Subscriptions Are About to Swallow Gaming

By now, you’ve likely felt the subscription pinch, and readied yourself for the coming escalation. Netflix, Amazon, HBO Now, Hulu, Disney Plus—it’s a mess out there! Then again, it’s nothing compared to what’s coming for gamers.

[Iamnothuman12]

A pirate's life for me.

[thexmanone]

Your so special, Your IP has been reported

[Brave_Losers_Unite]

Because working around an IP address is so difficult /s

[RomanPSX]

thexmanone - how it affects you? I dont understand "people" like you. Is the money coming out of your pocket? Please explain how directly affects you?

[thexmanone]

@RomanPSX

Stealing is wrong, No it doesn't affect me. It effects the people who put all that hard work into making the game, then get it stolen by some cheap a@@ low life gamer. His IP has been reported

[fiveby9]

Reported for what? Reported for making a comment?

[Brave_Losers_Unite]

@thexmanone

You know you sound stupid when you say you reported an IP. You know you are full of shit too. i rEpOrTeD aN iP aDdReSs fRoM n4G

[Fluttershy77]

hahaha the Teen police is here. Go teen police, show him!

[rainslacker]

Lol. I dont condone piracy, but you aren't sounding as scary as you think by saying his ip is reported....mostly because saying your going to pirate isnt illegal, nor do ISPs really care what their customers download. They aren't in the business to protect copyrights

Oh, and you shouldn't know his ip anyways.

[XtraTrstrL]

You prolly have torrent software running right now, downloading something. Just stop.

[ChiefofLoliPolice]

@thexmarone Boo you suck😒. Reported.

[CDbiggen]

Oof, that's pretty damn sad bro.

[obidanshinobi]

You're, not your.
Your IP has been reported to the Grammar Police.

[Hungryalpaca]

Hahaha thanks for the laugh. An IP means literally nothing.

[IMissJimRyan]

You can't pirate if you don't have access to the code and that code is made for a platform that you can't get.

[Shikoku]

Yeah it's not like people are still playing PS2 online games portions.....oh yeah they are eventually people figure it out and it will happen it always does.

[Cobra951]

True. That's why I refuse to buy any game--ANY GAME--that requires going online to work. I don't want online games on my systems even if I can get them for free. No one controls what I play but me.

Shikoku, the point he's making is valid. Some games keep some or all of their functionality server-side. That means that someone else always controls who gets to play them and how; and pirating to get full control of them is usually not possible.

[ShinRon]

id pay for a game as dope as bloodborne or zelda to get the constant update treatment like wow or fortnite

my problem is when the game isnt good, i dont mind paying for amazing experiences

[Shiken]

Or you could...ya know...get more for less with a proper sequel?

[antarius]

Subscription tv is getting just as pricey as regular cable when you start piecing packages together. I just switched to Xbox ultimate pass, that with iTunes, and if your getting Netflix, Amazon and the numerous other services available your pushing 100 to 150 a month. It’s right up there with cable.

[Shikoku]

At least with TV packages you can pick what you want to watch and if you don't want it opt out with cable you can't you pay for it regardless.

[opc]

Don't subscribe to all of them at once. Get HBO for a couple of months and cancel netflix for a couple of months. Amazon and Google are making this very easy to do with their subscription managers.

[Imalwaysright]

That's exactly why those services are bleeding money and won't last much longer. The moment you'll need several subscriptions to play all the games you want to is when it will become inconvenient to the consumer and that's when they'll die.

[Cobra951]

No thanks. I did finally decide that Amazon Prime is worth the asking price. (Only took me . . . how many years has it been since Prime started?). That includes a video service, but that alone would have never made me bite. There are too many ways to find entertainment online for me to ever pay more than basic prices to watch shows and movies

[IMissJimRyan]

I like to have a phisical copy of the games for a reason that I don't know what it is. Most of times I play the games, put on the shelf and never touch it anymore. But I like this way.

However, we are talking about business. And the subscription model is far better for the big companies. It keeps under their control the property of the games. No more used games, no piracy, constant flow of money. And, as consumers, we don't have how to fight back against Google, Microsoft or Amazon.

[akurtz]

The wallet is your weapon

[IMissJimRyan]

It's an illusion of choice. You will vote with your wallet on what will be the winner subscription service. The model is already choosen by big companies.

[gangsta_red]

Fight back against MS, Google, Sony or Amazon? Just don't purchase their subscriptions.

