Do you remember what gaming was like before Fortnite entered the gaming space? One of the biggest arguments was about loot boxes. Now we have conversations about crossovers, battle passes, and community outreach.
Everyone's looking to get some of the Fortnite pie lately. This time, it's everyone's favorite YouTube chill music channel, Lofi Girl.
Microsoft will reportedly add new tiers and pricing to its Xbox Game Pass subscription with the addition of Call of Duty to its game catalog.
CoD is just a way of raising the prices and pushing people into paying more for Game Pass. It’s losing its value and the day 1 first party games aren’t really worth it anymore.
yes, because people were sold on the promise of one price, activision games included, now they want another whole tier to include cod,
not what people initially brought into, (well gamepass had many subs even before Activision, but you get my point)
So, One more lie, to add to the stack of lies, perpetrated by these scumbags,
jin_sakai probably think this ones the nail in the coffin, id tend to agree
Sony better take notes and rethink their future plans.
this really couldn’t get worse..
If you pay attention to the target audience of this so called gaming service it all starts making sense and MS is doing exactly what they r supposed to do to get their money back ... if you really understand the reasoning of the lower side of the spectrum of the cod players MS has found its gold vein ... we r in business territory as entertainment is long deceased on the MS vocabulary.
If they’re as stupid as to make it more than $5/month increase from the highest tier I’d laugh my ass off.
That would be a way of getting to say they kept the promise of all games on GamePass without cannibalizing their sales
Making gamepass worse value by making it more expensive, as well as CoD losing Xbox sales and PlayStation gamers will want it less if Xbox gamers are getting it for "free".
Takes real talent to damage 2 things with one move.
Call of Duty needs to be taken down a notch, its too popular for its own damn good. So yeah, it seems like MS is going to help make that happen. So good job, I guess?
If they price it so high that people won't want it, they won't sign up so MS won't lose out on sales. Not all of those bad things will happen, just some of them
Really? You think CoD on PS would sell less cause Xbox gamers get access thru gamepass? I doubt that. COD fanbase is huge they're gonna play where they want to play and not care how the next person got it
I ended my subscription right around when they announced the purchase of Activision/Blizzard.
No offense but I'm not paying a subscription fee to get the worst 3rd party publishers games for free. It's like paying a monthly fee to only eat at Chili's or Applebee's while everyone else is having all the amazing food.
My hope was Gamepass would bring more games like Grounded or Hi-Fi Rush. We have all seen how that's going.
I'll never spend another dollar on an Xbox service ever again after the recent studio closures. I've defended them on here and elsewhere but they don't deserve any trust from any consumer at this point.
And soon you will have the option to opt for the Sports package, but if you want sports you also need to pay for the weather package.
As Ive said since this thing was introduced. Prepare to get nickel and dimed.
They do that that'll be the end of them. They're not that crazy. Only way that would work is if you could build a game pass package $5 sports, $5 shooter, $5 rpg, etc. But even then it's bad business for MS cause ppl that only play sports and shooters would get it cheaper compared to an all game bundle and they'd lose money.
@Jin Sakai
But you're totally fine with paying for psn with no day 1, 1st party...
The PSN essential value you get with base online access is unparalleled, puts Xbox core to shame. The PSN extra package however seems to be diminishing in value as it probably should. With any luck we'll have people buying their frickin games again as these sub services lose popularity
@Coconut not gonna lie I wanna start buying games again lol. (I do but not day 1 releases) I still feel bad for not buying Ori 2. Had it not release day 1 on GP I would've bought. So if they move day 1 titles to a new tier (which I'm not subbing to) I'd buy the games I really want day 1. While the ones I want to play but not badly I'd wait til it's available on the lower tier to play.
@InUrFoxHole
oh come on, There was a time Xbox fans were ok with just paying for the right to play online without getting anything for it.
He's fine with paying for better games. Xbox ain't got it. Redfall day one enjoy....
