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[feynoob]

When Microsoft sought to buy ABK, they had massive plans in mind.

They wanted to leverage games as part of a strategy to build an app store on iOS and Android that would almost certainly include their office suite of tools and eventually 3rd party applications.

If successful, this would have generated 10s of billions of dollars in revenue annually...

All they would need to do is pull their apps from the Apple App Store and the iOS app store in a post-regulatory environment and mandate that they be downloaded from their own mobile store.

All ABK games including Candy Crush
Linkedin
Microsoft Office Suite
Microsoft Teams

Offer 3rd parties more favorable pricing to show up in their app store, especially as exclusives.

It would have been their opportunity to reclaim Windows Mobile without even owning the OS.

That is the direction they are going right now sadly.
They are slowly cutting Xbox and making MS gaming as definitive platform.

 

[Banjo64]

The only people denying that Game Pass is a failed project are retards and shills.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

The only people denying that Game Pass is a failed project are retards and shills.

As a retarded shill I find that offensive

 

[Punished Miku]

I wonder how much of a shitstorm it would cause if they just discontinued gamepass

The absolute maximum they "owe" anyone is to announce it is ending in 3 years. That's the max sub. And it gets us to the end of the console generation. Beyond that, it's up to them really to just do what they want.

 

[ChorizoPicozo]

I wonder how much of a shitstorm it would cause if they just discontinued gamepass

 

[GHG]

A lot of the people on here that endlessly trash Xbox customers for being cheapskates are the same ones that brag about spending $1 to play Hellblade and then cancelling.

That's exactly what I'll do now, time to twist the knife.

 

[Mibu no ookami]

lol yeah the rats were getting so defensive against any criticism of this obviously bonkers model, you got the feeling they internally knew how stupid it is.
somehow its best deal for gamers, best deal for devs, best deal for microsoft all at once. nobody loses lol.
standard pyramid scheme bullshit.

I don't think they actually thought it was the best deal for devs or even Microsoft. And I can relate to that. I used this SHIT out of MoviePass when it first came out and I knew they were going to go bankrupt. I went to the movies MULTIPLE times per week at times. I eventually got AMC A-List which was a much more sustainable model than MoviePass.

Jim Ryan knew PS+ as it exists today is much more akin to A-List than MoviePass.

 

[JerryinSoCal]

Interesting.

It makes sense, COD going on GP would cost them a ton of money. Most xbox series owners who play COD likely already have GPU anyway so they won't see much growth there while losing a ton of money in sales.

 

[mitch1971]

This has been so bleeding obvious from the start. Even playstation with enough sanity to not day one their exclusives are just pushing games, with the peceived value just decreasing over the years. No chance I'll buy a game again until it's a quarter of it's price, as it's been drilled into me that there will be tons of games coming every month for a pittance. Games are just another commodity now to push out in droves. I don't see anything special in the product that is a 'game' anymore. Like movie subs have just degraded the worth of a film.

 

[Topher]

The only people denying that Game Pass is a failed project are retards and shills.

 

[Tg89]

The only people denying that Game Pass is a failed project are retards and shills.

Yep. And cheap people without jobs. Shortsighted morons really thought there was a future where they paid $15 a month for access to all their games and that there would be no consequences to the quality or quantity of those releases.

 

[Punished Miku]

That's exactly what I'll do now, time to twist the knife.

There's no knife to twist you retard. You're just showing you're a cheapskate and massive hypocrite when you lecture people endlessly about not spending enough money. Zero principles to stand on what you prescribe for others.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

twist the knives, retards

 

[ResilientBanana]

You need consoles out in the world for gamepass to hurt COD sales numbers.

 

[Zheph]

I subbed for 3 years and buy tons of games. Honestly I still think this is a cop out narrative. Subbing is fine and they get reliable money from it. The issue is really that a lot of console owners had zero interest in Xbox on any level, subbing or buying. They could buy the games just fine if they feel strongly about it but they just wanted to stick with PS, period. It's not sub vs sale. It's one or the other, you choose. People rejected all of it.

