The Future of Gaming is Subscription

What does it mean to “own” a game?

In video gaming’s infancy, it meant scribbling your name on the back of a gray NES cartridge. Today, it could mean having a physical copy of a disc in a box or having a digital copy on your PC or console hard drive.

But things start to get fuzzy when you think about programs like Xbox Live Gold and PlayStation Plus, which grant licenses for a handful of games on a monthly rotating basis. Do you “own” a “Games with Gold” title if you never let your membership lapse? Of course not, but the act of “purchasing” the game for “free” from the store during the month its available and retaining it over the long term aligns with the paradigm of ownership we’ve understood for years.

[CP_Company]

no, it is not. blind delusional fanboys.

[Godmars290]

Or paid advertisement disguised as opinion pieces. Or whatever this article is.

[rainslacker]

And lots of people in the media who seem to love promoting it, but have a disdain for every other thing that people in the community seem to dislike.

The press loves to happily promote this stuff as if they are powerless to prevent it, when in fact, they have the most power to actually prevent removing options from the consumer. But they don't serve the community. They don't even serve the industry, they are just used by the industry. The press serves itself, because all they care about is clicks, and writing about stuff they know the readers aren't that keen on is a surefire hit to gain them revenue.

[NeoGamer232]

I disagree.

I have EA Access, PS Now, and GamePass. They have saved me a ton of money. For about $350 / year I get a ton of content that would otherwise cost me $1,000's.

I would prefer if Sony would bring day one content to PSNow, add downloadable versions, add the ability to buy those games and improve the PC client a lot more, but, it allows me to play PS4 games when I travel away from my PS4 at home.

[mcstorm]

People said the same thing when music passes came out that they won't take off ect because it's not the same as owning the CD ect. Look what happened there. Gaming is going down this rout to and if I'm honest I have gamepass and it has meant I have tried games I would not normally give a go and enjoyed them. It has also saved me a fortune on games I would of also picked up to.

I think as long as subscription gaming runs alongside people being able to buy the game I can see them both coexisting.

It also gives developers a chance to charge for DLC and I think more people would also pick it up due to having a subscription.

Its not for everyone but I think it will bring more people into gaming esp when they will have the option of streaming and not owning a £400 console or buying a £400 console just having access to 100s of games for x amount each month.

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

@Mcstorm,

I don't know what a music pass is and I've never heard of one, is it like Spotify? I would still be buying CDs if the quality of music hadn't declined so much over the past few decades.

[Nyxus]

No thanks.

[MasterCornholio]

Nope

[ArchangelMike]

Somebody please answer what happens to the games we buy from streaming host when the service provider goes bust? Let me guess - we don't actually own those games, we just lease them yeah? Well in that case no thank you! Give me my disc based games that I can buy and own, and lend and trade etc.

[starchild]

Well yeah. It's the same as any digital game purchase.

Very nearly all my PC games and most of my PS4 games are digital purchases. And I'm not worried about it in the slightest. It's unlikely Valve or Sony are going to go under any time soon. Even if they ever did I'm sure they would be compelled to unlock all the games and let us keep them as downloads. And if by some super remote chance they didn't do that...well then, I'd lose all those games. Still wouldn't be the end of the world. It's so incredibly unlikely anyway.

You might as well worry about your house burning down or getting burglarized and you losing all your physical games, it's that unlikely.

[sampsonon]

For me once i finish a game i hardly ever replay them.
Plus most mp game servers close after a few years.

what i see happening is Sony making hard disk games but less of them as people start going totally digital.
kind of like limited edition disk games.

[Razzer]

It isn’t the same as a digital purchase of a game at all. With a digital purchase you own that license to a game. You own jack shit with a subscription. If you stop paying for your subscription then the games you have installed stop working. Valve hypothetically going under doesn’t invalidate the license you have purchased. Microsoft hypothetically going under, or just ending the service, means anything you have installed with Game Pass is just wasted space on your hard drive. But yes, these scenarios are unlikely

[stuna1]

"You might as well worry about your house burning down or getting burglarized and you losing all your physical games!" You have statistics to back up your claims!?

