Gears 5 deemed Xbox Game Pass "mega hit"

Microsoft’s newest first-party title Gears 5 has been crowned an Xbox Game Pass mega hit.

[Spurg]

A slap to the people who said gamepass was just for cannon fodder games

[Obscure_Observer]

@Spurg

"A slap to the people who said gamepass was just for cannon fodder games"

True. The same people also said that the quality Xbox first party games would be crap because of Gamepass. Lol.

[IamTylerDurden1]

Quality Xbox exclusives are far and few. Sea of Thieves, Crackdown 3, State of Decay 2, Below. There have been many mediocre exclusives over the past year and there will be many more, especially with the new studio signings. Games like Bleeding Edge for example. However, MS has 3 flagship franchises that will always maintain a certain minimum quality, at least in terms of production value/budget. Halo, Gears, and Forza are the titles that Xbox identifies with, they would probably be willing to lose money to ensure those franchises are received well because they promote the entire brand.

Are we supposed to be surprised that Gears 5 scored in the mid 80's? Gears 4 was an 83 Open Critic and Gears 5 is a point or 2 higher depending on the aggregate site you use. Low to mid 80's is good, but the original Gears trilogy scored low to mid 90's. Gears 1 was a 94 Meta. In actuality The Coalition has not maintained the quality of Epic's numbered games (Gears 1-3) though they have managed to make competent overall games. The same can be said for Halo and 343.

I really don't understand the "an exclusive finally got good reviews so you were wrong about Gamepass and Xbox exclusives!" attitude. Is that how bad it's gotten, when ppl are celebrating a mid 80's score for franchises like Gears and Halo and throwing it in people's faces? Halo and Gears used to score in the 90's and win GotY, at least they are still respectable, but clearly a shell of their former glory. But because they don't blatantly suck that's a massive win? If Uncharted 4 and God of War had scored 83-85 people would've killed them for it.

[xTonyMontana]

Slap to the face after how many months? Most felt justified in their perceptions when Sea of Thieves released in such a barebones form. Not that I'm complaining, gamepass is certainly a great thing for me as someone with a high end PC.

[No Way]

Tyler - and you know Bleeding Edge will be mediocre.. how exactly?

[DaDrunkenJester]

Next up is Ori 2 and then Halo Infinite.

[IamTylerDurden1]

Jester

"GamePass launched less than two years ago and we already got two stellar games"

So one good game per year? And you are celebrating that?

"it took PS4 until Bloodborne to get its first stellar game and that was about a year and a half after launch"

What does that have to do with anything? A console launch and a service are two very different things.

Also, Yakuza 0, Resogun, and Second Son were excellent exclusives that released prior to Bloodborne. Yakuza 0 was beloved and an 86 Open Critic, Resogun was phenomenal, and Second Son deserved better scores, but still received an 80 and was exceptional in a multitude of areas. Visuals, controls, combat, traversal, voice acting. Probably the best particle fx to date. LBP 3 wasn't as good as LBP or LBP 2, but still a solid game. Transistor was a great console exclusive that released 6 months after launch. One of the best indies this generation. Helldivers was a solid 80+ exclusive published by Sony that released prior to Bloodborne. Until Dawn and Tearaway Unfolded released only a few months after Bloodborne.

So in the first 2 years of PS4 we had

Bloodborne
Until Dawn
Yakuza 0
Resogun
Infamous Second Son
Tearaway Unfolded
LBP 3
TLoU Remastered
Uncharted Collection
Helldivers
Transistor

[Welshy]

Gears 5 being great doesn't retroactively increase the quality of the previous releases on gamepass, but it's for sure a step in the right direction to turn that perception around.

Just make sure that they know this is quality we expect on gamepass now, don't overhype it to the point they think that its ok to go years without a great release so long as they do eventually. We want this to be the bar that future titles are held to and don't let them settle back into the "gamepass garbage" stereotype.

[DaDrunkenJester]

I mean, GamePass launched with Sea of Thieves which was less than 2 years ago and we already got two stellar games and 2 not so stellar and 1 middle of the road.

Stellar:
Forza Horizon 4
Gears 5

Middle:
State of Decay 2

Not so Stellar:
Sea of Thieves (although arguably this has gotten much better since launch)
Crackdown 3

Plus all the top tier 3rd party games that launched on the service. Which has even more coming launching day and date like Outer Worlds and Wasteland 3. So for be under two years I'd say GamePass has more than shown it is a stellar service.

