvoted to oblivion for pointing out the very obvious 5 year plan for GP and the fact that it would go… exactly the way it’s currently going.
chunes@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Suburbanl3g3nd@lemmings.world 3 weeks ago
Lol that’s always been the business model
Buddahriffic@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
It’s because it was pretty much the Netflix of video games. Pay a subscription and you get access to a collection of games.
When it was 5.99 it was a no brainer. I think I cancelled mine around 13.99, though not because of the price but because I always forgot it existed and it tied me to windows. Switched to Linux and cancelling was a part of that transition.
sadfitzy@ttrpg.network 3 weeks ago
Yep. Same thing with netflix.
The average consumer is a moron, so their complacency is irrelevant in determining what’s a good deal.
Lfrith@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
Yep in this thread I’ve been arguing with some who is saying consoles havr to charge for online because it is so expensive… Yet, on PC for platforms like Steam and Epic despite also hosting and having multiplayer games they don’t charge.
Just goes to show how some consumers after being so used to not having flexibility and lack of restrictions when comes to products become convinced it is necessary.
cyberpunk007@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
I feel like I responded to this exact comment on Reddit years ago saying the same. The thing people don’t realize, is subscriptions give you zero control of ownership and it’s always in the best interest of the corp to bait and switch.
Katana314@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
At the time, I predicted you were probably right - but it would still be a good value for the time that the price stayed low.
kbobabob@lemmy.dbzer0.com 3 weeks ago
Exactly, it was great at 11.99 IMO. As soon as I got the email saying a 50% increase, I cancelled. Surely they knew there would be cancellations but I’m not sure they knew there would be that many.
kaseijin@lemmy.world 2 weeks ago
No doubt in my mind M$ employs obfuscated layers of (contracted) marketing to astroturf, including downvotes of your cautionary comments. The line between a fanboy and astroturfer is blurred.
Gaining subscribers/customers while bleeding money, then charging more money once your competitors are forced out of the market or investors want to cash out, is a basic strategy… I doubt Game Pass was ever profitable, it was all an illusion propped up by accounting tricks and obfuscated/discounted internal operating costs (where M$ can shift xbox costs to money-printing cloud services division).
No doubt after years of failed xbox, that Phil Spencer is just a corporate suit executing the vision of M$ as a whole (in which Games is just an inconvenient detail). Expect more of the same, bundling of other services, no actual good in-house games. Activision acquisition in part of this strategy to pump up Game Pass, since M$ internal studios have not produced anything noteworthy this generation. I expect the next xbox to have cheaper hardware to undercut ps6, but to have increased game pass incentives to make up for it. maybe a random bundle with netflix. you gotta think outside of the (x)box for whats coming next.
Lfrith@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
I’ve been in the fuck subscriptions camp. Sony locking multiplayer behind PS+ wad led me to dropping consoles as my primary gaming system too, since I refused to pay for online.
EncryptKeeper@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
I don’t mind subscriptions for ongoing infrastructure as much. My problem is with using a subscription to replace ownership.
Lfrith@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
If they are charging to multiplayer why wouldn’t they want to replace ownership too so they get money every month.
EncryptKeeper@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
Platform infrastructure like PSN costs an inordinate amount of money. People owning games they paid for does not cost you any money
krooklochurm@lemmy.ca 3 weeks ago
Tbf when Xbox first launched console multiplayer there was a monthly fee too.
That was anti-consumer from the get-go but it was also there from the start.