You might not care how much money you've spent on gaming, but obviously you're not everyone. To some it's an actual investment.

[rainslacker]

Yippee for you I guess. I think the OP is pointing out the nature of digital content not being something we own. That we're spending money on the consumption, but not the acquisition of property.

You buying digital, and it being the standard for you does not make the case that it's OK, or acceptable, or wanted, nor that it will be the future, or at least should be the future. If anything, it supports the notion that it's still not ready for the consumer, and not beneficial for them.

And, the chances that these services get shut down it statistically much higher than the chance of your house burning down. There is less than a 1% chance that your house will catch fire, and less than 25% of that 1% resulting in complete destruction of your property. As it stands now, with maybe 10 or so sub and digital services out there, one going down, that means one going down is a 10% chance that it goes down. Also, if you own a home you are required to have insurance in all states, or are smart enough to spend a few bucks a month if you're a renter, they will cover property loss. You don't get anything back if content is removed, or the service goes down.

As it stands, there is already content that has been removed from various services which is no longer available to download even to paying consumers, and there are indeed digital services that have failed and people no longer having access to their content. The most notable being GFWL, a MS run service....the company who is supposedly best poised to deliver this all glorious digital only future and always connected dream that no one actually has other than the publishers who want to control the consumer. But sure, they'll be successful by rebranding it into the Windows Store, and promoting that store off the back of their Xbox brand. Seems legit.

Digital and sub services will become more prominent as time goes forward, there is no doubt about that. But it's only digital proponents who seem to think that physical has to suffer or die because of that. Digital and subs should be an expansion of the market options, not a replacement of current options. You're free to like digital all you want, but don't downplay the negatives that surround it to promote it as the best or mostly likely only option going forward. There was a reason people spoke out against MS original DRM plans. Even if much of the consumer base shifts to digital, it doesn't mean that physical has to die, and I shake my head at people that promote digital in a way that physical is obsolete and has to die, because it shows they are selfish, and are willing to remove options for something that doesn't affect them at all.

[WelkinCole]

I also believe Santa Clause will get me a copy of Half life 3

[Cobra951]

You shouldn't conflate digital downloads with streaming. If a streaming service ends, access to everything in its library ends instantly. (Think Netflix going down.) If a download service ends, you don't lose what you already have. It's still on your drive, and it still works.

With PC, it's no big trick at all to back up your content, so it becomes as secure as a physical purchase (not that PC games come as physical releases anymore). On console, this is possible too, if not quite as easy. At one point, I had most of my X-One games on two separate external hard drives. I copied them (using the Xbox file management) because I was afraid one of the drives was failing. The system didn't care which drive I used. It just cared that I owned the licenses (stored in a local file, since the games work offline).

[indysurfn]

Microsoft did not got down, can I play the old Halo online on my 360? No!? because the servers where taken down. Sony did not go under, can I play my Socom online game now? NO?! Why not? The server was taken down. EA is the KING of taking game servers down. NFL 2014 was down 14 months after the game was released. Plus many others.

[starchild]

"Somebody please answer what happens to the games we buy from streaming host when the service provider goes bust?"

This was his question. I was directly addressing it by saying that you would potentially lose your ability to stream that game much like you could lose access to your digitally downloaded games.

I then said I'm personally not too concerned about it because I believe companies like Valve and Sony would likely remove the DRM and allow us to keep the games you've purchased from them as DRM free downloads. There's no reason this couldn't apply to games you've purchased from them to stream whenever you want. At least that's what I assume he meant because he specifically referred to buying them not renting. So I imagine it would work the same way as movies or TV series episodes that people buy and have access to stream whenever they want. If the provider knew they were going under they would probably allow those purchased movies or games to be downloaded for offline play.

I wasn't saying other aspects of streaming are the same as digital downloads. That would be stupid. Of course there are major differences. The streaming of games has quality issues and the availability of titles is unreliable since games are added and removed over time. I thought that would be obvious.