Hell, it took PS4 up until Bloodborne to get its first stellar game and that was around a year and a half after launch.

[LordJamar]

Which is why they bought studios

[xX-oldboy-Xx]

DaDrunken - HAHAHAHAHAHA - was that sarcasm? You just brought up BLOODBORNE in reference to PS4 taking 1 1/2 yrs to GOTG contender.

Sorry to burst your hype bubble, but neither GoW5, H4 will be GOTG contenders. Niether of them will get GOTY honours.

Count it 1 average new ip and how many sequels? xbox owners are a joke, it's almost sad at this point.

[xTonyMontana]

^^^ Stellar games don't need to be GOTY contenders to be considered stellar games. FH4 was a stellar racing game for example but you're not going to see a racing game as GOTY contender because it's a niche genre like Sports titles.

[milohighclub]

Sod2 > gears 5

[ApocalypseShadow]

Some still don't get that they are pushing services/subscriptions by using their first party games as the carrot. And instead of making a new IP first party game, they pay Capcom an estimated 19 million when Devil May Cry was already on Xbox to play. It was already there. All you have to do is BUY it.

And $1-$3 dollars? Of course it's going to be a hit. You don't have to spend $60 for the game. But now, that's devaluing their first party games at launch because then, gamers will stop buying the games on Xbox at launch when they can play it for almost nothing. That sets up a dangerous precedent for themselves when their competitors are selling games in the millions.

If subscriptions are what you guys want, it's going to bite you in the @$$ later just like you guys jumped to pay for online play. And some of you are still for DRM2013 when it would have taken away you're ownership of games. You guys love negatively effecting the game industry in favor of Microsoft's schemes.

Is Nintendo doing this or need this? No. Is Sony doing this or need this? No. Their games are actually **SELLING** while Microsoft has to basically give them away to get even noticed.

While you're jumping up and down with glee, how many did they actually SELL? Is throwing away money to get games like DMC5 worth it in the long term for developers who want you to buy their games? Why would anyone buy Gears or any first party game when you can wait until they are all there then play for almost nothing then cancel your subscription in a month?

[ElementX]

Even if 1 million Xbox owners subscribed to Live and upgraded for $1, that still leaves tens of millions of people who didn't. I'm sure MS made a boatload of money from people extending their subs for 2 years and upgrading, but the vast majority of their income is going to come from game purchases. If you think tons of people are going to subscribe to Game Pass every time a new games comes out and then cancel, you are mistaken. Sure there will be some, maybe even 10,000 but it's not going to be widespread. Furthermore, people who pay $15 for a month of Game Pass and then cancel probably wouldn't buy the game to begin with, so at least MS is getting $15 of income instead of zero.

Those people who bought 2 years of Live basically locked themselves into the ecosystem. If they go PS5 next gen, MS still got their $120 (or less) now.

[ElementX]

Furthermore, you can say "well MS pays developers to put games on Game Pass so they don't get the entire $15". Stop and think about how much money MS has in the bank. They make so much money on interest and investment returns alone that they could pay every developer out of that cash and still come out ahead.

[gravedigger]

@ElementX

For example
5 mil. copies sold at 60$ during 3 weeks >>>>>>> 20 mil. Gamepass sub for 2$

[ElementX]

As I said above, sure some people upgraded for $1 but not the majority. Most people are probably paying monthly. Game Pass subscribers are in the minority, there's no way 20 million people have it. Most people still buy games and it will stay that way for some time

[Spurg]

"Is Nintendo doing this or need this?
They don't have the infrastructure to do it.

No. Is Sony doing this or need this?"
The stream at 720p Psnow.

"Why would anyone buy Gears or any first-party game when you can wait until they are all there then play for almost nothing then cancel your subscription in a month?"

You seem to be reaching out and speculating about this like its destroying gaming. This is something Microsoft is offering for Xbox/PC gamers and we want them to keep releasing games this way. The sub is £14 a month and we get an array of games to play if we stay subscribed. If you have to complain, complain about the lack of games on PSNow which is a downright rip-off.

