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VERGE: Microsoft reveals Xbox Game Pass Friends & Family plan and pricing. Piloting in Ireland/Columbia (€21.99 Ireland, 49,900 COP Columbia,~$25USD)

How the hell can this gamepass thing be profitable?
I still dont understand that
It's magic baby. Let the world unite with gamepass. We are gonna need to start a new thread when it comes out worldwide. For people to band together and share the cost of gamepass. Ms will reach 60 million subscribers in no time. And that's a low estimate.
 

reksveks

Member
How the hell can this gamepass thing be profitable?
I still dont understand that
Need to make a calculator for this (so people kinda understand the maths that MS is likely making) but it's based on the fact that store transactions have good margins (~30%) and first party games have less. Also MS had less first party full game revenue.
 

Tomi

Member
Gamepass will affect Sony in a big way if they dont do something, this is reason to worry at Sony gaming department
 
I wonder why MS isn't giving away Series S or even X for free incl a 2 year GP plan at this point. I mean they are clearly not here to make money now, just want every gamer on board, and milk them later and all the choice talk is kind of schizophrenic when all this moves are targeted at preventing Meta, Apple and google, their competitors in their mind, to even try to enter the market properly and will inevitable make Sonys life hard, if not impossible short and mid term.
 

Kagey K

Banned
giphy-downsized-large.gif

Gotta reel in those subs.

Gaming is such a cheap hobby, what a stroke of luck I chose it over drinking, smoking, drugs and prostitutes.
While it won't bring up gamepass numbers in my house it will sholghtky reduce the cost.

That must be a bad thing for me right?
 

Sleepwalker

Gold Member
I wonder why MS isn't giving away Series S or even X for free incl a 2 year GP plan at this point. I mean they are clearly not here to make money now, just want every gamer on board, and milk them later and all the choice talk is kind of schizophrenic when all this moves are targeted at preventing Meta, Apple and google, their competitors in their mind, to even try to enter the market properly and will inevitable make Sonys life hard, if not impossible short and mid term.
They already give you a series S or X bundled with 2 years of gamepass on a low monthly payment free of interest via xbox all access, thats the closes they can get to just handing it to you for free.
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
How the hell can this gamepass thing be profitable?
I still dont understand that

It's obviously not, especially not with a deal like this. MS's plan is to outspend the competition and destroy it, like they usually do in most fields.

People are celebrating now, and yeah, this is a pretty amazing deal in the short term, but what will the gaming market look like once MS succeeds and they're the only major player remaining?
 

Black_Stride

do not tempt fate do not contrain Wonder Woman's thighs do not do not
I dont see a 1 year price.
Did they already get rid of the 1 year Gamepass subscription like they did for XBLG?

Cuz this sounds like a steal.
 

Allandor

Member
How the hell can this gamepass thing be profitable?
I still dont understand that
You have always (even for older games) a quite steady flow of income. You reach even customers who would have never bought the game. And yes, games that e.g. have DLCs also profit from such subscriptions. Not only people who bought get potential DLC customers, also those who have a temporal license to play a game.
Yes, you won't earn as much from day one as through the more traditional market, but with time this pays of as long as the game is played. Plus you still have the option to sell the game on the traditional channels.


Back to the topic, the family subscription plan is something I wait for years now. It can be really annoying if my kids play a gamepass title and throw me of a game because they just say "yes end the game on the other console" ^^
 

Hobbygaming

has been asked to post in 'Grounded' mode.
The best deal in gaming just got better. Nothing comes close to this.

MS are hitting it out the park while it's competitors are increasing entry costs and charging £70 for shitty remasters.
Hitting it out of the park? 🤔
 

Roberts

Member
Me and my three friends are definitely getting this. I'm the only one who subscribes to GP non-stop, so it's a win-win for all of us.

2023 is going to be gpargantuan.
 
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Ozriel

M$FT
It's obviously not, especially not with a deal like this. MS's plan is to outspend the competition and destroy it, like they usually do in most fields.