A lot of the people on here that endlessly trash Xbox customers for being cheapskates are the same ones that brag about spending $1 to play Hellblade and then cancelling. Like, if you feel strongly about shortchanging devs, then sub for 3 months and play several games. No one is stopping anyone from spending to their comfort level. The cheapskate comments always feel like projection. I spend a ton on this hobby and have all the consoles.

I buy 3 to 4 games a month, this is definitely not what the average consumer does tho. Look a little bit less in the mirror, many people won't buy games available in a sub.

 

[violence]

Like many companies, they overspent during Covid

 

[GHG]

There's no knife to twist you retard. You're just showing you're a cheapskate and massive hypocrite when you lecture people endlessly about not spending enough money. Zero principles to stand on what you prescribe for others.

So wait, after years of you guys lambasting those of us who purchase the Microsoft (and gamepass day one release) games on Steam or whereever else.

After years of you telling us "just subscribe to gamepass bro, why would you not just subscribe to gamepass".

Or even being told "thanks for subsidising me" (or words to that effect, "subsidise" is a bit too complex of a word).

Now you want us to purchase games and not take advantage of the "BeSt DeAl In gAmInG "?

 

[Topher]

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

 

[Punished Miku]

So wait, after years of you guys lambasting those of us who purchase the Microsoft (and gamepass day one release) games on Steam or whereever else.

After years of you telling us "just subscribe to gamepass bro, why would you not just subscribe to gamepass".

Or even being told "thanks for subsidising me" (or words to that effect, "subsidise" is a bit too complex of a word).

Now you want us to purchase games and not take advantage of the "BeSt DeAl In gAmInG "?

Subbing is fine. The issue is that you're a liar and a hypocrite. Say subbing is fine and getting the cheapest deal possible is fine, because that's what you do.

 

[GHG]

 

[VideoGameEnjoyer]

There's no knife to twist you retard. You're just showing you're a cheapskate and massive hypocrite when you lecture people endlessly about not spending enough money. Zero principles to stand on what you prescribe for others.

friend... friend...

 

[Banjo64]

That's exactly what I'll do now, time to twist the knife.

$1 is 80p.

I’d rather spend that on:

• a 25p Freddo.
• a 39p pack of Aldi Strawberry Laces
• a 16p pro-rata blowy from a brass

 

[GHG]

$1 is 80p.

I’d rather spend that on:

• a 25p Freddo.
• a 39p pack of Aldi Strawberry Laces
• a 16p pro-rata blowy from a brass

Well now that you put it like that, I think I'll take 5 blowys from that brass instead.

Subbing is fine. The issue is that you're a liar and a hypocrite. Say subbing is fine and getting the cheapest deal possible is fine, because that's what you do.

This is what I shall do:

|OT| - Microsoft Rewards |OT| Get Game Pass for free

Yep. Anyone can invest a few minutes each day into building up Microsoft Rewards points and redeem those points for Microsoft Rewards. Those diligent enough will never have to pay a dime. This will show you how. Disclaimer: No, I have no affiliation with Microsoft whatsoever and I do not...

www.neogaf.com

And then I will cancel.

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

$1 is 80p.

I’d rather spend that on:

• a 25p Freddo.
• a 39p pack of Aldi Strawberry Laces
• a 16p pro-rata blowy from a brass

 

[ToadMan]

I subbed for 3 years and buy tons of games.

Well its clear you are an exception rather than a rule.

Honestly I still think this is a cop out narrative. Subbing is fine and they get reliable money from it. The issue is really that a lot of console owners had zero interest in Xbox on any level, subbing or buying.

And the fault for that resides with.... Xbox. That's the free market working as intended.

They could buy the games just fine if they feel strongly about it but they just wanted to stick with PS, period.

You referred to Robin Hood offering free food and the peasants rejecting it.

There are food kitchens handing out free food to those who need it in every major city.

Do you go queue for free food? I don't.

Would I go buy that same food for $8? Nope.