You're saying Microsoft is wasting millions on getting exclusive rights. What you're a problem with that? Is it your money? They are a trillion-dollar company and are spending millions getting quality games like DMC5, Metro Exodus and many more. Xbox gamers are happy and one is complaining.

Gear 5 has not been devalued, it has dethroned Fornite on Xbox live which is something not even Apex legends, RDR2, and Modern warfare could do.

[ApocalypseShadow]

Element, you pull out Microsoft's bank account worth as some type of positive. If their money actually mattered, you would have been getting great games for the last 6-9 years consistently. You weren't.

I compare what Microsoft is doing to the mobile market. That market will not buy $50-60 dollar games when they can play for next to nothing while being either bombarded with ads or giving up their personal privacy and ownership of products.

Over time, gamers will expect to play launch games for next to nothing and expect Microsoft's competitors to offer their games for next to nothing. Devaluing the games. I have games on PS Plus that I add to the library. But I stopped paying for Plus. I play the games I PURCHASED over games downloaded for supposedly *free*. Why? Because I spent actual money on those games and they hold value over something given away. I may have played less than 5 free Plus games in the library. Because they mean nothing to me. Games I bought mean something to me.

Microsoft is basically saying their first party games have no value. While Nintendo and Sony are saying that hard work their developers did in making the games should have some monetary value.

[ElementX]

Your can't compare mobile to console that's ridiculous. Game Pass allows people with limited expendable income to play a variety of games. MS is giving them a chance to play the new games. I have plenty of income, I buy all my games and maybe you do too, but we don't represent everybody. I don't see how a subscription model devalues games, value is subjective. Does the game you paid for loose value because others got it free on Plus? No.

[xX-oldboy-Xx]

ElementX - And that's the whole point, they have endless reserves of money and have been in the console business for how long - what do they have to show for it?

What was the last AAA new ip they created from scratch?

They are the laughing stock of the gaming world, they've given absolutely nothing - now they're being congratulated for providing a service.

They are a disgrace.

[LordJamar]

Good thing you arnt a businessman or running Xbox so we got nothing to worry about lol people these days thinking they know better then the company itself like there the ceo lol arm chair businessman trope never gets old

[milohighclub]

Imagine if you could get all ps4 exclusives £2 for 2 month unlimited access. Pretty sure the majority of the 100mil install base would grab that.

[sprinterboy]

I've just finished my £3.99 for a months pass on ea access. Played fe, battlefield, battlefront 2 and 10 hour trial of anthem.
Thank god I never bought them, saved me a fortune.
Will I use ea access again, probably but not until they have added 3 or 4 games I'm interested in (which will be sometime nxt gen i guess lol)
Its simlar to games pass sp only games will get played and subscriptions cancelled and that's why gamepass will be Gaas mainly nxt gen to try and keep you from leaving (online centric)
Great value for money sure, but how many months in a year will gamers use it.
Seriously I wouldn't mind using gamepass here and there but for games like forza, halo and gears etc I'd rather buy new or digital off the store and just rack up a bunch of 3rd party games I'm interested in and use gamepass in one month like I did with ea access.
Great options moving fwd but it almost like I feel I'm paying for a try b4 you buy (long demo)

[Welshy]

The more mainstream these types of services are, the worse it's going to get both in terms of quality and how much you need to pay to access them all.

Just look at Netflix, it used to be a 1 stop shop, now not only is it more expensive than ever, but it has less variety than ever thanks to every company wanting their own "Netflix".

Sure gamepass is good value now at $2, but as those promos run dry and every other publisher wants their own subscription, the content is going to be super fragmented. You'll be paying MS monthly for Gears/halo, Ubisoft for Tom Clancy/AC, Capcom for DMC/Monster Hunter, EA for FIFA/BF etc etc. In the long run with so many competing services, companies will have to pump more and more $ into making content for their smaller and smaller services to the point it's just not going to be viable.

Making a quality game and just sellng it to people for $60 is 1,000x more sustainable than buying a gamepass 1 month in every year and just burning through all the content for $2 then cancelling.

[gravedigger]

But what about other games, hm?

It's so cool to play a game for 2$. Why each of you, Xbone fans, don't buy a game for 60$ and support devs work properly? I'm pretty sure MS would be happy to buy a game for 60$, not rent it for 2$

[Spurg]

Everyone keeps parading the £2 deal as if it the actual price of Gamepass. It's £10.99 a month, and there is much more than just Gear 5.