I'm not even that big of a proponent of streaming. The only use case that appeals to me is being able to stream my games to a portable device while I'm away from home. Other than that I'm personally not interested.

It's true that I have moved over to mostly digital downloads, as have many other gamers, but that doesn't mean I have anything against physical media. I wouldn't want it to disappear as an option since some people prefer it. But I also don't agree with his fear mongering about digital downloads and his attempt to make it sound like physical is the only correct choice.

I don't know what the statistical likelihood of a house fire is nor the exact likelihood of Sony or Valve going under. My only point was that both possibilities seem fairly remote and I'm not too worried about it either way. Something like 96% of my digital downloads are with Valve and Sony and I truly don't see either of them going under any time in the forseeable future.

[starchild]

@Razzer

You must not have read carefully enough and just assumed what we were talking about. He specifically asked about games you've purchased, not games you're accessing through a subscription.

To be clear, there are a couple different scenarios:

1. Games you purchase and download to play from your local hardware.

2. Games you purchase and stream whenever you feel like it. Movies and TV episodes are offered this way too by some providers. You own the license but you don't have to download to your local hardware to watch it.

3. Games you access through a subscription and which are downloaded to local hardware, but are only available to play so long as you pay the subscription.

4. Games you access through a subscription and which you stream, but are only available to play so long as you pay the subscription.

5. Disc based games.

From what he described in his question I was fairly sure he was talking about the second scenario.

[S2Killinit]

No thank you Microsoft, Apple, Google. Keep your services.

[timotim]

I noticed you didn't mention Sony in your name dropping...don't they have a service with PS Now??? Arent they already streaming games and will continue doing so???

[Silly gameAr]

Aren't you guys always saying Sony is behind when it comes to stuff like that?

[InTheZoneAC]

you're just going to act like you disagree with his point?

[timotim]

@Silly

Soooo...what you're saying is that Sony gets a pass from you because they aren't as strong a player in this area? That's an interesting take.

My take is a little more straight forward though...why act as if its only Microsoft, Apple and Google when NONE of those companies currently have a streaming option...yet the one company that does, he acts as if they aren't apart of it as well??? Just seemed a little strange is all.

[rainslacker]

Because Sony isn't spending time promoting these services in lieu of making games. If they go that route in the future, then some may change their mind, but you can't call hypocrisy when there is none, because Sony is providing multiple markets just fine.

[WelkinCole]

Because Sony will never abandon or focus too much on streaming over disc based games simply because they are a more global brand and they want to keep that.

Even in most Western Countries streaming is still not ideal for most people. Imagine other global markets Sony are in that don't have as good internet

[S2Killinit]

Here is your answer
https://m.youtube.com/watch...
Sony isnt pushing for this future, but MS is.

[Kribwalker]

Sony even had Psnow stream straight to Tvs and added PCs a couple of years ago. They stopped streaming to Tvs because they needed more processing power to lower the latency, but then added PCe to play their games without owning a PS4.

If you think sony spent hundreds of millions on Gakai and aren’t moving in the streaming direction then you are just closing your eyes and plugging your ears shouting LaLaLaLaLa

[S2Killinit]

@kribwalker
@porkandshakes
Please dont lie to yourself and everybody else here. Microsoft has been going all in with streaming and some people are denying the truth in the hope that everybody else will follow Microsoft, just so that they dont have to accept the fact that it is Microsoft who is pushing for this streaming future. If you cant accept the writing on the wall after Microsoft LITERALLY said they will turn xbox into a service by putting its games on other devices/consoles, then you are beyond redemption. You have chosen your corporation over console gaming. Enjoy your service future just dont drag the rest of us down with you.

[King_Noctis]

Sony is just as guilty as any of them to be honest. If you gonna condemn all why not condemn Sony as well? Or is Sony so special that they get a pass in this area?

[S2Killinit]

No they are not.