Nah I disagree, the value of GP has been crazy they were screwing themselves for quick subscriber gain. I always felt the day 1 releases would eventually stop and they only did it to get ppl to sub faster. That's why it quickly surpassed PS sub. Now that they hit a ceiling and picked up Activision they can only A. Take away the day 1 releases and hope the sub count remain or B. Increase the cost and hope they keep the sub count. Seem they went with
C. Add a new tier which is likely a mix of A and B.
If the new tier is only Activision games and they leave ultimate alone I'll be happy. I don't play COD so
Did you say that when Sony raised the price of PS+ and didn’t offer anything to justify the increase? I doubt it…
if they add more top tier games , more value and charge more for this tier, cool thats just normal business and an option for its users. how does that affect you or us in any way. there is still a cheap option and so on. and yea over time we did expect it to eventually go up a few bucks. every other company has but now its a problem when ms does it?
anyone who thought microsoft was a good idea for leading the industry into a period of better games doesn't know Microsoft...
gotta make back that money somehow. but its definitely a scummy move before cod comes to gamepass haha.
Similar kind of thing happened back when Starfield came out.
The dollar new accounts for a month, trials, various promotions kinda dried up as they finally had a big game coming, following a price hike in July. But reception was eh.
And they haven't delivered on letting us cloud stream our owned library yet either.
I think you're hitting on the core issue with Starfield. All of this breaks down of they can't make good games. Whether you're leasing or selling to one platform or multiple, the games gotta be good. That's the thing that's absolutely bonkers about this whole thing: making good games has been Microsoft's Achilles heel for many years now
Where did they promise allowing you to cloud stream your owned library? Lol anything downloaded to your console you can play remotely anywhere. Don't recall them making that promise.
New tier for gamepass solely due yo call of duty is a garbage move though. They keep shooting themselves in the foot
@catastrophe
They said it June 2022
https://news.xbox.com/en-us...
"We’re excited to share that later this year, it’s our intent to roll out the ability for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members to play, from the cloud, select games they already own or have purchased outside the Xbox Game Pass library."
It doesn't surprise me, it's very clear that MS is trying as hard as possible to recover all the money spent on Activision and Bethesda, they will do whatever they can, doesn't matter if people will like ir or not, as long as the higher ups see money arriving, it's all fair game
Pretty much Xbox wrote a cheque that Microsoft can't cash.
Inflated metrics egos and a belief that they could get the casual gamer playing hardcore titles via cloud on mobiles really lead them to belive they were in a better position than the reality.
I don't believe gamepass was ever that strong with many gamers likely signing up multiple fake emails for the dollar trials over and over boosting that count along with Xbox live gold hacks and other methods of getting gamepass for next to no money a month have been well known and exploited for years.
Microsoft have a belief that everyone's grandma wants to play halo on a mobile if they could just reach them because they played Wii bowling once so they must want to play halo
While a rumour cant say Id be surprised if true.
Certain other subscription services I sub to have increased in price while adding nothing and we expect theyre potentially offering up the biggest game of every year and its back catalog for "free"?
But I'd happily skip it if there are options (or upgrade for a month for the campaign)
People expect the price of games to stay the same forever so why wouldn't they expect the same for subscription services?
Price increases are fine. As long as they make sense. Games at 60 was a good price point. Things don't have to go up in price just because.
I used to buy some games at 60...how many do I buy at 70? None. It's a loss for the industry. The higher the price the likelihood sales won't be as high. For $10 more they lost $60.
Same thing with subscriptions. As long as it's affordable people will set it and forget it. If it stops being affordable people will be more picky...so a price increase of $5 could net them a loss of millions.
Let's be honest, nobody wants prices to increase. I personally have always thought that $40 was the perfect price and never liked it when they increased it to $50 for the PS2 generation and then $60 for the PS3. The $60 price did hold on for a good while though.
Same with sub services. The whole appeal is 'the best deal in gaming' mantra people love to chant, but we all know that they will increase the price eventually especially if they are putting CoD that will actually sell a ton even at that $70 price point.
100% they're doing this. They can't grow GP so up the price and make a new tier whatever that tier maybe be.
Use COD as the driving force to get ppl to subscribe to it.
You can smell the desperation.
If you’re one of the many people who just play COD or FIFA or Madden etc then surely game rental makes no sense. Just buy your game and own it.
I see no way that gamepass becomes a significant part of the industry. It’s unsustainable without more price increases and people have seen through the supposed value proposition.