[milohighclub]

I wonder what the sales figures for gears are vs game pass subs. Has gears even turned a profit? Will any ms exclusive turn profit if you can play all of them for £2. Doubt it.

[gravedigger]

Quote :

Everyone keeps parading the £2 deal as if it the actual price of Gamepass. It's £10.99 a month, and there is much more than just Gear 5.

......

It's 2$ ( US ) or 2 GBP ( UK ) for a while now :

https://www.xbox.com/en-US/...

[Kribwalker]

for the first month,

they bank on a percentage keeping their sub past that month. I upgraded my gamepass and live subs to gamepass ultimate and i’m subbed until Jan 2022. Because of first party games releasing day one, they have me as a subscriber for the next 2 plus years

[gravedigger]

@Kribwalker

For the first 2 months.

One Xbone fans yelling how everyone parading how there is no Gamepass Ultimate for 2$, only for 14.99$ and you spinning only for first month, yet OFFICIALLY on store it says for 2$ and for first 2 months! Xbone fans spinning the obviously. ALWAYS

[milohighclub]

For 2 month. Literally grabbed ultimate for £2 on wednesday. When I smash of the 4/5 games worth playing then I'll cancel it for another 6 years until theres a game or 2 worth playing.

[Godmars290]

Know this will only fall on deaf ears, but: by what measure, aside from being #1 on Gamepass upon release, is Gears 5 a "mega hit"? No numbers are given, just closed-looped pr-points.

How long it stays there might be more telling, though if it dips significantly I doubt it'll be reported.

[milohighclub]

Sure outer-worlds will knock it off and that's multiplat.

[ps360s]

No most just dont understand how you as a console gamer support this, what does that make xbox consoles!

Support your console of choice but doesnt mean you support everything that company does!

A slap to the people who owns an xbox for 'Exclusive' games to be supported elsewhere!

As an original xbox and 360 owner...who loves the consoles and also bought the one S and X, I dont understand most Xbox only owners logic.

No logic just fanboyism. Which is just what makes MS do what they do.

[LordJamar]

Gamepass has some great games that have come and launched on it they can call it fodder all they want but games I never would have played I did and loved them it even got me into monster Hunter world and got to play metro the new one at no extra fee and so much more let the haters hate but gamepass has its market and those people love it

[frostypants]

I mean they mostly are. Between this and Forza Horizon 4 it's averaging one top tier AAA per year. The occasional exception does not eliminate the trend. This should be the norm. It isn't.

[rob-GP]

I think more people knew the games would have to be subsidised elsewhere. Look at the MT issue with Gears 5. One skin and emote pack is 25 dollars. The microtransactions are stupidly overpriced and pushed within the MP to buy. Flip this over to Sea of Thieves - which just added its store - and we have a ship ‘bundle’ for £25... they realise they are practically giving away their games so they have to pay their devs somehow...

Next up, Halo MTs which the d bs have confirmed will be in there from day one.

[Profchaos]

Well that's the thing ms are currently experiencing a huge uptake due to gears 5 being a highly rated hit and the heavy discount price of gamepass to promote it.

But how many will stick around I probably won't but I've started and stopped my membership 5 times or so I sign up for a new release and get two months at a discount price and then I drop it.

But all in all I've now got 8 months of gamepass ultimate and I only paid $6 AUD thanks to all the promotions I can't see that type of promotion being sustainable

[Nu]

Hopefully state of Decay 3 becomes a fourth flagship series

[elazz]

I played gears 5 yesterday on gamepass. I got an amd cpu and thus 3 months free but have no desire in paying for gamepass.
A colleague of mine got a 5700 xt with a ryzen zen 2 cpu and got 6 months of gamepass. Even when ryzen zen 2 released they advertised gears 5 for free. Nice for customers : of course, revenue wise no idea how this stacks up.

[derek]

Hold on, let's not get ahead of ourselves. A single cracker is like a finely cooked steak to a starving man.

[KingKionic]

Gears 5 is a masterpiece of a game.

It is the best game possibly this year.

No surprise.

Microsoft is planting seeds for the future with game pass.

[bluefox755]

Lol, that's one way to look at it.

[Brave_Losers_Unite]

Sorry bud Sekiro, Mario Maker 2, and Astral Chain are better games.

