Game pass as a trend poses a serious dangers for developers and publishers alike, the moment people get used to pay €2-5 for a game it will be difficult for them to compete with €60-70 a game.
For us gamers is a blessing as long as the monthly price doesn’t exceed the price of the combined games you can play in that period.
I for example get 1-2 months a year of Game Pass. I’m getting 1 month next. I’m planning on play Dead Space, Lies of P and Persona Tactica, and, since I have holidays vacations this year maybe I will able to play either Starfield or Jusant. That mean I will be paying €10 for playing games Worth €180-240. Never in history have we gamers had this kind of deal.
Generally, the value proposition of subscriptions for publishers is the lack of friction for a lot of people.
You’re managing your expenses tightly, which is smart, but I think that’s not as common as you expect. A lot of people might hear about a cool game coming to Game Pass in two months, and for simplicity just decide not to unsubscribe even though they’re not playing it for the next month.
People also make theories that everyone uses the XBLGold promotion trick, but I also think that’s not so common.
What a wonderful multinational corporation, spending all this money out of the goodness of their heart! It’s moves like this that let me know I can trust Microsoft™
I agree that they’re getting something from this (no way they just bleed money on it without a sound investment plan), but what do you reckon they actually get? Money directly from subscriptions can’t be enough to cover everything… is it just to build a walled garden ecosystem so they can “lock” people in and pick the fruits in a year or two? Although if something like a huge price hike happens, they will lose many customers
I think the goal is to eat market share away from Steam, once users are too invested in the platform to switch (and/or steam is no longer relevant) then they start hiking the prices. It has the added effect of reducing the switch to linux momentum that the steamdeck started, but perhaps that is still too small to get MS’s attention
I have no cars in this race, but if that’s their aim I think it will be impossible to achieve it. Steam already did that years ago, making people too invested in their platform I mean, MS is late. No way enough people will leave Steam to move permanently to Game Pass. They might get some users, but I don’t think they’ll ever get enough to make a difference for Steam or MS themselves. Buy we’ll see. I don’t really care either way
Things like buying the console, buying add-on content for games, etc. People have a membership, and want to make more use of it- though MS likely doesn’t mind people keeping it to the basics, since they don’t make huge bank off of singleplayer gamers anyway. I won’t even deny, I’ve bought small microtransaction items in a few games I only access through Game Pass - but I’m sure other people do far more often than me.
They can't raise the price too much, or people quickly find out that it's cheaper to just buy the games outright. Their sweet spot seems to have stuck right at 1/4th the price of a new AAA game per month. Believe me, I was surprised to find out from all kinds of failed products and services over the past few years that people can actually do math.
If you ask me, I'd say that's exactly why they won't rise further, or much further. They're measuring all of this before and after they take action, and if the price increase sees a trend line go in the wrong direction, it'll be a while before they bump it again. I wasn't angry at Netflix for raising their prices such that you could call it a backlash; it just became too expensive to justify having it around when there isn't anything I know I want to watch on it.
Netflix also made a killing by creating the ad-supported tier, because the ads more than cover the cost of lowering the subscription. My folks pay for Netflix with ads but you can block them with a DNS sink like AdGuard or a Pi-Hole.
I think it’s a scam honestly. Netflix’s library has shrunk with all the other streaming services coming into the market. It was convenient when it was the only game in town but now it’s just one of a dozen services feeling more like cable than streaming.
I just saw an article where Apple TV+ was going to bundle with Paramount+ for a lower rate.
It makes 3 Billy a year according to them. Sounds like a tidy profit but you’re probably right that hikes will continue, especially if they start getting some better games out at a better cadence.
Half the time I can’t install games from gamepass. On steam I install a game in 5m. On gamepass I have to schedule installing a game 2d in advance and hope at some point overnight it installs. Sucks so hard, because I actually like it. But it’s such a drag to actually use, I just don’t…
Its a huge mod that basically ads a whole new entire game worth of content, on top of the base games content, that is seamlessly integrated into the base game.
New maps? I found that I always gravitated towards one map as I disliked all the rest. Mostly just wanted a big open space to go crazy, not obstacles that I had to design around.
it has a a couple new starter farm options, which are very nice imho. it also includes a big open space to the east of pelican town that you can use as a big honking farm area. last time i played I made it my tree farm. had a couple hundred of each tree type there.
It adds taxes and market prices, thus bringing an element of complexity into the game that makes you think how to optimize your early growth and how to get the most out of your energy and money, turning the relaxing indie game about returning to nature into an optimization grindset nightmare that everyone but me hates.
I’m aware of how the game works yes. Once I bought the golden clock, there was basically nothing to do on my farm except for planting on the first day of each season. Aside from that it’s fully automated. It just got boring, and it felt like the game was over, and I just can’t shake that feeling.
I know… They added it all afterwards, when I already felt like the game was over, and despite there being lots to do now, I just can’t will myself back into the game.
There is probably even more comming in the current version for you. Stardew valley is the type of game where you watch a random YT video where someone shows off something you never knew was in the game, after you got 1000h clocked.
So many people are still playing it, and many new people every day, I want it to be the best it can be
It will never be perfect, but I feel an urge to keep improving it. Up to this point, it’s been my life’s work, and I care a lot about it.
AAA companies:
So many people are still playing it because exploiting poor impulse control and FOMO are at the core of our game design philosophy. We want it to be the most profitable it can be
It will never be enjoyable, but we will make sure people feel the urge to keep logging in to grind their dailies so their purchase of a battle pass can be justified. Ever since we started allowing pre-orders it was already profitable, and we stopped caring about quality.
Indie devs: suddenly I’m a millionaire thanks to this one-hit-wonder game that I spent 6 years making. I think I’ll keep updating it so people keep buying it.
AAA companies: We need to pay 400 people over a course of 2 years. 30 million is less than 10% of the budget
Don’t forget the mandatory apology JPEG on Xitter.
We have done our utmost to make the enjoyable experience more accessible to average user. This has in turn resulted in sub-par experience for some. As we constantly try to improve quality of our products and this was a valuable lesson from which we plan to grow into more responsible company that caters to people’s needs.
I just look at the update history on steam. I don’t necessarily go to other websites. Every update has been minor, but I still consider it. Maybe they just meant no more major updates, but even still, it’s impressive they have kept maintaining that game for over 10 years.
ConcernedApe thought so, too ;) He works on Stardew his whole game development career. It is difficult to stop trying to improve the game and let your baby go after so long.
I’ve been playing and replaying it since its original PC-only release in 2016. I remember being so excited about a new game finally improving on thr Harvest Moon formula. I think it’s safe to say that today it has completely surpassed other games in the genre. The freedom and variety of tasks in the game has since enticed me towards further replays as well. It’s so inspiring how passionate Barone has been towards his creation in the long run too.
From what I’ve seen it seems a bit more targeted at teens and adults then kids and that’s kind of what I wanted Harvest Moon to be to begin with so I’m pretty excited to play it.
Also generally the added depth and how fleshed out it seems
It encapsulates some whimsy and magical elements which have always been underdeveloped in other similar games. Filled with mystery, easter eggs and constant progress and discovery. The relationship elements are a lot more mature than Harvest Moon as well. Deals with some of the grit and consequences of living in reality. All packaged together superbly.
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