What if they eventually make COD subscription -only? Then people have to subscribe.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if that's the end goal and not just with COD, if they make gp the only option to play their games than they essentially force people to subscribe. Starts with removing physical games from stores which we have already seen them do, next provide no digital purchase option which they can easily do and then announce the game is available "only on gamepass". I believe we will see that happen in the not too distant future.
Holy crap!... I havent thought of it that way and to be honest the way things are it makes sence, I hate all this bullshit with subsrciptions, Take Photoshop, Microsoft office as examples. You have to pay monthly because there are no other options anymore. They might have the same plan here.
We just dont see it yet.
Remember when the Xbox defenders were posting laughing emoji’s whenever anyone pointed out the need to make back the $80bn? Apparently it was pocket change to Microsoft and didn’t even need to be included in any financial calculations.
In reality it turns out $80bn is a lot of money to literally any company and there has to be a plan to recoup it.
Less than 12 months after the acquisition and gamepass prices are set to soar and all games are going third party! That’s the price Xbox and its fans are paying for Activision. Was it worth try it? All those games were on Xbox anyway!
Some were cheering MS on just so they could deprive others of games that we all used to enjoy.
meanwhile sony has the most 3rd party exclusives out of any of the big 3 and paying to keep some other games off other platforms as long as they can but from them it's ok. Awesome double standards
@Michiel
Brother! There is a difference! Doing that does not indefinitely take IPs out of the multiplatform market. Furthermore, to be able to do that a company would need to have the install base to justify it on a case by case basis and be able to offer enough of an incentive to the developer. This is different from precluding games from other platforms by purchasing the PUBLISHERS.
Besides, was it not MS that invented timed exclusivity during the PS3/360 era?
I beg you, please have some sense of objectivity before it is too late. The route MS is going will have lasting effect on gaming, especially console gaming.
I think it's going to be more than COD. I think it's going to be any new AAA games from MS. Highest tier includes Doom, COD, Elder Scrolls (if GP is a thing by then).
If Ultimate is £12.99 now my guess is new tier will be £15.99.
Wait for the Xbox Games Showcase where they will first woo you with an opening announcement that CoD is Day One Games Pass and then right after the show a PR notice that prices are going up OR an announcement of tiers as though it's a premium offering.
MS already increased their price, this is a new one. And this time games will be locked behind a new tier. People thought they bought into a “day one” for first party. Now turns out there will be tiers to the “day one”. A little different wouldn’t you say?
Its a matter of how much gamers are willing to bend over.
They "put there" a game you could already play on xbox. Now you'll get to pay more to play the same game.
Everything goes up in price. At least Microsoft has a reason. They have purchase Activision Blizzard for even more content.
If Sony announced all new Call Of Duty games will come to the Playstation Plus, or whatever the equivalent Sony service is, day one from now on would you assume their will be a price increase to the service? How about all of Activision Blizzard games from now on? Would we expect Sony's monthly subscription to be increase in price?
As they say you get what you pay for.
Bend over just a little more and you can have a new tier of “day one” games.
Yes, the best way to respond to this article is to make the completely hypothetical "what if Sony" comment as apposed to focusing on what xbox is doing to it's fanbase. Correct they did purchase Mojang, Zenimax, Act/Blizz for hundreds of billions, that shouldn't be a reason to fleece their fan base becasue they decided to buy up as much of the industry as possible.
"Game Pass Ultimate offers a game catalog of hundreds of games across console, PC, and cloud."
Will this be the only tier for PC gamers? So PC gamers are forced to play the highest tier🤔😂
Let’s hope this works out. I don’t want Sony all alone, that’s not good for anyone. But MS keep fucking up, there’s really no options left if this move does not drive GP subs.