Then there is Doom Eternal, The Outer Worlds, Luigi's Mansion 3, Death Stranding, Legend of Zelda Link's Awakening, and Borderlands 3 coming out that have good chances at surpassing Gears. Must be the lack of good games on Xbox that you would consider a good sub 90 game a masterpiece.

If you go on Twitch there are only 3.2k gamers watching Gears 5. That is pathetic for a new game.

Gears 5 may not even be the best game this month.

[gravedigger]

@Ausbo

Spider-man was, surely a GOTY candidate. It won FEW GOTY awards overall. But game was demolished by GOW and RDR 2 left and right.

[Father__Merrin]

hey your right re twitch gears 5 currently has 6.5k viewers for a new AAA extreme highly sought after blockbuster is extremly low. in comparison Hand simulator has 18.5k viewers

i really want to see first month total sales of gears of war 5 and more importantly how many consoles it shifts last week was 36k consoles world wide ouch!!! if it doesnt make a dent and users cover it up by screaming gamepass then i fear theres no hope for them to come round

[cyber_daemonx]

@someone, just because Sekiro like the Souls games doesn't have broad appeal doesn't affect the games quality. It's still the best release so far this year.

[RomanPSX]

Gears 5 I just started playing it and I like it, but I dont love it. Doubt it will be game of the year.

[sushimama]

Bahahahaha holy hell LMAO

[gravedigger]

Best game? LOL. This game won't be even on a GOTY candidate overall. Maybe just for Xbone platform. Overall, no.

[Germaximus]

Generic third-person shooter: "masterpiece" right

[azizlksa]

Its not a masterpiece. It is a shitty unbalanced multiplayer experience, and if you are a fan you would know that campaign is not more important than multiplayer.
+ The story is shit too. Went from playing as a badass solider for three games, then the son of the badass himself, and now an unstable women having visions. Kait is annoying as fuck with all the "Its not about you its about me" and shes being forced on the series and i hope she dies in the next game. You think people will give a shit if she dies like they did with dom?

[Prem8tuaProcrastin8a]

You can tell from the way you are describing the story you haven't played it and are gleaning your opinions from trailers.

[azizlksa]

@PrematuaProcrastin8a
This is my gamertag smart ass: azizlksa
I finished the story 3 days ago

[milohighclub]

The only seed I see is unsustainable. They cant possibly turn a profit on big budget games at £2 for 2 month. Heck, even at 14.99 or 10.99 or what ever it is after the offer it would be impossible to turn profit

[UhOh]

Yeah but, they already know how much money they are making.

[timotim]

As a Gamepass Ultimate member...I couldn't be happier with the service or game. Playing such high quality games for $2 is a steal...and now I can do so on PC as well. Starting my 3rd play through of Shenmue 1&2 on my Surface Studio for the achievements before 3 comes out.

[akurtz]

The way to capitalize product/service names and word out your sentences is cringe because it feels like you’re pushing their product.

[akbennyewu]

They way you cringe at the proper usage of capitalization in written English, is as you say, cringe.

[rob-GP]

Are you seriously complaining about the posters correct use of the English language?

[Father__Merrin]

how long is the $2 deal?

[timotim]

Not sure, but it's still going on now. Was able to convert al my Live Gold into Ultimate for $2.

[frostypants]

Oh my god you plugged your Surface?! Shill harder...lol...

[timotim]

Yes!!! 😄 I have a Surface Studio and LOVE IT! Its no gaming rig, but allows me to play a good amount of games @4K and the screen is crazy good. Bought it because it fits my work load which is audio and video editing mostly. Heres a couple samples from play sessions...

Gears 5:
https://gu0zna.dm.files.1dr...
https://gu0zna.dm.files.1dr...

Sea of Thieves:
https://gu0zna.dm.files.1dr...
https://gu0zna.dm.files.1dr...

[azzkikr8502]

Not to stir shit but lets look it at another perspective.
if Gears of war cost 50mill to make the majority of people playing the game have been doing so through gamepass, does it really benefit the developer?????
$2 is a steal. im on it as well. but i will also pay for a game if i believe it deserves my money which GOW does.
is it better to get 2 million sales at $50 or 2 million gamepass users at $XX.
i love the idea of gamepass, but if it goes the way its going at the moment, do u truly believe that the quality of games will be at a much higher standard??? how many developers can fork out 60 million (GOW Judgement) to make a game and receive so little in return if its on gamepass.
i can guarantee gamepass is losing Coalition money but thankfully its backed by microsoft.

