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What If Microsoft And Sony Worked Together On GamePass

Would you pay $19.99/month for GamePass if it functioned the way it is spelled out in the OP?


  • Total voters
    149

IFireflyl

Gold Member
Right now GamePass is a $14.99/month subscription. If Microsoft and Sony were to work together they could increase this to $19.99/month and have both companies' games be playable from the same GamePass subscription service. Playstation games on GamePass would still only be playable on Playstation consoles, and Xbox games would still only be playable on Xbox consoles. The reason I specify this is that by keeping them brand-specific it is still encouraging both companies to remain competitive in hardware, which should also keep the software (games) competitive as they still want people to use their console for their exclusive games.

The way I am thinking about it Sony would benefit from Microsoft's existing GamePass infrastructure (which I truly believe beats the pants off of PS Now). Microsoft would take an up-front hit as profits would be split between the two companies, but they would also be able to expand GamePass to reach the Playstation user-base which means their overall GamePass subscribers would increase which would (in theory) make up for any losses caused by splitting the revenue with Sony, and it could lead to greater overall profits. Especially if Sony ditched PS Now and split the infrastructure cost for GamePass as well.

PC users would benefit the most from this as both Playstation and Xbox are allowing their games to come to PC now. But Playstation users would also benefit since they would have (what I believe to be) a better subscription-based service for getting their games versus what they have now. Granted, not everyone wants to use a subscription service for games, and that's fine. I'm one of those people. But I was thinking about this today and I thought that this would be a pretty awesome team-up. If the price for the subscription just went up $5/month that wouldn't be too far off what it currently is, and it still seems acceptable to me. Heck, my Alamo Season Pass is $19.99/month. That lets me see only 1 movie per day, and I don't even see more than two movies per month on most months.

So what are your thoughts? Am I missing something that would cause this to be a definite flop? I get that neither company probably wants to get in bed with the other for this, but this is a "what if" scenario. Would you get GamePass at the higher price point if it gave you the option to have games for both consoles on their respective consoles? Am I insane for even entertaining this idea? It's possible I'm smooth-braining it right now and I just need someone to explain why. :D
 

kingfey

Banned
I will quit gaming.

The fun in gaming is competition. Without that, we will get cable tv.

Edit: The beauty of gamepass, is that its different what playstation offers. You cant find value that is close to it.

I would like Sony to do their own gamepass. That is better value, than merging with xbox gamepass.
 
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Zok310

Banned
Sony tried working with other platform publishers in the past and it did not work out. Why would they make another attempt when they spent the last 25 years since proving that you do not need to work with other platform pubs to be successful?
 

yurinka

Member
They are already making a big effort to introduce players to game subscriptions and streaming, doing it at a loss specially in MS case. They do it to generate a critical mass in terms of market share big enough to make sure they have no competition.

Right now the profitability of their current business model is doubtful, doing that it would be even worse. So no, this never would happen.

Sony's game subscriptions have more subscribers and generate, generate more revenue and since they basically put there old games their costs must be smaller so should be more profitable. Sony doesn't need to use Gamepass when they have their own, more successful, game subscription services. Specially when putting their games on the service of their direct competition would mean to give them part of these games revenue that now goes 100% to Sony. A company wouldn't do this because they want to increase their revenue and profits, not to decrease them and give them to their direct competition.

On top of that, Sony doesn't put all their games on their subscriptions, and doesn't port all their games on PC because PC and subscriptions are only a very small revenue and profit source for them. Their main business is to sell games and add-ons (mtx, dlc...) for PlayStation, and specially 3rd party ones. So they need to have (at least temporal, at least console) exclusive games as main unique selling point to keep feeding their main money source.
 
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Aion002

Member
Jim Ryan seeing this thread...

season 17 episode 13 GIF




Probably. :messenger_squinting_tongue:


Anyway....

I Would Channel 9 GIF by The Block
 

IFireflyl

Gold Member
I will quit gaming.

The fun in gaming is competition. Without that, we will get cable tv.

Edit: The beauty of gamepass, is that its different what playstation offers. You cant find value that is close to it.

I would like Sony to do their own gamepass. That is better value, than merging with xbox gamepass.

I would agree, except that I don't think Sony is actively pursuing this. PS Now has always been sub-par, and it doesn't seem like they're going to lengths to fix that. Even with this idea (which may very well be absolutely awful, lol) there would still be console exclusivity and competition. It just wouldn't be competition in the GamePass infrastructure unless you're including GeForce Now and the like. But I definitely see your point.

Sony tried working with other platform publishers in the past and it did not work out. Why would they make another attempt when they spent the last 25 years since proving that you do not need to work with other platform pubs to be successful?

