Good or bad
I hate exclusives and this looks to continue the trend. I feel Sony will double down and try to snatch up someone else.
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It is bad. For months I had issues with the app immediately "forgetting" that I logged in successfully. I couldn't use Game Pass for that reason.
By now they still didn't manage to fix the bug behind this, instead the app constantly bombards me with pop-up "success" windows, till the app finally accepts that I'm supposed to be in.
I still do welcome this news though.
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The problem is - it´s an app and not an normal program. All games are in a hidden not able to enter section on hdd. How to start a game with parameters? how to modify?
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Suddenly now with microsoft in control the mmo the elder scrolls online starts to be good optimized and the pvp in cyrodiil starts to have less lag, because in the hands of zenimax the game is going bankrupt, with each patch a new bug and performance worsening. It was once my favorite game, now it's rubbish.
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suddenly
Nothing is changing till at least January which is the earliest this will be finalised. Microsoft haven't purchased them, they've just reached an agreement with Zenimax on the purchase, it still has to be receive regulatory approval.
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I hope everything is right in this agreement. Microsoft is a much more efficient company than zos and bethesda. If microsoft closes the deal with zos and bethesda they will start to work for real, because until then they are masters in launching buggy games, full of lag and drop of fps.
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This Microsoft conspiracy feels like a good conspiracy to support the gaming industry.
📡))))(｡-Θ-｡)ooO(Bethesda Fallout In fact, it's a true future story.)
just kidding
However, future activities are interesting.👀
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Not exactly the same field, but MS has something what even got its own Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Embrace,_extend,_and_extinguish
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Actually, it's Valve that uses that strategy to tighten its grip. What studio / promising indie team has Epic purchased?
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Maybe not an overarching theme, but the main example in my head was Psyonix/Rocket League.
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Personally, I think this is a bad thing, for example, when Elder Scroll 6 is released, I hope that I can buy it and not be forced to pay a monthly xbox pass fee to be able to play it. Right now we can buy games but we do not know in the future if it will be like that and everything points to that the industry is entering in the dark business of digital game rental
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xbox game pass for pc is the best deal of the last few years, it's super cheap and has tons of content.
change my mind.
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yes, the xbox pass have a tons of games for a good price, but if I want to play a specific very long game, like any elder scrolls or a fallout, I don't want be tied to a monthly subscription that in a long term will be more expensive that buy the game, and like I said if in the future they decided not sell the game because is a exclusive in the xbox pass...
and microsoft like any other company have a mission and that is make money and is very more rentable the business of the subscriptions that the sales
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All the games can be bought, what are you talking about?
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I quote myself, in the first comment I said: "Right now we can buy games but we do not know in the future if it will be like that"
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Why would they do that? Why would they get rid of the option that gets them more money?
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Beacuse force you pay subscriptions to play game get them more money in the long run.
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Not really, most people would play one or two of their games and then they'd stop buying it for a while. The ones that would buy it continuously would be mmo or online players and they're not in the majority. Even 12 months of game pass only costs 120$. 120$ per customer per year, that's pretty low considering they can get the same money by selling two 60$ games per customer. And then again that's in the rare case when someone buys a year pass, most people wont. I think the game pass is for people that wont buy full price games anyway or for people that can't afford it. It also works as an incentive to actually sell more of their full price games. You try their games, you like them, of course you'd want to own them. They'd be stupid to get rid of the option.
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The ones that would buy it continuously would be mmo or online players
Online players in general maybe as they'll already be paying for Gold anyway (on Console at least). MMo players not so much, they're more invested in single game(s) so are more likely to just buy the games outright than pay a sub for a bunch of other games they know they won't touch.
And Microsoft know which games are being played through Game Pass so they'd know if a given game wasn't driving subscrciption sales.
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Online players and mmo players are the same kind of breed. Someone who plays PUBG or CSGO for example would still want to own the game because they play it religiously and are not invested in much else.
Remember I was talking about the possibility of them removing buy to play option. If they know what games aren't driving subscription sales what happens to the game in question? They make it unsaleable? Which means they have one less product they can profit from? Does it make sense to remove the buy option then?
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MMO players are by definition online players but online players aren't necessarily MMO players. There is a lot of crossover but there are also plenty of online players who will just play whatever game is available.