[timotim]

The Coalition is Microsoft though. Microsoft provides consumers with the option to subscribe to play their own games or but them out right. As long as a healthy amount of consumers are investing in those options, i think Microsoft would be just fine with that.

The Coalition is completely happy because they get to produce games, put all the effort into those games that they can muster and get the maximum amount of consumers playing them, which is ultimately what dev studios want. Microsoft is all ready covering their salaries and none of their studios has to worry selling games just to get paid. So in terms of your concern about them losing money...how can a Studio that is completely in house lose money when all their needs are already paid for? That is why Microsoft was able to go on their acquisition spree. The studio heads almost unanimously cited the fact that now, they can just focus on content creation and putting their best effort into the games, and not worry about where money is coming from. It's actually LIBERATING for these studios...the opposite of what you're implying.

Xbox, Windows 10, Gamepass, Steam, Microsoft Store...mobile and xCloud (in the future)...these all equal more options for consumers...the more options you give gamers, the more people can potentially play your game. The quality for these first party titles has to be high, or Microsoft runs the risk of not only losing sales, but losing subscribers. The higher the quality of games they can put together in their lineup, the more gamers will be interested in investing in their options.

In the end, I wouldn't worry too much about it too much. Gamepass is here for a reason and as long as we continue to get games like Gears 5, we should be happy gamers.

[Sgt_Slaughter]

If Microsoft ever gave out actual numbers for sales and for Game Pass, this might be more impressive. All we have to go off of are buzzwords. Been that way for years at this point.

[crazyCoconuts]

I'm sure the numbers are good when you get a month for $1 or 2 for$2. Don't know how many people will be signed up past the intro period though... That would be interesting to know

[rainslacker]

Numbers arent important overall...at least on our end. The bigger question is is will people want to pay $10 pr more a month, or pay for a yearly sub if made available once MS moves past all this promotional pricing periods to promote the service. The current prices are more likely so aggressive so MS can try to lock people into next gen. They certainly cant maintain the service at $1-2 indefinitely. I think even at $10 a month it's still a pretty good deal, but I question if that would be a profitable venture in the long term. The more subscribers MS has, the more its going to cost to license games for the service.

[KeenBean345]

Unless you're a shareholder why would you care about numbers? Just enjoy the games man and don't get so hung up on analytics that mean nothing to you

[azzkikr8502]

gee how narrow minded are you. yes none of us are shareholders but numbers do mean something.
it shows how well the game is being received and if the developers work has paid off. the problem with gamepass is that u can sub off whenever u want.
ive had gamepass since its inception which i paid $1 for. now $1 for the quality and hard work that the Coalition has put through is insulting RIGHT!!!!!
alot of my friends have only joined gamepass for GOW which they will cancel after 2 months.
yes there are more people who can experience GOW but i can guarantee the devs would love to sell 2million copies then have 2 million gamepass users.

[Christopher]

Just be an ignorant consumer. Stop trying to understand how businesses work.

[Prem8tuaProcrastin8a]

ah you're a shareholder? I mean, if you think numbers determine quality, you must be.

[NeoGamer232]

Frankly, who cares about the numbers? MS?

Personally, I don't make any decisions based on numbers. That is a cattle thought process. "Everyone is doing it therefore so should I".... Moooo-Moooo just follow the crowd like cattle.

Think on your own and make decisions based on what you need and want, not what everyone else is doing.

MS is obviously making money in gaming otherwise they would be dropping it. Sony is making money too otherwise they would drop, and same with Nintendo. People should just stop talking about financial aspects of gaming and focus on gaming and how it benefits gaming consumers.

I don't care that MS has X million subscribers or makes Y billion dollars. I do care though that all MS first party games are shipping on game pass and I used to buy them, so this is saving me money. Plus I hadn't bought DMC5, Metro Exodus, or Prey yet... So, I have downloaded them and have or will play them. The service pays for its self and saves me money. Couldn't care less how many subscribers MS has. But, I am a happy subscriber to gamepass.