Every company wants money. If they felt they could grow by taking advantage of Microsoft's knowledge in this area, why wouldn't they do that? The issue I guess would be, do they think they would gain as much as Microsoft would gain if they went this route? I truly don't know, and this was merely an errant thought that I had this morning. :messenger_grinning_sweat:
 

CeeJay

Member
So you are suggesting that MS give up a unique selling point that they have spent years working towards and just give it away along with a cut of the profits to their main competitor in the space in the hope that they recoup those losses from new PlayStation gamepass customers? Sounds crazy. I think MS would prefer that those PlayStation owners just sign up to what's there in gamepass already. After all, you don't even need the console to play the games, it's a ridiculously low barrier to entry. At this point anyone who hasn't signed up probably just isn't interested in the subscription model or too much of a PlayStation fanboy. PlayStation probably will at some point have a similar service and probably built on the same tech in Azure just with a different name. Microsoft probably prefers to have Sony as a paying customer/partner rather than a partner who they split their own profits with.
 

IFireflyl

Gold Member
I would only be up for it if PS puts all its games on PC.

I'm hoping they do this regardless! I feel like PC gamers would be the most apt to jump on this since they could get the best of both worlds without having to shell out for an additional console (or more than one console).
 
Can probably kiss goodbye to the £1 for 3 months of Gamepass deal Microsoft keep offering me if so :messenger_pensive: Would kinda be a bit naff as well to lose PSnow seen as it lets me stream everything the service has to offer on my laptop at work
 
LOL You guys really want Microsoft to pay for all your games.

If for some reason Sony wanted to join another company for their streaming services it would be Spotify or Netflix. Since they already have deep relationships with them both.

I can see PSNow games being offered on Netflix. Since Netflix would love a influx of a game library.
 

IFireflyl

Gold Member
Nope. I'd gladly pay 5 bucks more a month to get all the PS first party games, but not if I can only play them on a Playstation console. I want to play everywhere, that's one of the core advantages of Gamepass after all.

I get that. The problem there would become (as kingfey kingfey rightly pointed out) that there would be a lack of competition if you could play any console's games on any other console. That's why I put that caveat in stating that Playstation-specific games could still only be played on Playstation consoles (or PC), and that Xbox-specific games could only be played on Xbox consoles (or PC). That way there is still reason for competition.
 

IFireflyl

Gold Member
LOL You guys really want Microsoft to pay for all your games.

If for some reason Sony wanted to join another company for their streaming services it would be Spotify or Netflix. Since they already have deep relationships with them both.

I can see PSNow games being offered on Netflix. Since Netflix would love a influx of a game library.

Where did anyone say Microsoft should pay for Playstation games? I said that Sony would split the cost of the GamePass infrastructure. I think you came into this thread with a bias. I have both a Playstation 5 and an Xbox Series X. I see the strengths and weaknesses of both consoles. I never indicated that Microsoft sucks and Sony rules, or vice versa. Sony does have a larger user-base, and Microsoft has a better subscription-based infrastructure. That's why, too me, I thought a merger in this particular area could have merit. I have definitely seen a lot of disagreement (I don't always have the best ideas), but in this scenario both companies would, with the way I saw it in my head, profit.
 

Kssio_Aug

Member
I get that. The problem there would become (as kingfey kingfey rightly pointed out) that there would be a lack of competition if you could play any console's games on any other console. That's why I put that caveat in stating that Playstation-specific games could still only be played on Playstation consoles (or PC), and that Xbox-specific games could only be played on Xbox consoles (or PC). That way there is still reason for competition.
Quite a disadivantage for Sony though... to pay MS for playing Playstation games on a Playstation platform.
 

hlm666

Member
Playstation games on GamePass would still only be playable on Playstation consoles, and Xbox games would still only be playable on Xbox consoles.
This would make the whole thing pointless, if your going to do this people will want the ability to be able to subscribe to 1 platform for cheaper and we are basically back to square one.
 

IFireflyl

Gold Member
Quite a disadivantage for Sony though... to pay MS for playing Playstation games on a Playstation platform.

They wouldn't be paying Microsoft as much as they would be splitting the cost of the GamePass infrastructure with them. Which could benefit Sony as they could drop PS Now and reinvest in GamePass which would (assuming GamePass ends up being a success in the long run) benefit Sony.
 

IFireflyl

Gold Member
This would make the whole thing pointless, if your going to do this people will want the ability to be able to subscribe to 1 platform for cheaper and we are basically back to square one.

Existing Xbox owners don't have this ability, and GamePass has over 15 million subscribers (and I'm undercutting this a bit just to make sure I don't over-credit its success). It's either Xbox or PC. With Playstation in the mix it would be the exact same, but Playstation users would then have the ability to get this same service that currently only Xbox-users (and PC users) have access to. I don't feel like that is the thing that would make this pointless, although others have given a lot of (valid) opinions on why this still wouldn't be a great idea.
 