[Cobra951]

Right. Just because many people have gone there doesn't mean you have to follow. There are always choices.

[opc]

One of the biggest things that these companies always mention is that it introduces new games to people that would otherwise just ignored them. When you've already paid and a game is just a download away.... why not try more things?

[Imalwaysright]

Since when do big companies dictate what will fail or succeed? Where do you thing the money they make comes from? Fairies?

[Cobra951]

Wallet choice is not an illusion. Wallet voting is. Too many idiots make anticonsumer practices lucrative, but that doesn't mean that more savvy individuals don't have the choice of where to spend their money.

[spicelicka]

I wouldn't support subscription in favour of owning games, but I'm always going to put my value gained above all, as would any consumer. Sometimes you just can't deny good value, and that's Gamepass. I just renewed my Xbox live for 2 years and for an extra dollar I got a Gamepass subscription with it. I'll get Gears 5 4 days before launch, Halo infinite when it comes out, and there are TONS of big games on there like Metro Exodus, Monster Hunter, Wolfenstein, Shadow of theTomb Raider, like the value is undeniable.

And for those that will say that I'm supporting a service that can hurt us as gamers in the future, I mean really don't care right now. I absolutely don't want that to be our future but it's practically free for me at the moment, I know it won't last long and when that wave comes I'll opt out no problem.

[Brave_Losers_Unite]

No idiot is going to play competitive multiplayer gaming with input lag

[SyntheticForm]

I think that's exactly what an idiot would do.

I'm sure you meant nobody with any brains would welcome or partake in that sort of experience.

[spicelicka]

Wouldn't that be a STREAMING subscription service? Gamepass is subscription based but your games are all downloaded.

[Kosic]

Tbh I don't mind these game pass subscription services. You get a choice.

A) buy game out right (physical or digital)
B) rent game for X amount a month

For me, when a game is completed and I've had my fair share of playing it. I don't care if I still own it in my library.

If the library of rented games is big enough for the cost. I may consider one.

I feel the need to own a game argument invalid for this sort of debate. You don't have to sub to these services and you can still buy the games out right. So where's the debate?

[No Way]

Right now there is a choice - because there aren't that many out. But, when Sony has a service, EA has a service, Ubisoft has a service, Take Two has a service, Epic has a service..... where you can only buy their games thru that service for a monthly fee, it starts to become a problem, and a problem I don't want to be involved in.

[Kosic]

If it becomes that I will understand. But I don't think they'd do that on a home console. As you can't install other stores. For PC maybe. As it's kinda happening.

But I doubt they'd remove the ability to buy games out right so they can then rent them out.

You would rather double dip in the market and have purchase as well rent/sub services.

[princejb134]

honestly 9 out of 10 times i dont even play my games after i beat them but when its time for me to sell my console which i always do. Its alot more attractive to buyers to buy a used console with games included. I would not be able to do that with a subscription

[Cmoney007]

I don’t like calling people out on N4G, but I will make an exception for Locomorales because he is always about some agenda. It is quite embarrassing. Anyways, people can accept many of these dumb gaming services, but I will find other options if many people want to accept this garbage. I refuse to be at the mercy of any company in gaming that wants to do anything to steal more money from our wallets. People better make sure they have a solid net connection that supports these services or they will be screwed.

[Cobra951]

I've been giving him a bit of a hard time myself. He's proclaiming the complete doom of the proper game-sales model. I just can't abide that kind of defeatism.

[SyntheticForm]

I'm really like Game Pass; it's opening the door to so many games I would otherwise never try for a decent price, and I'm liking a lot of them.

[sampsonon]

i might just learn to play an instrument. at least ill own it.

[Imortus_san]

I only need 1 permanent Subscription and one ocasional Subscription, only buy then on promos, and all is well.

[Elda]

I will always support buying traditional physical copies of videogames to play on my Pro. I have no use for any subscription services. PS Now streams most games in 720p including most games are PS3 games that I've already played on the PS3 in 720p so there's really no use for me to have it.

[_LarZen_]

You can only play so many games at a time. No need to have all types of subscriptions going at the same time. That's just pointless and a waste of money. But how they hope most will do as we are kinda lazy. Be smart and you'll save money by subscribing and playing games.