[Father__Merrin]

amazing one top tier game after a full generation and all is well lol im intrigued as to why ppl have stuck by them all these years

[chiefJohn117]

E for effort try harder

[NeoGamer232]

I agree that MS first party titles have been less then stellar for the most part this generation. But, since Don M. left it has been slowly and steadily improving. Phil does not get all the credit, but he turned the ship in the right direction.

But, they have shown quite a few good signs of improvement. They bought a bunch of good studios. Sea of Thieves started low, but has improved a lot. Same with State of Decay 2. Personally, I enjoyed Crackdown though it was short on content and not that deep. Ori and Cuphead were both positive MS funded games this generation, and now Gears 5 is really good. Gears 4 was a good game, not innovative at all but a good game. Halo 5 was not a disaster either, but not exceptional. And they have continually improved Halo MCC.

[sprinterboy]

Never/S

[SkatterBrain]

Finally

[343_Guilty_Spark]

Enjoying GamePass ...Gears 5 and over 40+ Hours in Hollow Knight (wow this game is good!!)

[Stanjara]

I must comment on Hollow Knight. It took me 82 hours to do 102%. Fantastic game!

[LoveSpuds]

You might argue such a game deserves the full support of the gamer instead of whatever scraps are thrown their way by MS. You are quite correct though, Hollow Knight is incredible!

[cfc83]

Enjoying gears. Really liked blair witch aswell.

[Iamkratos]

Very strong game of the Gen contender. Amazing!

[cyber_daemonx]

Maybe on xbox but that's about it. It's not even a goty contender tbh.

[Goukira]

No wonder when its the only big hit besides forza horizon to own on gamepass

[Truplaya]

I got doom on gamepass too

[Goukira]

I meant for the xbox exclusive games. Of course everyone who owns an xbox or gamepass for pc will get this game. Doom is of course a class of its own.

[KeenBean345]

Definitely think in terms of quality this year has been one of the best for games, so many GOTY contenders

[chiefJohn117]

I'd rather have a $600 next gen console with game pass. Over a $400 console without a great cheap game subscription. More power and the money is made up in the price of games you'd get for cheap

[cyber_daemonx]

I'd rather have a 400 bux console with a steady flow of great exclusives than a 600 bux console that doesn't.

[chiefJohn117]

I'd rather have a $600 console with a steady flow of 1st party titles and a cheap game sub over a $400 without either or just 1

[Poopmist]

Gamepass has had a lot of great games at launch this year. Gears 5, Riverbond, Outer Wilds, Bards Tale 4, Void Bastards, and Blair Witch.

[Youngindy21]

Not gonna lie, I signed up for Game Pass to play Gears 5. If it continues to be a great value with quality games, I'll probably stay subscribed.

[Summons75]

To be fair, it's not hard to be a mega hit for an anticipated title when they either give out a couple weeks free or the current promotion was two months of Games Pass Ultimate for $2. It's a great game though and deserves the praise it is getting. Had a horrendous start but they seemed to get it all settled pretty fast (the entire weekend but eh what can ya do)

[Profchaos]

As the article and tweet suggest gamepass sign ups have skyrocketed due to gears however if also say the recent promotions for price have pushed it just as much I signed up to Xbox on PC for Metro and upgraded to ultra for gears.

However I can't see myself sticking around after I finish these games

[l33t_haxx0r]

I paid £1 for this on gamepass, didn't like it as it is shit. Least I only spent £1.

[Imortus_san]

Game Pass was deemed "mega hit" the day it came out, in less then a year it had more then double the PS NOW Subscriptions got in 4 years, not to mention PS4 as sold about 3x or more Xbox One units and PS NOW is also on PC, Game Pass was a mega hit day one.

[sprinterboy]

Not hard when they give gamepass away on special offers every month lol.
The true test is when it's a normal £9.99 a month, then we'll see how many continue with their subscriptions?

[milohighclub]

Really, it has 3.5 stars on window store. If that's a mega hit, imagine if they had tlou.

[Donnie81]

Yeah gears of war 5 is the best exclusive of the year on any platform

[Magog]

The question is does that mean Microsoft is making more money or less because of it? Gotta be less.

[LordJamar]

The game was already gonna be a hit its a good freaking game but combine that with game pass and the offer for 2$ for 2 months special your gonna get people who would have never ever bought gears to at least try it and in term also try gamepass in general very smart Microsoft