People are celebrating now, and yeah, this is a pretty amazing deal in the short term, but what will the gaming market look like once MS succeeds and they're the only major player remaining?

This is just baseless scaremongering. You really have no data to prove this isn’t sustainable. MS has similar bulk deals for Office 365 and that’s indisputably sustainable and very profitable.

‘Outspend the competition and destroy them’ is a weird claim, i can’t think of any field they’re in where they’ve pursued this in the past decade. They aren’t doing that with Office, or Windows or AR or VR or even gaming.

There’s absolutely nothing in what they’re pushing that seems certain to shove the likes of GeforceNow or PlayStation Plus out of the market. Their main competition has a very successful subscription service of their own, and has a deal with Azure to use the same infrastructure and stack for game streaming…plus a massive game library.
 

RJMacready73

Simps for Amouranth
ffs MICROSOFT!!! stop being so fucking Pro Gamer... fucking Sony looking £70 of me to replay TLOU with TLOU2 graphics.. fucking £70!!! and heres MS giving out family pass for just over £20... i have 3 playstations in the house, thankfully the wee lad only plays lego starwars/fallguys/fortnite and the wee girl plays roblox on her ipad, but if i had 3 xboxs all three of us could be playing Sea of Thieves or any number of great games on it.... sort it out Sony, MS making you look like a fucking rip off gimp
 

onesvenus

Member
It's obviously not, especially not with a deal like this. MS's plan is to outspend the competition and destroy it, like they usually do in most fields
Can you give us some data that supports your claims? They said some time ago it's sustainable and making some quick numbers seems reasonable to think that. As long as the number of subscribers doesn't decrease they won't have any problem
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
Can you give us some data that supports your claims? They said some time ago it's sustainable and making some quick numbers seems reasonable to think that. As long as the number of subscribers doesn't decrease they won't have any problem

Of course I don't have numbers, and neither do you. "Sustainable" doesn't necessarily mean they're not losing money on it, it could just mean that MS (with their deep, deep pockets) can "sustain" it until they've reached their goal of market domination and ecosystem lock-in.
 
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Ozriel

M$FT
Of course I don't have numbers, and neither do you. "Sustainable" doesn't necessarily mean they're not losing money on it, it could just mean that MS (with their deep, deep pockets) can "sustain" it until they've reached their goal of market domination and ecosystem lock-in.

So why are you making definitive statements if you’re just guessing?

There’s actually no indication that they’re losing money on the service, since with the userbase they already have, there should be certainly enough sub revenue generated to the content costs
 

onesvenus

Member
Of course I don't have numbers, and neither do you. "Sustainable" doesn't necessarily mean they're not losing money on it, it could just mean that MS (with their deep, deep pockets) can "sustain" it until they've reached their goal of market domination and ecosystem lock-in.
Exactly, as I don't have data I don't go into forums posting things I don't know about. You should do the same or at least tell that's what you think
 
This is insane, ill be switching to this for sure. Fuck me game pass is a behemoth. Finally I can cover me, my son and my daughter...hell even my mums house and my Mrs if I want.

Sold MS, effing sold!
Yup, My daughter is playing my games but can't play on her tv upstairs as I don't really want to have two subscriptions! This is amazing
 

C2brixx

Member
There's a Regulator in the UK wondering how all this value Microsoft is offering to consumers is going to affect Sony's profiblity.
 
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reksveks

Member
uefnkVB.png


a lot of assumptions here but bold is stuff that I properly need to dig into and need to double check the formula but it's sort of a guidance to what MS are trying to figure out. Cost of first party doesn't really scale exactly with user base but one more thing that you could probably add.

BTW this isn't supposed to be used to prove anything; it's just an sort of idea of how i think MS is thinking about Gamepass. First column is no gamepass and therefore no growth, maybe worth adding no gamepass and lower growth.
 

Schmick

Member
How will this affect Gamepass subscription numbers GAF is always worried about?