[rainslacker]

I think the problem lies in the fact that many people would not keep up on that much planning for their subs. Let's say you finish a game, then have 2 weeks left, then start another on the same service instead of just buying what you want to play, but it goes three weeks, then you still have three weeks. Or your stopping playing a game because your sub runs out. So on and so forth. The companies with a more desirable catalog benefit more, while smaller pubs end up being paid piece meal on various services. Not a good proposition for those that are into less popular games.

Basic example of course, but TV subs have tought me that it's not worth trying to keep up with. For the few shows I may wish to watch, I can just buy the bluray box set when its available, because I'll likely want to watch it again in the future, and owning it means I can without whipping out my CC, or maybe the license on a service expiring as it does often.

[jznrpg]

The only sub I will buy is PS+ and that’s it and I’m currently signed up until 2026

[JackBNimble]

I'm pretty sure the title of this article is just hyperbole... it's how journalists distort the truth .
I doubt very much that there are millions more gamers who rather have subs then gamers who want to own games.

[Fraggle1987]

not true. outside of basic psn+ subsciptions arent going to become huge. The simple reason is you cant have new 3rd party games on a subscription model. The developer/publisher doesnt get enough compared to £50 for a new release, hence why stadia doesnt have it. Only after a game has ben out for quite a while does it possibly make financia sense to have it on a subscription.

[opc]

I like the subscriptions, Origin Access is $2.50/month. That's not much. I played Rime, Titanfall 2, Mad Max, BF1, BFV... there are a lot of games I was considering buying, then I got to try them out and learned that I don't like them and stopped thinking about them.

[No Way]

The problem isn't the value that they may bring - the problem is how many you may need. Sure, $2.50 a month is not much.. but when you add in a subscription service for all the major publishers and developers, plus Sony Ninty and MS. Now you're looking at $100 a month to run all their subs.

[opc]

but there is no need to have all of them at the same time.

If you get game pass on PC you can play wolfenstein, prey, hollow knight, sunset over drive, and a few others...

are you really going to have time for other subscriptions? People need to stop thinking that they need games simply because they exist

[SlagWolf]

And that’s when I go retro gaming only

[SaveFerris]

I already have a huge backlog of games across PS3 and PS4. I don't need to add to that.

[The7Reaper]

If it becomes the norm I'll just quit gaming all together, no point in continuing if you get to a point you don't even own your games anymore.

[RangerWalk267]

I'm okay with it, at least as an option. There have been about a dozen games that I have purchased due to Game Pass. I would have never have tried them otherwise. Once I find games I really enjoy on the service, I go and purchase them to own.
I see nothing wrong with this. As long as purchasing they game remains an option.

[XxINFERNUSxX]

Netflix, Amazon, HBO Now, Hulu, Disney, I'll throw in SyFy for Krypton and the History channel, you pay for this ? LMAO Torrent my friends torrent. No point when the shows/movies are up the same day or in a few hours after they aired. Ex: Jessica Jones Season 3 got it in 1080p, within a few hours, soon in 4K when they upload smaller x265 files. :D So to me I don't give a shit what network the shows go on, in the end I will have them ^_^. You all can waste your $$ on all this sub crap. If they can get all these TV shows/Movies up on the torrent sites I'm sure they will do the same if games go this way, they will find a way.

[opc]

Who's got the time? I get one service.

[nibblo]

Take advantage of everything out there, if it works for use buy it if it doesn't don't. End of story, I don't see options going away any time soon, these corporations only follow our wallet, we have the power they don't.

[PygmelionHunter]

Thank God for PC gaming and offline console games!

But hey, keep on giving more power to these companies by subscribing to crap like Xbox Live Gold and PS+

It was only a matter of time they got even more greedy and started cashing in on streaming services and the like.

[lazyboyblue]

Totally understand the inevitable downvotes but I kind of like them.
I play a lot more Indie games then I ever would if I didn't have Gamepass.
Plus sometimes I get to play AAA games like shadow of TR, that reviewed weak and meant me not risking full price on it. Second chance chance games if you like.

[FGHFGHFGH]

well by the time shadow of TR came out on gamepass you could buy it for $20 so it's not exactly the same as buying it on release.

