Gary Swaby of The Koalition writes: E3 2021 has kicked off, and the news is flowing at a rapid pace. Earlier today, we finally had the chance to witness the Xbox Bethesda Showcase, followed shortly after by the Square Enix Presents stream. Both shows offered a variety of titles aimed at different fan bases and demographics. But did these conferences live up to our expectations?
OnceLost Games, developers of The Wayward Realms, believe Starfield would have benefited from Daggerfall-like procedural generation of dungeons instead of just reusing premade ones.
Mega Cat Studios teams with FNAF creator Scott Cawthon to create a new eerie entry for the franchise, embracing a retro aesthetic.
By putting Black Ops 6 on Game Pass, Microsoft plans to gauge its growth, pricing, and monetization changes, at the cost of less game sales.
If they have follow up games that are bangers, then this strategy will work. But if it’s Call of Duty followed another dead period then it won’t last.
From MS financial perspective I think it may be the opposite.
A year of GamePass on PC is less than the price of two full price games. For all the people that would have bought COD for $70 but instead started subbing for GP, MS will get an extra $50/year which is good.
However, for each banger that MS puts out, that's lost potential revenue because the GP sub won't need to buy it.
So it only makes sense where the new GP customers would have otherwise not spent more money with MS... Which is the case if MS puts out low quality shovelware.
If you’re looking at the short term you are correct. But if Xbox can have multiple bangers then subscriptions should increase. Which is what they want, recurring revenue.
I think this is more about microtransactions. MS wants to see if the upfront losses will be offset by more people login into the “free” game and buying more microtransactions to justify not selling as much COD games.
I honestly not sure. I feel like everyone who likes COD is already playing/buying it so I’m not sure how much more engagement they can get by putting it on gamepass. On the other hand, I also feel a lot of COD players are casual gamers, and they are the type to click on anything that is “free” ex: mobile gaming style
I don't see it working if Call of Duty makes less money and profits over time from gamepass 🤔
I dont understand why have it on it when we all know it sells with the name alone. Seems stupid to lose so much sales and $ just to have it on game pass. They basically shooting themselves in the foot with a already injured foot from all the other times they shoot themselves in the foot.
@blackblades, that's my exact point, even on xbox where most software sells poorly CoD still sells millions, but the thing is, if you don't put it on GP you kinda shatter the whole idea they've build GP up to be, they've dug this hole themselves.
I think it might tick up subscribers a bit, but warzone is already free and gets millions of players regardless of GP. But where will those extra subs come from? Xbox sales are dropping like a rock, PC gamers are very firmly rooted in Steam and will just buy it there.
@black
If they don't include it on Game Pass, they lose the claim of First-Party Day-One on Game Pass, and thus would begin the slippery slope of what's-ok-to-not-include and the devaluing of the service, and further sinking Microsoft/Xbox's already tarnished reputation.
Stuck between a rock and a hard place and this move buys them time to work out more future-math.
I still expect a price increase in GP to compensate but who knows. With all the factors in play like COD points there are too many variables for someone on the outside to predict what will happen. I assume they have a forecast model where this all looks peachy.
When the game does not hit 1 Billion in revenue in under two weeks they will wonder why and the next thing you know; Season Updates will no longer be free.
Yeah I expect paid DLC and season pass in your face, now you are buying for a game you are renting
That's where they're relying on PC and PlayStation gamers to pick up the slack. They know their business model isn't lasting so in order to give it away "free" for Xbox, they're banking on PC and PS5 customers to make up for the sales loss on Xbox, otherwise they wouldn't be able to pull this off like they want to. Xbots don't see it but, it's their gaming brethren that'll keep their console manufacturer afloat a little longer because the service they hold so dear isn't viable anymore. So, it's by the good graces of their fellow gamers they live to fight another day.
Consumers don't understand how Xbox Game Pass really works. It's not about the volume, and maybe Xbox doesn't want them to know. It's not about how many games you play. Developers don't make money by how many people play their game, it's HOW LONG you play. How many hours to put in.
Customers like David Jaffe that only like to sample don't help the service succed. Jaffe is a cheapskate stoner who spends all his money on Diet Coke, Jolly Ranchers, and weed to fry his brains (it's medically proven, sorry to disappoint) but Jaffe wants as much as he can get for as little so, he's not much of an advocate. But he also plays games for a little while and then gives up, it's just his personality, maybe A.D.D. or something, but Game Pass is dependent on how long a gamer sinks hours in. Why do you think Phil Spencer wants Helldivers 2? Because gamers don't put it down. Hellblade II, they'll play the campaign and then be done. Games like that sink to the bottom of the pile, they disappear. Xbox LIKES Games as a Service business models because it sells their service, but that model doesn't work for Sony, Helldivers was a stroke a luck, lightning that won't hit twice because PS fans don't want that. But that's how Xbox keeps it's games at the top of the list and on their service. The longer you play a single game, that's how devs make money
subscribers go up, execs celebrate win, get bonus, price goes up, subscribers go down,
execs dont care, got their bonus,
If it works CEOs and shareholders get a payday and if it doesn't even more studios get closed by MS so CEOs and shareholders get a payday.
It will sell on PC & PS but as long as COD is for rent on Gamepass it will not sell well on the XB platform. Most folks such as myself that like COD just for the campaign would rather rent it for that month instead of paying $70 plus tax for the game.
Your smart.
its 70 for base plus 10 to 20 for a season pass plus another 30 for there better season pass,
...now you are finally getting how to use GP. No commitments, just play what is offered. if you like it so much and want to keep a copy for yourself... you can buy it when you want to. I used to buy games based on if they looked appealing and have been burned many times on things. With this, I can try before I buy. And I have actually bought several games after having rented them in the service. It literally is like the old days of renting only you get the whole store instead of pay per rental.
I've been knowing how to use Gamepass. I sub the service yearly & I play games on the service that I don't have to pay the full price for such as Persona 3:Reload. I mostly play & pay for games on my PS5 but if a game lands on GP that I'm interested in playing & I don't have to buy a copy for the PS5 I'll definitely play it on Gamepass.
And there you have it, it's like you actively want to destroy the industry. Just rent the games and then buy them, knowing that doesn't happen and the actual cost of pushing a rental service is studios closures and firings.
So far MS has done nothing with Bethesda and Activision except limit where they sell, close successful studies, fire thousands and mass industry consolidation. No new games are being made that weren't already coming and some like Tangos future titles that they were working on we will never get to see now because of MS and their greed.
Massive industry consultation benefits only the company doing it, consumers and the workforce always lose out because of it. What MS is doing leads to cuts and a lesser end product. If MS had spent the money on making games instead of taking them away we would have a far healthier industry, instead we have the same games but with restrictions and a service that has cannibalised sales.
Microsoft + Bethesda conference was perfectly fine and gave a glimpse into the long-term vision the Microsoft has for some of these studios. Square Enix was disappointing and hopefully, they will show more of the anticipated games people are interested the next time around.
Eh
Unironically PC Gaming SHow was the best major show. The others were pretty meh.
Small shows on the other hand felt like actual E3 - Tribecta Games, Devolver, etc were soooooooo much better than all of them.
Even the Summer Games Kickoff was much better but I think my bias may be because of From Soft on that one.
There were a lot of games shown that I'm excited to see more of. They're even following it up with information on more titles. I thought it was a good show.
It was cool to see Obsidian working on a sequel to Outer Worlds. I liked the game, but it needed to be reworked a bit and more fleshed out. Hoping we see that with this sequel.
It was...okay
It's just everyone else has been terrible that it stands out more