Does signing up to the Family Plan count as one subscriber or will the number of people who have signed up to a single plan be taken into account?
 

adamsapple

Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
How will this affect Gamepass subscription numbers GAF is always worried about?

Does signing up to the Family Plan count as one subscriber or will the number of people who have signed up to a single plan be taken into account?

Probably the 1 parent account will be counted.

The number counting will become even more ambiguous but folks will get the best deal in return. $5 for GPU is nothing short of a steal.
 

DaGwaphics

Member
Some limitations on how the sharing will work.

- Only people in same country
- You can't leave and join again with a family plan more than 2 times a year
- As account holder, you can have 4 active other members and in total no more than 8 per year. Meaning you can't keep rotating people in and out of the family plan through a year.

The rest all seems boiler plate stuff you'd expect.


FbmrHxsXgAILT9A

Not really too bad at all. Sometimes they nurf this type of thing by wanting all users in the same household, etc. They've left this more open, which is great.
 
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Warnen

Don't pass gaas, it is your Destiny!
Wonder if there is a way to prorate a family’s combine subs. I got my sub paid till Xmas next year, my brother like a month or 2 before that. Guess I’ll sign up after his expires if not.
 

Hendrick's

If only my penis was as big as my GamerScore!
The picture of the wife and husband looks funny now that I look at it. Like another man is in front of the screen showing off making the husband shocked, but the wife is ready. Even has her tongue out licking her lips in the pic.

Microsoft do you vet these images, lol.
That's supposed to be a father and daughter.
 

IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
Of course I don't have numbers, and neither do you. "Sustainable" doesn't necessarily mean they're not losing money on it, it could just mean that MS (with their deep, deep pockets) can "sustain" it until they've reached their goal of market domination and ecosystem lock-in.

They can keep me locked in for life with this deal. Hell, I was going to buy a Switch, but Nintendo are living in the past by forcing people to buy games individually. Nobody is going to want to do that for much longer. With this deal, and the amount of games that will release day one on GP, I doubt I'll ever have to buy another game again. I'll just wait till the game goes on GP if it's not there day one.

Hopefully publishers take note of this and release all their games on GP in the future. The only gripe I have about this deal is that the offer seems to good to be true. Microsoft could double the price and I'd still happily empty my wallet to them.

GP really is the greatest deal not just in gaming, but the greatest consumer service ever made. I know the family plan isn't in the UK yet, but this news has already made my day. Really has rekindled my love of gaming.

Thank you, Microsoft.
 

sainraja

Member
I subscribe to Game Pass/PS sub only to try out games that I have probably wouldn't have considered or bought. I am noticing many people here actually avoid getting a game in hopes that it will reach the sub they have which I find interesting.
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
They can keep me locked in for life with this deal. Hell, I was going to buy a Switch, but Nintendo are living in the past by forcing people to buy games individually. Nobody is going to want to do that for much longer. With this deal, and the amount of games that will release day one on GP, I doubt I'll ever have to buy another game again. I'll just wait till the game goes on GP if it's not there day one.

Hopefully publishers take note of this and release all their games on GP in the future. The only gripe I have about this deal is that the offer seems to good to be true. Microsoft could double the price and I'd still happily empty my wallet to them.

GP really is the greatest deal not just in gaming, but the greatest consumer service ever made. I know the family plan isn't in the UK yet, but this news has already made my day. Really has rekindled my love of gaming.

Thank you, Microsoft.

We've also heard from some studios that maybe doing day 1 GP releases isn't the best way for them to recoup their investment, especially for big AAA single player games. There's a reason why Sony has decided not to do this with their own games. Maybe you are fine with all games going GaaS, but I am not. I want the high budget single player experiences that Sony is known for to still exist. Can they in a subscription-based future? If these deals keep being "too good to be true", as you yourself say, something's gotta give I feel. Currently both MS and Sony are in the buildup phase, but what then? We'll see I guess.
 