Knowing certain games aren't driving subscription sales is precisely why they won't switch to a subscription only model. The game in question would be removed from gamepass but still be available for purchase.The only time they'll consistently remove games from sale is license expiration as is happening with Forza Horizon 3.
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This discussion is leading nowhere and is pointless. My point was they won't remove the buy option, it seems we agree on that. So what are we even arguing about?
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You don't own a single of those games. They can pull ANY of them at any time and never put it back. (Fixed a typo)
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Yes, you do. You paid for those games, they are in your account. You don't have to subscribe, etc. If steam removes a game for sale ( as it has many times ) that game is still in your library and you can still download and play it.
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It's like Netflix - if you have the free time, it's a fantastic deal. If you lack free time, and are lucky to play a few hours a week, it's a much worse value than Humble Choice where for $2 more you get 8-10 games that you can keep and play at your leisure.
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I doubt MS will force you to sub to their service to play their games. MS has been really good so far going into this new generation by putting their games on Steam and bringing all future games to PC. They just want people to play games not limit how they get them.
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MS has turned Office into a rental product, which should never have been possible. So I'm sympathetic to the OP's concerns. It's very likely they want this for games as well, though it will take them a while to get there.
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But you can still purchase Office if you're not interested in the rental option.
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^This. You are not required to sub to Office to use it.
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Sure, but when the next one comes up and they don't update the old one.... Just get Open office, its free and better.
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You can, for now. You can't transfer the license any more, pretty much, without transferring the mandatory MS account along with it, so ownership of the product is tenuous, and Microsoft has been pretty transparent about their plans to make Office '19 the last of the Office package-releases. Past '19, Office 365 will be the only option, if all goes as they intend.
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I'm more concerned about them not putting new games on Steam anymore to try and force users to buy it from the Windows store.
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Reading all the comments I found very interesting the words of LinustheBold
https://www.steamgifts.com/go/comment/MpEMuP8
https://www.steamgifts.com/go/comment/KdNsWnA
This business model is more common every day, not only with office in the case of microsoft, but also adobe, autodesk, and others. Now, this applied to the video game business can be bad for consumers because it is no secret to anyone that games have an addiction component (not a bad thing, achievements, completionism, etc. are part of this) that makes us return to playing again and again, so a company can easily make us fall into the "need" for a subscription to play our favorite titles.
Now, what about long-playing games, for example an elder scrolls can easily be played 200 hours and more, making it a subscription exclusive would not be a bad idea from a business point of view. That is the long-term risk that we can face with the subscription business, it may not work that way right now, but taking into account how the number of subscriptions has increased (xbox pass grew 50% in 6 months) , it wouldn't be something to ignore.
In the case of online and mmo games that some mention, it is good to clarify that although these games have subscription models and season passes, most of these games are offered free and the paid content tends to be expansions, some advantages and cosmetics, but the game itself is usually free with exceptions like Elder Scroll Online or Warcraft, which makes it a volatile market where only a few games manage to sustain themselves.
What would the difference be? In the event that some titles become exclusive to the xbox game pass, without the possibility of sale, the only way to play them is through the monthly payment, which brings us to what was already mentioned with the subscription software.
Again, I think it is something that we must take into account in the future because it not only depends on the companies but also on the consumers, the loot boxes were at one time quite profitable because there were players willing to pay for them. Hopefully the same does not happen with the "rental" of games in the near future.
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well... nothing to say
https://www.gamesradar.com/elder-scrolls-6-xbox-exclusive/
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i lost faith in Bethesda for all the shit they pulled off with Fallout 76, for example canvas bag and dark rum., So i dont feel sorry, but i am not sure if its good to have lesser competition on the market.
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but...don't things that Microsoft buys and touches become trash?.. Nokia, Skype...
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Well.... one could argue that Bethesda already did a good job at becoming trash themselves. Guess as the press release says it's a 'perfect fit'. Just for all the wrong reasons.
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true.. Fail-out-76 was a disaster.
so if TES6 ever comes out it should be done together with Obsidian for sure (same as New Vegas)...and without monthly subscriptions for PC :P
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Besides Fallout and Elder Scrolls I believe this also includes the Doom, Evil Within, Wolfenstein, Dishonored, Quake, Prey and Rage IPs as well.
