My thought was, does this represent value for money? Have Microsoft struck gold with this plan? There’s a couple of things to look at here from both sides of the spectrum. Both of which points to the very good in terms of what’s on offer.
From a gamer’s point of view to me this is a very good offer, brand new games being put on the service from the day they launch. As long as you have the subscription, you can play it as much as you want, as many times as you want. I don’t see the negatives from this, to be honest, plus not only do you get the new games, there are lots of other games to try as well. The downside is, you don’t own the game, so if you were to get rid of the subscription then you wouldn’t be able to play the game anymore, however, this is where it plays into Microsoft hands.
If you’ve played a game that you’re enjoying, you don’t have the subscription anymore but really want to continue with your game, then you’re more than likely going to buy the game, money in Microsoft’s pocket. I guess it’s one of those where you even if you still have the subscription you might want to purchase the game so that you have it as yours anyway. Again, for Microsoft, this is a win-win situation.
It’s also enticing for those who don’t currently have a subscription, such as myself I have recently taken the subscription out based on this, but luckily for me there were other games there that I haven’t played such as Re core and others, so it’s still making the money worth it for me, and with games changing in it, there will probably always be something for me to try.
Is this consumer friendly and value for money? Yes, very much so, being able to try and play a FULL game, for £8 a month as well as playing 100’s of others that are there as well is very much value for money. Thing is as well, if you only wanted to play one or 2 games and haven’t used a month’s free trial, then you can easily get a free code from somewhere and play that game for free…. I have taken out the full thing as there is going to be plenty to play over the coming months. Also, with games pass I can try a game risk-free without having to ‘pay’ for it, then if I do like it, there is the option to buy it and own, so as mentioned above, if I no longer want Games Pass, I’ll still have access to it.
The value of Games Pass over Sony’s PS Now is a massive difference. I tried PS Now with a few games and because it was a streaming service, didn’t get the same experience as I have from Games Pass. Mainly because the games are downloaded straight to your Xbox so you don’t need to have an internet connection when playing them…. Unless they’re an online game of course.
There is value for money with Games Pass and I have to admit that I would implore anyone to try it, whether it was just the 14 day or month trial. I’m sure there’s game on there to suit everyone. I know it’s not everyone’s cup of tea, but for me, it’s worth the try. After all, it’s not going to cost you anything to try it.
When it comes to Microsoft’s point of view, you have to look at the fact that, even with increases in revenue from Games pass, is it going to be enough to cover development costs? Are they heavily relying on conversion sales and getting people to buy the game after trying? There must be logic to the madness, but to me, it still doesn’t take away from the fact that to me, gamers are winning with this.
Another aspect that you have to look at is the retailers, how must this be affecting them? Is it a drive to digital-only sales? There must be a knock on effect in terms of Xbox game sales for retailers. I know a lot of high street retailers such as Game sell digital games, but the prices are so high its enough to put any savvy shopper off purchasing them, even the ones that allow trade-ins, you don't get much bang for your buck so you usually have to trade in 3 or 4 games just to get anything decent to go towards a new one. So there isn't really any value for money doing that, so when you see new exclusives being added on their release date, can you blame someone for paying £8 that month to get to play and try it before buying, or even playing it and finishing and moving on, then if they want to cancel there pass, happy days they can do. They've then just played the full game which to buy was £50.00, for just £8.00.
Whichever way you look at it, you can't deny that the service is value for money and Microsoft adding new exclusives to it is gamer friendly and giving you your monies worth.
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