IFireflyl

Gold Member
So like collude together to eliminate competition? Nah.

This is probably the greatest argument against this. When I thought of this I was only thinking about Microsoft and Sony. It didn't even cross my mind to consider how anyone else that would attempt to compete in this market in the future (whether Nintendo, or NVIDIA, or anyone else) would be up against two behemoths colluding together. That's an anti-trust lawsuit waiting to happen.

Your statement was short but effective.
Just like your pe pe.
 

SF Kosmo

Al Jazeera Special Reporter
Honestly, although I have always had PlayStations and I want a PS5, I love the MS dream of the platform agnostic future, so obviously I'd like if Sony got on that train. I love day and date PC ports with cross saves and cloud versions I can access anywhere. I love the netflix model subscription service. I have no interest in buying an Xbox, it's a redundant device in my life, but I very much enjoy where they're going with things.
 
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IDKFA

I am Become Bilbo Baggins
I think it would be a little more than £20 per month.

I'd personally be willing to pay more, but only if I had access to every game from every publisher on day one, with the guarantee that the game would NEVER leave the service. I want access to every game made and every game that will be made. If you give me that, I'd happily pay £70 per month.
 
Would there FSDHJFSDO F'PSDUFPJKFOIFO[DF[SDIFSDJOFHASDO;FSDOPCFYUASDFJOUFFOFOPASDUFO[FUI[PFO[PDFIAdfir jrpg library be like for OG Xbox, 360, PS 1, 2, 3?
 
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IFireflyl

Gold Member
Would there be other options for membership? Could I throw down 60 for a year and could I stack the memberships if I pay more than 60 like you can with ps plus? Would it be better than PS Now in that I could download all the titles I really want instead of streaming them? what would their jrpg library be like for OG Xbox, 360, PS 1, 2, 3?

In this hypothetical scenario I would imagine it would operate just like the current GamePass structure, but with a modified price-point. Meaning that subscriptions could still stack, you would get a small discount for getting multiple months at once (e.g. 3 month, 6 month, 12 month, et cetera), and the titles would be downloadable versus streamed. The libraries for Xbox would look like they do now, but only Sony would know how many backwards compatibility titles they would have for this.

This poll completely ignores Stadia and thus I voted for you to be banned.

Honestly, that makes a whole lot of sense. I'm pretty sure Mod of War Mod of War 's trigger finger is hovering over the ban option. My idiocy should be punished, and I accept my fate.
 
Where did anyone say Microsoft should pay for Playstation games? I said that Sony would split the cost of the GamePass infrastructure. I think you came into this thread with a bias. I have both a Playstation 5 and an Xbox Series X. I see the strengths and weaknesses of both consoles. I never indicated that Microsoft sucks and Sony rules, or vice versa. Sony does have a larger user-base, and Microsoft has a better subscription-based infrastructure. That's why, too me, I thought a merger in this particular area could have merit. I have definitely seen a lot of disagreement (I don't always have the best ideas), but in this scenario both companies would, with the way I saw it in my head, profit.
As a business decision this doesn’t make any sense in so many areas. The only thing Gamepass beats PSNow in, is Microsoft’s willing to bleed money to offer all their Xbox games day one.

Why can Xbox do this? Xbox sells less games, and they have the backing of Microsoft. It’s harder for Playstation to offer games day one when there’s 70:30 spilts sales spilts in their favor, and Sony is a smaller company than Microsoft.

Playstation doesnt have a difficulty allowing people to download games from PSNow. They don't need to pay Microsoft for the “Gamepass” infrastructure.

XCloud is better than the streaming portion of PSNow? Sure? You know they can easily switch to the Azure platform if that was the case.

But it would make much more sense for Sony to make a deal with Netflix. To offer all their streaming portion of PSNow games on Netflix. Netflix would charge 5$ extra for their 200+ subscribers to access the PSNow Library.
 
In this hypothetical scenario I would imagine it would operate just like the current GamePass structure, but with a modified price-point. Meaning that subscriptions could still stack, you would get a small discount for getting multiple months at once (e.g. 3 month, 6 month, 12 month, et cetera), and the titles would be downloadable versus streamed. The libraries for Xbox would look like they do now, but only Sony would know how many backwards compatibility titles they would have for this.



Honestly, that makes a whole lot of sense. I'm pretty sure Mod of War Mod of War 's trigger finger is hovering over the ban option. My idiocy should be punished, and I accept my fate.