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I think it's really good news. Microsoft is changing their direction, focusing on the Xbox Game Pass and the PC & Xbox market having the same games. MFS2020 is really good, and other games they have done are pretty decent.
I think with them, Fallout can make a comeback
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niceeee. good news. microsoft did pretty good things for gamers. buying bethesda can only be better for us all.
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Oligopoly*
Sony, Nintendo, and a bunch of other publishers are still around. This is just a restriction of the multiplat ecosystem not its death. Yet.
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Yeah but if we wait until it's too late to react, it will be too late then... (it kind of already is)
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FInally, we could get a new good Fallout if Microsoft delegate the creation of a new fallout game to Obsidian.
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Didn't even think of that. Just imagine if they could get these studios to work with each other. TES and Fallout games might finally have decent writing again.
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sony think they are slick with their exclusives XD mean while microsoft about to make some cool ass games exclusives on their platform
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Personally, I'm all for it if it means Arkane Studios can produce more games, they are a gem of creativity!!
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Yeah, Dishonored and Prey we're materpieces. I more hyped about those kind of potential future projects than any Fallouts,ESs,Starfields or whatever.
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Yes, same for me,awesome games by great developer.
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I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft is also trying to make a play for Blizzard/Activision and Wizards of the Coast.
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If it resulted in J. Allen Brack & Ion Hazzikostas getting the boot, I'm all for it.
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I don't think this will happen as I'm pretty sure Activision/Blizzard are worth a lot more then Zenimax.Looking at this it's saying their net worth is $61 billion
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Ok but that doesn’t mean they can afford to buy Activision/Blizzard. Zenimax was valued at 2.5b and the sold for 7.5b so just imagine what the other would cost.
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Considering zenimax went for almost 3x it’s worth I think activision would go for the same. They could inquire but I doubt MS would do that considering how long it may take to recoup that investment and draining all your cash wouldn’t be the best thing to do. One thing to think about which will make Activision/Blizzard worth a lot is all the titles they have that just rack in money and break records for sales. In top 50 most sold games Skyrim is the only game there for Zenimax. Activision has 7 titles in there. COD every year brings in a lot of money and then Diablo 3 was a huge seller too. Then you have WoW that brings in constant money from subs.
Edit: SO I looked up some of their recent purchases of companies and they could do it but seeing they also made two huge aquisitions this year that cost them quite a bit of money I don't think they'd jump on Activision anytime soon.Zenimax was probably a no brainer because it was pretty cheap for them and they get some big titles along with it. Plus Zenimax was probably hurting with the bad decisions Bethesda has made lately with some games. Some of their games came out flops recently.
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Ya xcloud is out and seems to be running pretty good on only Android phones. Apple right now won't allow it on their phone since they can't rate every single game themselves and they also can't sell them seperately. I have an iPhone and it would be nice to get xcloud. We'll see if it ever happens. Razer also has a nice controller adapter for your phones built around xcloud.
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it cant get any worse, can it????
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Next month: Microsoft buys Ubisoft. Still no progress on Beyond Good and Evil 2.
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There were time when Ubisoft bought legendary Microprose with went bankrupt because for too long they developed highest quality game series. Ubisoft ended it. It is very old story but might be good to mention not all such buyouts ended well for games or gamers who looked for deep and quality games.
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RIP Rare, Lionhead,
And from EA Origin, Bullfrog, Westwood, Visceral, Bioware.
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Being purchased by EA is almost always a death sentence.
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In comparison I'm actually kinda hopefully for the old Zeni studios now. EA is, was, and ever will idiotically liquidate their golden geese. Activison was marginally better for a while because they knew how to operate the life support, for a time. But Microsoft has been making a huge turnaround and while I certainly decline to call them benevolent, they seem to be far more competent and savvy than they used to be at the beginning of the previous gen. And not just in the Xbox division, but overall. And while I'm still skeptical I'm slowly coming around that games-as-subscription may actually be better than games-as-service.
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Skyrim was their last well received game afaik? Seems this may be a necessary move to get them back on track.
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Minecraft Skyrim Edition
Also no TES and Fallout on PS5 lul
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Believe it or not, they already did that 7 years ago.
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This is huge news!! Obsidian and Bethesda under same roof!
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