Would I go to a restaurant across the street and pay $10 to sit down and eat that same food being given away for free? Nope.

Would I pay $12 to get that free food delivered to my home to eat there? Nope.

The food is free - I don't want that because I don't need free food made to a budget for those who are in need. One day in future I may need it and I'll be grateful it's there, but today I don't, and arbitrary pricing up doesn't make that food desirable.

GP devalues the games everywhere they go, not just on xbox consoles.

It's not sub vs sale. It's one or the other, you choose. People rejected all of it.

Its not one or the other - a product that is pushed out "for free" on a sub inherently devalues that product in the eyes of consumers wherever they are.

Indeed one may argue that the very existence of GP has devalued xbox to people with enough disposable income to actually pay money to game. The very fact xbox has been degraded to giving their content away at such a loss is a reflection of low quality.

A lot of the people on here that endlessly trash Xbox customers for being cheapskates are the same ones that brag about spending $1 to play Hellblade and then cancelling.

I spent $1 and I didn't even play hellblade... and barely touched anything else on GP. Life is too short to play games chosen for me by xbox - a company which happily releases redfall for example.

Like, if you feel strongly about shortchanging devs, then sub for 3 months and play several games. No one is stopping anyone from spending to their comfort level. The cheapskate comments always feel like projection. I spend a ton on this hobby and have all the consoles.

And maybe that's the other problem here - a lot of people are jaded with being fed a line of crap whether direct from xbox or from cheerleaders trying to tell us how we should spend our money and time.

Other companies market content and products - but xbox seems to market it's business models and talking heads. No one cares.

It's "the best deal in gaming" - then let the gaming market reflect that or let the service flounder and fail.

 

[feynoob]

The only people denying that Game Pass is a failed project are retards and shills.

Wait aren't you MS shill

 

[Ass of Can Whooping]

Wait aren't you MS shill

bruh

 

[Dick Jones]

Wait aren't you MS shill

Didn't you hear MS is now third party

 

[feynoob]

Well now that you put it like that, I think I'll take 5 blowys from that brass instead.



This is what I shall do:

|OT| - Microsoft Rewards |OT| Get Game Pass for free

Yep. Anyone can invest a few minutes each day into building up Microsoft Rewards points and redeem those points for Microsoft Rewards. Those diligent enough will never have to pay a dime. This will show you how. Disclaimer: No, I have no affiliation with Microsoft whatsoever and I do not...

www.neogaf.com

And then I will cancel.

That is a rookie shit.

I get the free shit by doing 4 month grab trick .

 

[feynoob]

Didn't you hear MS is now third party

That explains why he is begging MS and rare about a new game for him.

 

[Burger]

It's sort of obvious. The piper needs to be paid for that Activision buy.

 

[Topher]

It's sort of obvious. The piper needs to be paid for that Activision buy.

There isn't a debt owed for Activision. The problem, I believe, is that without Activision the Xbox segment had a net loss of 5% last quarter. A lot of that is being attributed to Game Pass.

 

[XXL]

Lord Phil is like the robin hood of gaming, robbing from MS warchest and giving us Gamepass.
We continue to rob using MS Rewards. hehe

There is your difference between Kinnect Matrick and Gamepass Phil

Like Robin Hood but then the majority of the peasants that he gave to snubbed their nose at him for "devaluing food" and turned him in to the authorities.

 

[Kataploom]

That underpinned the premise of the deal going through, both to regulators and the general public:

"The acquisition also bolsters Microsoft’s Game Pass portfolio with plans to launch Activision Blizzard games into Game Pass, which has reached a new milestone of over 25 million subscribers. With Activision Blizzard’s nearly 400 million monthly active players in 190 countries and three billion-dollar franchises, this acquisition will make Game Pass one of the most compelling and diverse lineups of gaming content in the industry. Upon close, Microsoft will have 30 internal game development studios, along with additional publishing and esports production capabilities."