I ask begdfgdfgdf so I do not know whatjneral.gfhgfhgh
 
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No thanks. I’d rather them be separate so I can just buy a month of PS Now when there’s an exclusive I want to play. Game Pass is $9.99 by the way.
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
Right now GamePass is a $14.99/month subscription. If Microsoft and Sony were to work together they could increase this to $19.99/month and have both companies' games be playable from the same GamePass subscription service. Playstation games on GamePass would still only be playable on Playstation consoles, and Xbox games would still only be playable on Xbox consoles. The reason I specify this is that by keeping them brand-specific it is still encouraging both companies to remain competitive in hardware, which should also keep the software (games) competitive as they still want people to use their console for their exclusive games.

The way I am thinking about it Sony would benefit from Microsoft's existing GamePass infrastructure (which I truly believe beats the pants off of PS Now). Microsoft would take an up-front hit as profits would be split between the two companies, but they would also be able to expand GamePass to reach the Playstation user-base which means their overall GamePass subscribers would increase which would (in theory) make up for any losses caused by splitting the revenue with Sony, and it could lead to greater overall profits. Especially if Sony ditched PS Now and split the infrastructure cost for GamePass as well.

PC users would benefit the most from this as both Playstation and Xbox are allowing their games to come to PC now. But Playstation users would also benefit since they would have (what I believe to be) a better subscription-based service for getting their games versus what they have now. Granted, not everyone wants to use a subscription service for games, and that's fine. I'm one of those people. But I was thinking about this today and I thought that this would be a pretty awesome team-up. If the price for the subscription just went up $5/month that wouldn't be too far off what it currently is, and it still seems acceptable to me. Heck, my Alamo Season Pass is $19.99/month. That lets me see only 1 movie per day, and I don't even see more than two movies per month on most months.

So what are your thoughts? Am I missing something that would cause this to be a definite flop? I get that neither company probably wants to get in bed with the other for this, but this is a "what if" scenario. Would you get GamePass at the higher price point if it gave you the option to have games for both consoles on their respective consoles? Am I insane for even entertaining this idea? It's possible I'm smooth-braining it right now and I just need someone to explain why. :D
I mean I'd be down for this obviously as mainly a PC player. The issue I take with this is the potential lack of day and date Sony Games. It's literally the biggest selling point for me with Gamepass and without it, I probably would not continuously subscribe. Question becomes, if there's no day and date for PS5 games, is it worth the extra 5 dollars a month for sub-par Sony support? I'd like to think it would be worth it...however if what is added is ONLY Sony published games I would prefer to see some of the third party Sony exclusives be added to gamepass. In a case like that 5 dollars extra a month is a steal. Day and date would be determined by those publishers, not Sony.
 

ReBurn

Gold Member
I'd be fine with Sony releasing their own platform that allows me to install or stream their games keeping it completely separate from Game Pass.
 

IFireflyl

Gold Member
I'd be fine with Sony releasing their own platform that allows me to install or stream their games keeping it completely separate from Game Pass.

The more people responded the more I realized this wasn't the amazing idea I thought it was. It would definitely be better for Sony to create a direct GamePass competitor to prevent collusion and encourage competition. All in all, I'd say my first OP topic was a failure.

Sorry The Hangover GIF
 

T0minator

Member
The more people responded the more I realized this wasn't the amazing idea I thought it was. It would definitely be better for Sony to create a direct GamePass competitor to prevent collusion and encourage competition. All in all, I'd say my first OP topic was a failure.

Sorry The Hangover GIF
Don't feel too bad, it's just not a smart idea for Sony to do that at all. Gamepass doesn't do anything more special tech-wise than PS Now...other than cloud slightly and nobody really takes that seriously yet. Gamepass offering day 1 releases for first party games. Is the only true advantage right now... And we're seeing Forza not topping charts like it should be. If it wasn't in gamepass it would be selling really well because of the word of mouth it's been receiving. Sony needs to figure out a strategy that puts all their 1st party hits on on a service without hurting their potential 5-10 mill sales per game. Only thing I could think of is offering an early access on PS Now for all their games for a limited time? I'm sure they're gonna figure it out
 

Azurro

Banned
...

The way I am thinking about it Sony would benefit from Microsoft's existing GamePass infrastructure (which I truly believe beats the pants off of PS Now). Microsoft would take an up-front hit as profits would be split between the two companies, but they would also be able to expand GamePass to reach the Playstation user-base which means their overall GamePass subscribers would increase which would (in theory) make up for any losses caused by splitting the revenue with Sony, and it could lead to greater overall profits. Especially if Sony ditched PS Now and split the infrastructure cost for GamePass as well.

...

What GamePass profits? It's a really stupid idea either way.
 

Tams

Gold Member
I don't think GamePass is good for the hobby as it is. I feel it devalues games to the extent that ultimately some games studios just won't find it viable to continue. You can only sell many hours of work so cheaply before you start losing money.

Not really a fan of the subscription model either, but as long as you can buy games outright, then sure, for those who do like it.

Not that Sony would in a 1,000 years anyway.
 
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