[opc]

it's still $20 that they wouldn't have made before

[esherwood]

I guarantee these companies have laid out 10 year plans with this stuff ending in micro transactions. Everyone bitched at beginning of this generation that $60 for a games not enough. I bet the plans to get the games into as many hands as possible with subscriptions and when people become used to it work in micro transactions. $60 for a games a bargain, as long as Sony keeps doing it the way they are that’s where my money’s going

[rainslacker]

They're certainly undercutting the costs now to get people signed up. MS is practically giving it away for free, but that won't last forever. Psnow had the rare trials or a cheap month, or free month for new accounts, so on and so forth. If this sub stuff became the only option, itd be just like cable where they Jack up the prices because they can, and people are hooked. But streaming services cut into that, and then all the content providers decided to make their own service.

Gaming is no different, and if one wants to see where gaming is headed with these services, just look at how tv/ movie streaming has progressed in the past 10 years.

[FGHFGHFGH]

it will be funny when next xbox releases, if you will need a different sub for it.

[esherwood]

I agree. They’re not doing this angle to make less profit then the old way of doing things. I’m sure they got a bunch of people studying this crap and have it all planned out when there going to introduce new micro transactions as to not stir up to much drama. Realize it’s kinda tin foil hat stuff but can’t help feeling this is going in a bad direction for gaming. Seeing elder scroll blades on the switch is definitely disappointing, never though Nintendo would let such obvious pay to win trash in there but guess I was wrong. If that’s the future of gaming where I feel they’re constantly trying to get money out of me I’m done

[CrimsonGuardVII]

some ppl just hate other ppl having choices. hyperbole extreme in this comment section.

[2pacalypsenow]

And we’re all gonna drown with it.

[XtraTrstrL]

How ironic, the article page has a popup asking you to subscribe.

[Hedstrom]

The problem i see with subscription gaming is that its a risk games loses quality. And that the games on the subscriptiln service will essentialy in the end become a more fleshed out free to play game!

[Knightofelemia]

If the cost per month is $25 a month to play a game through a streaming service that's $300 bucks over 12 months talk about nickel and diming to death. Plus the cost of your internet and the yearly fee to play Playstation or Xbox online just not worth it and that's also if Sony or Microsoft don't jack up the Xbox Gold or PSPlus prices which they do time to time. The day physical games go straight to digital and to a streaming service is the day I stop gaming and just stick with the older consoles. Plus if some of these games do go streaming or digital a person could be screwed if the game is an exclusive like Borderlands 3 is on the Epic store Steam users are screwed.

[tochi]

So-called game journalists are idiots.
They even don't know key difference between gaming and film/music industories.

Film industry has theater which is their primal source of income. Streaming service is a secondary source for studios.
Music industry has concerts, of course. Streaming is not a primary income.
For them, a subscription-based service serves as secondary chance to accommodate risks of big-budget productions.

You see the point?
If gaming industry sets their primal source of income to the subscription-based service, no creative people would put efforts to make AAA scale products.

[Zayne-Z66]

I’m okay if it’s a complimentary service offered by the major platform holders such as Games Pass and PS Now which include a large selection of first and third-party titles. Those services genuinely hold value and have allowed me to try games I otherwise wouldn’t have played. It’s also great if you have kids and don’t want to blow tonnes of cash on average games.

Having a separate subscription service for every major publisher, on other the other hand. That idea can go *%#@ itself.

[Artemidorus]

I warned about this many years ago the greed will continue and it will be a class war, rich kids get everything and become the best, regular Joe does not get the full experience and never becomes the best.

Welcome to capitalism and it's just arrived at your favourite destination, gaming.

[Welshy]

The subscription model is going to cost far too much and fall down in the long term.

Imagine paying for:
-Xbox Game Pass/xCloud
-Ps Now
-EA Access
-Uplay Plus
-Stadia
-Square Enix (They expressed interest in their own)

On top of at least 1 TV service like Netflix that's a MINIMUM of £70 every month only accounting £10 per service when most of those actually cost more. Noone spends that much on mass scale now, so why would it become the norm in the future? And let's not forget season passes, battle passes, premium currency, loot boxes and microtransactions.

[Amplitude]

People that buy digital games are technically just subscribing to that one game til the PSN/XBL/Switch/EGS/whatever servers go down just saying

But eh im cool wit hit. Just sub for one game (i did it with forza) and cancel when youre done with it. If you think youre gonna be playing it in more than 4 months then just physically buy it idk

[Muzikguy]

If more and more subscription services are on the way I'll still continue as I have been until left no choice. Then no more gaming and staying retro for me

[Tross]

I sure as heck won't be supporting that future. I like my games to be mine, and not being behind a paywall other than the price of admission.