Microsoft to acquire Activision Blizzard to bring the joy and community of gaming to everyone, across every device - Stories

Legendary games, immersive interactive entertainment and publishing expertise accelerate growth in Microsoft’s Gaming business across mobile, PC, console and cloud. REDMOND, Wash. and Santa Monica, Calif. – Jan. 18, 2022 – With three billion people actively playing games today, and fueled by a...

news.microsoft.com

And:

Our vision for gaming: More choice and more games for people everywhere

news.microsoft.com

If there isn't a resulting revolt then it says a lot about the people who are sticking by them after you all spent the best part of 2 years regurgitating their PR/marketing surrounding the deal and gaslighting anyone who had anything different to say about it.

Maybe they should start putting ActiBlizz games in Game Pass... They can make WoW part of Game Pass sub with a year of current subscription model as an option while people move, they can make a Rated E section with games like Spyro, Crash, etc. And market it with a proper parental control to try and appeal parents, they can do things but they don't.

GP seems to be good for devs, btw, therefore Sega and many AA and indie devs wouldn't be pushing for it even more, the problem I see is for MS themselves.

The service is great but how many actual players want subs service?

I just came back to it after months of didn't even miss it.

It's great for certain people, tho.

I hope MS finds a way to make GP profitable because the evergrowing business model that plagued everything including video streaming service seems to be a money sinking blackhole with barely any result if at all since the market share isn't infinite.

 

[Banjo64]

Wait aren't you MS shill

Depends on which way the wind blows my friend.






But it never blows that way.

I have taken a sacred vow. My allegiance is to our one true Lord, Shigeru Miyamoto.

Sometimes, when I catch my missus in bed with another man, I pray at the house of Miyazaki and his graceful light guides my path.

When I was a horny teenage slut I strayed in to Sony, and regrettably, Microsoft’s path. Now I condemn them to hell.

 

[ToadMan]

I wonder how much of a shitstorm it would cause if they just discontinued gamepass

The thing is, a significant portion of the ABK acquisition was argued on the basis of GP being a cheaper way to access games therefore benefitting consumers...

I don't see how they can roll back on that so quickly unless they simultaneously go entirely third party. And even then regulators may reopen the books and ask why Xbox is doing a flip flop on that now.

Right now we're just waiting for the corpse of xbox hardware to stop twitching... but going forward there is still MS with cloud and various obligations to regulators about that too, and cloud is also rolled into GP today.

MS probably don't want to step back from potentially getting the cloud gaming market, and going fully 3rd Party would kind of require that.

 

[HeWhoWalks]

friend... friend...

Indeed. Folks take this shit way too serious!

 

[Quasicat]

I literally don’t play anything from Activision, so this was a bad deal for me as an Xbox owner. What scares me is the future of Double Fine. I love their smaller titles and really don’t want to see them get shut down.

 

[Alebrije]

Pretty much Xbox status now

 

[GHG]

Indeed. Folks take this shit way too serious!

Gamepass is serious business.

It's exactly what had people tripping over themselves to formally write to regulators and even the government during the Activision acquisition process. These people dreamed up this utopia where Microsoft own the whole industry and they hand out all the games on gamepass for "free". Microsoft were the benevolent charitable one and through the power of gamepass everyone would have cheap or "free" access to all the games.

Ain't reality a slap in the face.

 

[SlimySnake]

Everyone knew this other than Philbo and his army of fanboys who defended him ad nauseum.

Best deal in gaming = worst deal for studios and developers who got shut down for not meeting sales targets. Brilliant.

 

[GHG]

GP seems to be good for devs, btw, therefore Sega and many AA and indie devs wouldn't be pushing for it even more, the problem I see is for MS themselves.

I can't speak for Sega, I don't know what goes through their heads, but for AA and indie devs what you say is largely not true.