[trooper_]

Don’t rope Sony in this crap.

[annoyedgamer]

The disagrees lol. Sony fanboys won't question their master.

[Kribwalker]

**Puts his fingers in his ears, closes his eyes and starts shouting LALALALALALA**

That’s what you guys are sounding like.

Oh here’s a link you should check out
https://www.playstation.com...

[Kribwalker]

Keep telling yourself that. Sony has already been offering a streaming service for years. If you don’t think they will be trying to utilize that for gaming subs then you are wrong. Because they already are. They offer a subscription to play hundreds of PS games, without owning a console. They are putting PS4 exclusives on this subscription service later than MS is, but they are.

They are the only one currently offering a Subscription based game streaming service. And you chose to leave their subscription based game streaming service completely out of the conversation for companies that don’t even have that yet.

Some would say Sony are among the Pioneers of subscription based game streaming services for console gaming, as no one else had that

[rainslacker]

You're right. Sony has had a streaming service for years. So, why is it that ms is getting so much credit for being the innovators, or will be the ones that do the most to usher in this future, while it will somehow be harmful to Sony, and allow ms to have the upper hand next gen?

The answer is that because while Sony does promote these services, there is absolutely no sense from anyone in the ps community or press, or even the anti Sony crowd that makes them posit that Sony's end game is this digital future being talked about here. While ms, who doesn't even have a service up and running yet is making it a key part their future in their current marketing.

There is a great disparity in the way the two companies are handling the services in relation to their business.

Comparing it to Sony is disregarding everything the is being done, and how it's being done, and seems to be brought up because people want to defend ms was forward thinking in removing options, or just another way to call ps fans hypocrites and try to discredit them that way. But was it stands, you'd be hard pressed to find Sony fans, or Sony itself talking about it in the context we we it presented here, because it doesn't seem to be their business plan for now. If that changes, then maybe opinions will change, but for now, the comparisons aren't completely equal.

[S2Killinit]

@kribwalker
I already explained what people like you are doing. I wont even bother reading your explanations. Sony is not nearly doing what MS has envisioned, as I explained above. Its really bad that you are following MS into destruction of consoles, thats all I can say about that. This is horrible news. Smh

[yellowgerbil]

I really wish sega would come back with an improved dreamcast. Give me an old school simple console. It could be about x1 base in power but have simple geometry with high fps. Like polished dreamcast games

[FallenAngel1984]

An old school system wouldn’t fly in this age, plus Sega has more to benefit by continuing to be a third party than risk making hardware again

[DaFeelz]

It better not be. If that’s what it becomes, count me out.

[timotim]

I'm interested in streaming games as a companion to my main traditional gaming, not as a replacement but as an added supplement. Being able to use any device I might have to continue playing a game regardless of the situation or where I am...that idea is powerful.

[InTheZoneAC]

yeah let's play games where there's at least 250ms input lag...

[thexmanone]

i never have that problem with game pass. just download and play

[InTheZoneAC]

talking about streaming, which is the case with ps now and any possible xbox on switch scenario. Keep up.

[King_Noctis]

But this article is about subscriptions, not about streaming. Subscription does not automatically mean streaming. Just look at Gamepass or EA Origin Access.

[thexmanone]

I know right, I guess he didn`t read the article.

[Cobra951]

It doesn't exclude streaming. Subscriptions apply to both, and the author has both in mind.

"We’re starting to see more entrants in the subscription market. Sony has its version, PlayStation Now, which uses cloud-based streaming to deliver content."

[Fist4achin]

I dont like it and fear that it is. Try to go out and buy a blu ray or music cd now. You might be able to find the most popular on the radio or very recent contennt, but thats about it.

I will cling to my physical and support it as long as it is out there.

[rainslacker]

I can still find CD's and physical movies pretty easily. WalMart carries both, Amazon has them in plenty. Target still sells them. Best Buy still has a big movie section, although they moved away from CD's. The kind of music I listen to was usually hard to find outside record stores either way though.