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Schmick

Member
We've also heard from some studios that maybe doing day 1 GP releases isn't the best way for them to recoup their investment, especially for big AAA single player games. There's a reason why Sony has decided not to do this with their own games. Maybe you are fine with all games going GaaS, but I am not. I want the high budget single player experiences that Sony is known for to still exist. Can they in a subscription-based future? If these deals keep being "too good to be true", as you yourself say, something's gotta give I feel. Currently both MS and Sony are in the buildup phase, but what then? We'll see I guess.
Again, the drama. Phil Spencer has reiterated that Gamepass is seen as an 'option' over the traditional form of game purchasing. If MS was all in on Gamepass then there is no way any of their games would feature on Steam.
 

twilo99

Member
Gamepass will affect Sony in a big way if they dont do something, this is reason to worry at Sony gaming department

Sony has at least another 2-3 years of a buffer thanks to their enormous marketing advantage, install base, and overall fan loyalty. They don't really need to compete with game pass.. For now.
 

Ozriel

M$FT
We've also heard from some studios that maybe doing day 1 GP releases isn't the best way for them to recoup their investment, especially for big AAA single player games. There's a reason why Sony has decided not to do this with their own games. Maybe you are fine with all games going GaaS, but I am not. I want the high budget single player experiences that Sony is known for to still exist. Can they in a subscription-based future? If these deals keep being "too good to be true", as you yourself say, something's gotta give I feel. Currently both MS and Sony are in the buildup phase, but what then? We'll see I guess.

Microsoft has multiple single player games in development and many of their GaaS games boast budgets that are every bit as AAA as most in the industry. And the last thread about the studio deciding Gamepass wouldn’t work for Callisto Protocol specifically made note of their status as a small, independent studio.

Heck, even Netflix makes one-and-done movies.
 

The_Mike

I cry about SonyGaf from my chair in Redmond, WA
Getting people to pay you to play games they were never going to buy anyway kind of makes sense to me. Some money is better than no money.
Add to that, besides informed people who stock up on game pass for 1 euro, they earn a lot more from people paying 120 / year for GPU then 40 euro a year for gold.
 

NickFire

Member
Some limitations on how the sharing will work.

- Only people in same country
- You can't leave and join again with a family plan more than 2 times a year
- As account holder, you can have 4 active other members and in total no more than 8 per year. Meaning you can't keep rotating people in and out of the family plan through a year.

The rest all seems boiler plate stuff you'd expect.


FbmrHxsXgAILT9A
If the people like the content then 300 a year for 5 people to get both online and the library will be a pretty good deal. Can't deny that.
 

CeeJay

Member
It draws people in to their ecosystem where they get 30% of third party purchases that might have otherwise gone to Sony/Nintendo, and they don't include dlc/expansions like forza 5s hot wheels.

Game pass is a play to draw marketshare away from Sony for the most part though

It's obviously working to some extent, between the free marketing from users, Sony making its own rival (never would have happened otherwise, Sony fanboys should be grateful to Microsoft, and Microsoft fanboys should be grateful for the competition), and Sony's public statements about game pass being anti competitive (fucking lol).
Just a few years ago I would have laughed and called you crazy if you told me I would be buying DLC for games I don't even own! Gamepass was a genius move and to be honest is the first truly disruptive thing to happen in gaming since the Wii.
 

RoadHazard

Gold Member
Microsoft has multiple single player games in development and many of their GaaS games boast budgets that are every bit as AAA as most in the industry. And the last thread about the studio deciding Gamepass wouldn’t work for Callisto Protocol specifically made note of their status as a small, independent studio.

Heck, even Netflix makes one-and-done movies.

Yes, and my point is that MS has the money to "sustain" GP almost indefinitely, which nobody else does. Sony doesn't put their 1st party games on PS+ day 1 because for them it's not sustainable. They would have to stop making those games. That's why I think this model isn't REALLY sustainable, if we still want those games. MS just has the pockets to brute-force it.
 
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