Business - 'The gold rush is over:' Slay the Spire and Darkest Dungeon devs say that big Game Pass and Epic exclusive deals have dried up for indie devs

In an interview at last week's Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, the developers behind indie sensations Slay the Spire and Darkest Dungeon said that the deal some small developers have come to rely on for funding in recent years—like Epic Game Store exclusives and Xbox Game Pass—are...

www.neogaf.com

Game Dev - Moon Studios CEO says playing Ori and the Blind Forest on Xbox Game Pass doesn't help the studio

Developer Moon Studios gained its popularity in the gaming industry by developing the games Ori and the Blind Forest in 2015 and Ori and the Will of the Wisps in 2020.Both games were developed in partnership with Xbox Game Studios and obviously for this reason, both are available right now to...

www.neogaf.com

Then there are also some developers/publishers have little confidence in their product do they're happy to just take an early payday, cover a large proportion of the dev costs and then just throw the blatantly unfinished product out there (see cities skylines 2 as a prime example).

 

[Mibu no ookami]

I literally don’t play anything from Activision, so this was a bad deal for me as an Xbox owner. What scares me is the future of Double Fine. I love their smaller titles and really don’t want to see them get shut down.

Either Microsoft will be afraid to shutdown studios right away or they'll be emboldened and double down... we're about to find out.

 

[Chuck Berry]

I literally don’t play anything from Activision, so this was a bad deal for me as an Xbox owner. What scares me is the future of Double Fine. I love their smaller titles and really don’t want to see them get shut down.

Even if they get the axe, Schafer definitely wont disappear and will most likely bring a bunch of his best people with him on whatever he does going forward

 

[adamsapple]

I spent $1 and I didn't even play hellblade... and barely touched anything else on GP. Life is too short to play games chosen for me by xbox - a company which happily releases redfall for example.

You couldn't find a single game out of 500~600 to enjoy for $1? Really? If true then it sounds more like you've fallen out of the hobby entirely and only playing, whichever games you play, to go with the flow and fit-in on neogaf.

I can't speak for Sega, I don't know what goes through their heads, but for AA and indie devs what you say is largely not true.

Eh. For an indie dev you says the gravy train is over, there's also one that says 'it keeps a lot of indies going'

Citizen Sleeper developer praises Xbox Game Pass for 'keeping a lot of indie studios going'

Gareth Damian Martin, developer of Citizen Sleeper, says that Xbox Game Pass has helped keep many indie teams open.

www.windowscentral.com

These people dreamed up this utopia where Microsoft own the whole industry and they hand out all the games on gamepass for "free". Microsoft were the benevolent charitable one and through the power of gamepass everyone would have cheap or "free" access to all the games.

Motherlover that's exactly what you're talking about doing in this same page for Hellblade 2

You are literally the guy who rips off a wet fart on the way out of the elevator as the door closes.

 

[Oppoi]

The puppy eyed face of Xbox is finally gone.

 

[GHG]

Eh. For an indie dev you says the gravy train is over, there's also one that says 'it keeps a lot of indies going'

Citizen Sleeper developer praises Xbox Game Pass for 'keeping a lot of indie studios going'

Gareth Damian Martin, developer of Citizen Sleeper, says that Xbox Game Pass has helped keep many indie teams open.

www.windowscentral.com

In the article you linked he says the following:

"The money is a pittance to Microsoft, but to us it's the thing that means we can make another videogame."

With recent events, something tells me that's no longer the case.

Motherlover that's exactly what you're talking about doing in this same page for Hellblade 2

You are literally the guy who rips off a wet fart on the way out of the elevator as the door closes.

Ok and let's just assume for one second that I will actually do that. What's the problem? Is this not exactly what you've been peddling for the last ~5 years or so?

Im just joining the promised land Adam, don't be sad.

 

[adamsapple]

Ok and let's just assume for one second that I will actually do that. What's the problem? Is this not exactly what you've been peddling for the last ~5 years or so?

Im just joining the promised land Adam, don't be sad.

Who said I'm sad. I, for one, welcome our new Game Pass ovelrords.

But I digress, I am routinely telling people how to get deals and/or rewards to subsidize game pass. It would be hypocritical if I call anyone out for doing that.

My post was in reference to your earlier chiding of Punished Miku about buying games on Steam etc.

 

[onQ123]

Yet we are here lol