I'm not really opposed to music digitally depending on what it is. But for the stuff I want quality on, physical tends to be better than most of the current download services, and none of the devices where I play music support FLAC, and I don't see any reason to spend money on it.

Anecdotal on my needs for music, but movies are still readily available, and I know of none that are streaming only outside the ones produced by the streaming providers.

[Fist4achin]

The best buys in my area only carry the newer movies. They only have 2 aisles dedicated to movies now. Target actually has a better selection than best buy. Frys seems to be the only option to find older stuff.

I know i age myself here, but physical music was great. Cds, vinyl, and cassettes were awesome as you got to appreciate art the bands chose, lyrics, and sometimes notes band members wrote. This generation is missing out. I know you can probably find all that online, but there was something special about taking the plastic off your newly bought media and showing your support. At least vinyl has a fairly strong following again.

[rainslacker]

I assume it will be very regional, and smaller areas may have a more limited selection. The wal.mart near me where I moved to a more rural area actual still gets in more dvds than bluray because it's more a depressed area financially. Internet out here can be good, but I find a lot of people that don't have it, and red box seems to be quite popular.

[victorMaje]

When you go from a system that allows you to freely resell, trade, lend or do whatever the hell you want with your copy to a system that prevents you from doing that, that’s called a step back, not the future.

[Segata]

Not for me. When I have no physical option I become a retro gamer.

[knickstr]

If it goes that way then I'm out. I'll play retro from then on. Subscription is just a recipe for GaaS and if that's the future then I guess I'll just have to find a new hobby.

[thexmanone]

Physical is going to leave. Just like records, 8 tracks and cassettes. There is no stopping it. next gen will be the last for physical media. And i say bring it on i'm ready.

[IRetrouk]

Records are still produced today, along with CDs and some forms of tape are still used too.

[FallenAngel1984]

Even with Netflix & Hulu being as popular as they are you can still buy various movies and tv shows on physical media, yet you believe somehow physical games will stop existing?

[rainslacker]

Physical media being replaced by an improved physical medium is not the same as a physical medium being replaced by a less desirable method of distribution which actually takes away ownership. Just because streaming is cheap and convienant for many, doesn't mean that it's what everyone wants, and physical still has it's place in music, movies, and of course games.

You're right though. There is no stopping it if more people such as yourself just accept an inevitable future that you feel you have no control over stopping. If you just bow to the wishes of an industry which wishes to take away your options so they have control, then what are we to do. It's the consumer which allows that to happen, and the consumer holds an immeasurable amount of power. MS DRM policies at the start of this gen were proof enough of that.

If next gen is the last for physical media, I'm ready for it too. I'm ready to not support a product that doesn't provide me with what I want, and what I want is to be a consumer that owns what he buys. I've been collecting games for over 30 years. Digital to me is nothing more than a quick way to consume cheap products when they're available, but it's not a collection. I don't own it. I can't sell it. I can't appreciate an icon on the screen or a download link. I can't take pride in it. I can only consume it, and pray that I will be able to do so indefinitely.

But if next gen is the last for physical media, then unfortunately for you, the internet infrastructure isn't going to be as ready as you are, and with the repeal of net neutrality, you may find that your hopes and dreams of an all digital future, as if that is somehow hindered by the existence of physical media, isn't going to be as rosy as you seem to think it will be. The internet isn't going to improve in the next 7-8 years to handle the added bandwidth of all digital gaming, or streaming games to a couple hundred million consumers at once. It can't even keep up with movie streaming now, and it's only getting worse. And we just came off a huge infrastructure update to the internet just a few years ago by all the major ISP's and internet backbone providers. That took ten years, and billions of dollars from the governments around the world. It's not going to happen again before the end of next gen.

[Rachel_Alucard]

Streaming games is currently too costly for businesses and the speeds needed to achieve what users can currently do without streaming is at least 20 years off, provided American ISPs aren't still resistant to competing with one another.