I sincerely doubt this is going to drive interest in Game Pass. It is not uncommon for people to play a very restricted rotation of games, and Call of Duty is just one game. Knowing people are working longer hours to provide for their families, why remain subbed to a service just because it gives you access to many games when in reality, you only care about very few and it's very low on your list of priorities to do? It's not just about limited interest in offerings, limited time to play is an overlooked factor. In my own experience, I cancelled Kindle Unlimited years ago because I simply didn't have time to read all of the books I had access to. At some point, you're losing money. Now I'm back to just buying my books or doing digital rentals from my library. I believe a similar principle applies. Those with the most time to take advantage of the service and want to, ironically, often have the lowest means to commit to it without someone else paying for it, for them. Game Pass as a service is really best intended for people who have well paying jobs that don't require extra hours and they don't have families to raise. Otherwise, you're paying for a service that you can't get much use out of, the exception being if your family also games and they game extensively. Now with a potential price hike to access Call of Duty? I think that's a very tough sell.
Whether it is Game Pass or Plus, it seems good for the companies for you to use it less and continue to pay for it, than pay for it and actually use it. They must know this.
Most people wouldn't justify upgrading to a more expensive tier for one more game a year, even if it is Call of Duty. So what else could they offer, to try entice people to upgrade? Maybe an additional ABK tier I guess. Hopefully they don't take away features from existing tiers to make the more expensive ones more appealing, like oh right, Day 1 Microsoft games coming to Gamepass.
I would expect MS giving all previous COD with this TIER and give access to Battle pass
Soon you will have the “sports package”. Cable tv style. Then, eventually they will completely replace game sales with service subscription packages.
So $19.99 or up. I'm probably not going to get COD but I'd own it after my initial purchase. After making 3 monthly payments of $20+ gamepass users will still not own the game and go on to pay $240 for it after 1 year.
I take no pleasure in seeing M$ falter like this. I remember the heady days of Halo 2 and J Allard's presentation on the new 360. But sometimes something has to collapse before you can build something new. And I say that about a great number of things in the here and now.
Upping the Gamepass price cause of Activision and still charging a season pass for CoD is insanity
We been expecting this day. If I had to guess
GP Core 9.99 (what Gold was)
GP ultimate 15.99 (cloud and library catalog, 1st party games now come months later, no day 1 releases)
GP Max 20.99(day 1 titles, EA play)
They'll probably throw a non gaming sub in there somewhere
Yep. Many have been saying the price will continue to raise and substantially over time as they can only sustain the carrot and the stick trick for so long.
Its bs you still have no rights over digital keys you purchase either. Its all a sham
CFO: "This is a problem Phil, we can't sustain by giving all new games day 1, why did you promise gamers that?"
Phil: "Well, I never said which tier."
Like I said last year I expect MS to make an Activision Tier that includes games like COD with battle pass.
More of Microsoft screwing up. Last thing people want to hear is a price increase just another reason why I don't do subscription services. All they are doing is trying to recoup the money they spent to acquire Activision.
So Sony copied M$ with pay for online and sub model rental service. Now M$ copies Sony with tiered pricing for rental service.
It has been revealed that Epic Games is set to team up with Bethesda on a new Fortnite x Fallout collaboration which will kick off the upcoming season.
Ugh... FFF********k F****nite. SO tired of hearing about it and no surprise Fallout would be featured. Bethesda can't wait to sell out the franchise for a buck, why would this be any different?
Idk. Loot boxes did disappear and battle passes and in game purchases are all cosmetic. We get free weapons and maps post launch, any gameplay affecting content. I could care less about all the cosmetics.
I absolutely hated the days where weapons were locked behind a less than 1% chance lootbox pull where it'd take 5+ hours to have enough tokens to do a single pull and lazy remastered/remake maps cost you $15 each wave or $50 for the season pass that you didn't know what you'd get and these maps were only available to those that bought it so you get a smaller pool of players match with.
Call of duty can simply not copy the bad aspects of Fortnite? Or is that too out of this world? Like COD, a realistic shooter-just HAD to have Nicki Minaj running around? Or super heroes?
I prefer the battle passes with free maps than the $50 season pass that divided the community. I definitely feel that Fortnite had some influence on CoD having loot boxes with Blackout being introduced in 2018 with Black Ops 4.
Actually Fortnite bullshit ruined Unreal Tournament. Epic are sellouts and I will never have that shitty store on my PC, fuck them and that shit bag Tim Sweeney. At least the community keeps the games alive, I still play UT2004.
Call of Duty ruined Call of Duty. They needed no outside assistance.