[zodiac909]

And down, down, down goes the quality of the games as well.

[TheColbertinator]

Pick and choose your services.

Subscribed to Origin Premier for 1 year, Hulu Plus every month and Elder Scrolls Online.

All I need for now.

[Positivelypositive]

I already pay a sub monthly to gamefly. I still buy only physical copies of games whenever possible. Owning a digital item has no value if it is not returnable and held for value in itself. So I buy a game digitally I can't return or trade or resell. I guess that's why they are trying to charm us with subs. It really is a time when gaming is about to change big time. I look forward to seeing where we all end up.

[lio_convoy]

TLDR: If it comes to that, I'm out.

Why: I don't even subscribe to any online streaming service. The only subscription I have is PS plus. And that's only because I don't have a choice for online play. For games, it's simple. I want to own my entertainment. Even if it's just owning a licence to play the game on my HD or disc. It's the same reason I prefer 4K Blu-Ray discs to streaming. Not to mention the cost of subscription services ALWAYS is higher than owning. That's why gaming companies want this change. For me, what it comes down to is this. If I don't have a choice in buying outright, I'm done. Those of you who've followed my posts for years know I don't spout nonsense. If I say it, I mean it. I've got other things I can spend my time and money on and if gaming becomes a subscription service then I'll be moving on and not buying anything new without a look back. I'll still have my "old" consoles and games and can play them for free whenever the mood hits. People balk at the cost of cable or satellite, but you add up the cost of these streaming services and they are way more than cable or satellite. The same will be said about gaming when this happens because every company will want a piece of the pie. Screw that. We already pay out the pooper when it comes to gaming today compared to even ten years ago. It doesn't matter why that's a thing (higher dev costs, infrastructure, etc), what matters is it's getting to be too much. Imagine $15 a month to Capcom for a pass to play your SF game. Then $15 to Epic Megagames for Unreal Tournament 2035. Chuck in another $25 a month for a dodgy Diablo account. Add another $20 for a Final Fantasy subscription. Then tack on $10 a month for access to the PlayStation Network to play them. Throw in another $15 here or $10 there for another game you want to stream.... It adds up fast. And at the end of the day whatve you got to show for the money you spent?

Nothing.

Yeah, count me out.

[AK91]

Are they?

[OhReginald]

Good thing I spit

[Rekkr]

I buy ps plus every year, But that’s as far as it goes, I will never purchase a streaming service subscription for as long as I’m a gamer. I never pay full price for Ps plus annually though, I usually get it on CDKeys.com for like $40 bucks. Not bad for a year.

[Imortus_san]

Forza Horizon 4 is selling more then Days Gone in UK, a game with more then a year still sells more then a recent game: https://www.chart-track.co....

[BrettAwesome]

We won't be fucked till the day we can't buy a game either physically or digitally, and that's at least a gen out, for most AAA titles anyway.

[NickAwesome]

I have a rule, If a game is very compelling to me i will buy it full price on day one, if a game is interesting but not that exciting i will buy when it's on discount, i don't mind waiting, i don't see the appeal of game subscriptions, seem like a waste of money to me, i rather own my copy and play it when i want, i don't mind waiting for the price to go down

[Saranya]

Honestly, as long as the subscription allows me to download games, im fine with subscriptions. Really wish UPlay+ was on consoles because "renting" Ghost Recon Breakpoint for a month at $15 would be great.

[terstomp]

Microsoft got in very early on the subscription bandwagon and quickly realised that subscriptions lead to higher profits. Now all others have realised this too, now subscriptions are everywhere. I'm not interested in paying ongoing rent.

[bellome]

They are already digesting your money.

Appetite comes with eating...

[Cobra951]

Readied myself? Why? I moved away from the Xbox back to PC specifically to sidestep the whole GaaS trend. And it's not like mine is the only way to game without getting leeched to death either. You can still play on consoles without paying a dime over the up-front price of the games themselves. I think Sony in particular still leads in the traditional (and best) approach to game sales. Yeah, you can do PS Now, but you don't have to.

[Magog]

I'll never pay for a gaming subscription service. I'll just play old games if one day it becomes the only option.

[AshleeEmerson]

This is just a natural evolution of Technology. Let's just enjoy the ride as we have no idea if something absolutely magnificent may come out of this. We are looking from the ground veiw.