[Rude-ro]

With developers offering less and charging more AND hiding any actual reward behind loot boxes and micro transactions...
nah. Not yet.
If so, then my money would go to Sony because they are one of the few that actually deliver product worth playing plus would have THE largest software backlog or equal to Nintendo.
We’ve seen the content Microsoft wants to offer and I could not laugh in someone’s face hard enough if that’s their example of a service.

[Hardiman]

Yeah I don't think so. Not as long as there are gamers who have been gaming for the last few decades and prefer to own their games. Whether it's physical or digital. Now someone who doesn't know any different, sure but this has been discussed throughly on here why it's not a future any time soon.

Also there is evidence that people don't want this. This gen started with one focusing primarily on SP games and being able to play used games and the other was trying to push some pretty egregious policies that would've really been good for GAAS and the former is the market leader and the other isn't!

[Hroach616]

God I hope not. I have great internet and I still don’t want that. I’ve only gone 100% digital for my games in the last 2 years. And some of my friends still live in places with terrible internet. They can’t download 20 gig games let alone 80+ gig games. They just squeak by with online play.

[Tross]

The future of gaming is what the consumer decides it is. Companies can try and sway the consumer in any number of ways, but it is we who ultimately decide what to do with our money. We will see what the future holds but I for one am not interested in a subscription-based future.

[Hardiman]

Thank you and I think the reason Sony and Nintendo are killing it in sales is because they still deliver solid "gotta play" games. I've never seen so much effort put into trying to shape a narrative as I have about how GAAS of subs are the future. I don't want the kinda games that all too often come from that type of model. Look at Anthem, look at Crackdown 3 or worse look at Battleborne or Evolve. No thanks!

[rainslacker]

Just remember at the middle to end of last gen we saw a similar narrative for a digital only future from the usual suspects. Then, ms took the risk to apply digital rights across the board with physical there just because there was too much of a market for it.

We saw what happened when they put into practice what was being preached and many of the same sites which made articles like this were quick to say that it wasn't acceptable, because either they realized they made a mistake, or knew they risked losing readers is they supported something no one wanted.

I wouldn't expect such a large step to be tried at one time again, but what were seeing is really no different than what we we being fought against at the start of the gen, and even the most ardent Xbox fanboy wasn't in here defending ms over their plans because they understood it wasn't right. I don't know why some now seem to act as though it's a good future, but I suspect it has more to do with the console war than it does with people actual sensibilities.

[XabiDaChosenOne]

It is the future and it will lead to the second gaming crash when it becomes standard.

[Xaevi]

I feel the entirety of this generation has been gaming media and publishers desperately trying to convince that the industry is heading in a direction that it's not. It's been the same regurgitated crap for the last 5 years. GaAS is the future, digital is the future, single player is dead, multiplayer is the future, streaming is the future, mobile is the future, microtransactions are perfectly fine. This gen will be 6 years old by the years end, and all their efforts to change the way things work have been for nothing. All that these publishers have done is piss off their consumers, and the media has been burying itself further each day with how they treat their readers. If after 6 years the "future" has yet to arrive then you're doing something WRONG. we the "entitled" consumers decide where the industry will go and so far, despite some stupid things slipping through, we haven't been taking kindly to the BS they're trying to shove onto us.

[PhoenixUp]

Why do people want physical media to go away?

That’s never going to happen

[Knightofelemia]

Companies like Capcom or say Ubisoft make more money selling digital and physical copies of a game. They would stand to lose more going subscription only and on top of that a lot of gamers are collectors. I can't collect a subscription based game I don't own it honestly that would shy away from that game if it went subscription only and it would probably turn other people away as well. If Subscription only did happen I would probably just stick with the older consoles I own them and I collect and best of all no paying a subscription fee and no fee to play online either.

[william_cade]

This would be crap. Just imagine you put hundreds of hours into a game and something happens that you can't cover the sub fee.

[Einhander1971]

I own plenty of systems all physical discs, carts. I can choose to play what I want when I want. I hate downloading games I do occasionally sometimes there isn’t a choice. I was playing Sega rally on my PS3 yesterday REAL disc no worries, that’s why I won’t part with my legacy hardware and vast library of games.

[Stanjara]

I don't have time for all games in subscription. What I like to do is to do my research and buy games that I like, and that are done with care and effort from developers. Also, with my purchase I reword developers and support their work. I can't wait for Hollow Knight Silksong, Cyberpunk and Last of us 2. Santa Monica is also cooking something good. These are just examples of great developers that I support. Paying for subscription you are supporting all games, including the ones that are bad, which makes quality of games and their content less relevant.

[Hardiman]

You sum up how lots of gamers feel. Especially as it pertains to supporting studios and supporting games I otherwise wouldn't.

[NickAwesome]

The "Future" of gaming: a world where every game is streamed, nothing is owned, and games disappear, rendering them nonexistent once certain brand/product/music licenses expire, or developer/streaming service shuts down. Wonderful :(

[WelkinCole]

I bloody hate how the gaming media are pulling for these mega corporations to get what these corporations want

Like I have not seen any single major gaming news outlet say anything bad about where this is heading

Guess I should not be surprised

All of us that have know gaming for a long time know how bad GaaS is for gaming for gamers and games in general.

Why there was an uproar over when MS tried to pull a fast one at the start of the gen.

Gamers knew where MS wanted to take things where we don't own games anymore but just rent them.

Sad but it seems like younger gamers are more interested in BR and cross game crap and half baked MS games like Frontine, Overwatch, Destiney, Anthem etc that they overlook game ownership and what it really means long term.

[xenz]

Article makes it sound like subscription will be the only way. Hell no, I say.
I've said this before.. I believe we will see both physical/digital and streaming co-exist.

Just because Netflix, HBO and Amazon is a thing in the movie industry doesn't stop other people buying physical media/digital or go to the cinema.

[Thundercat77]

I have seen the tendency of these articles. They are always promoting whatever Microsoft is doing.

Microsoft releases BC almost at the end of the generation while still having a weak exclusive library.
Next morning you get the article: "BC is the most important feature in gaming".

Microsoft says is moving to other platforms with its subscription service.
Next morning you get this article.

[Kribwalker]

“Microsoft releases BC almost at the end of the generation”
https://m.youtube.com/watch...

You really are just talking nonsense. BC was announced in june 2015, 1.5 years into the generation. Not almost at the end (gonna be 4 years this year)

[Thundercat77]

Microsoft lost this generation very early so it really was almost at the end of their pitiful generation.

[Kribwalker]

“Microsoft lost this generation very early so it really was almost at the end of their pitiful generation.”

they have sold almost 3/4 of their consoles this gen after that announcement.....yep, end of the gen 🙄

some of the crap some of you spew is truly mind boggling

[howiewowwee]

the future of video gaming is simply making good games.... subscriptions are for magazines.

[AK91]

Is it?

[supes_24]

No, no streaming is not the future and if it is I’ll quit gaming. So pay for internet, the online service of your choice (ps+, Xbox live), and then pay for a streaming service? See where I’m going with this? Nope, I’ll just find other things to do.

[FanboysKiller]

I've read the user agreement for ea access program and shockingly between the lines I found that they have the right to stop the service at any time they pleased to do it, but for just $30 a year it is still an exception.

[trooper_]

Not my future.

[bellome]

No way.

[BlaqMagiq1]

The moment it goes all digital and all streaming I'm done with gaming.

Physical>Digital forever.

[DigitalRaptor]

With all these companies getting involved it's going to become very saturated very fast, and if subscription is your selling point you're going to have a hard time especially if your content doesn't stand out. Companies like Sony and Nintendo would be smart to stay on course and release legendary games. That is how you stand out in the future.

[Artemidorus]

What is this obsession of throwing money at ideas that never last forever?

[FinalFantasyFanatic]

If it is, I won't be paying/playing it, the service doesn't suit me so I won't pay for it.