This is basically a rental model. The 2 game limit is just for the cheapest option, you could always pay more for more. If you want a reasonable quality catalog at a sub $10 price there needs to be some level of restrictions. If you want complete freedom it’s going to come at increased cost or a worse catalog.
Demos are rare today though. Not to mention some are outright misrepresenting the actual game. Spending some money to try a game without having to do a refund if you don’t like it is a reasonable value. As a PC player I would absolutely spend $15 bucks for a single month to try a few $40-60 games that I would likely purchase through steam after trying. I wouldn’t pay more than a single month at a time though, which also isn’t great for Microsoft.
It would be a hard limit of 2 games/month you could play, without paying more. This is a hard shift in model, but I think it makes it sustainable long term for developers to make their games part of it while allowing the price to be reasonable. Previously game pass was subsidized by Microsoft trying to grow their subscription base, so devs got big payouts to list their games. Publishers/devs aren’t making much if anything from being on game pass, especially indie titles that might only have 20 hours or less of gameplay. With cloud saves you could easily not lose progress if you took a month off from a game to try something else
This model creates a pathway that a developer could get $1-2 per install per month (or more for new/premium tier games) which would be reasonable income after initial launch sales. The vast majority of gamers also don’t play a lot of different games, so those that want more can pay for it while a lower price is available for the majority. There’s also the classic games tier that isn’t restricted as most the games aren’t really that valuable, but it’s a separate add on to keep the main price low.
For games as a subscription to work, it has to balance perceived value for consumers and developers. The unlimited model isn’t sustainable without a price point that makes buying games outright more attractive. I think a better scenario is allowing the subscription to create a funnel to direct sales, which I think this solution does.
I don’t think unlimited subscription models actually work with game development economics. If I had to do something I would make it this way.
7.99 game pass, access to a rotating library of roughly 1-2 year old games. Each month you can select 2 to download/pick and play. Can change selections each month.
+4.99 more games, 3 more games per month to download.
+4.99 classic games, allow unlimited downloads of older games, roughly 3+ years old.
+9.99 premium games, access to games roughly 3 month to a year old. Maybe select titles on day one. Still limited to 2 total downloads with base plan.
+2.99 discount club, receive exclusive discounts and general reduced prices on games that are part of other packages. Allow additional games to be selected/downloaded if one was purchased.
+4.99/9.99 streaming and premium streaming unlocked for any/most games in your library.
That’s the downside to a unified market.
This article seems to be lumping mobile and PC into the same bucket which is probably more of a red flag for the analysis they are doing here. Of course revenue is going to be more split when you add in tons of mobile games that are very effective at taking lots of money with minimal interaction.
They have a demo available for free, which was enough to let me know I’m too dumb for the game.
Natural selection 2 doesn’t have cheaters, but it’s a small player base with a large learning curve.
I didn’t notice a ton of cheaters on halo infinite, but I’m not crazy about most their game modes.
Fact is a defense for defamation/libel, but it can still be costly because anti slapp laws aren’t very effective. The big companies can afford to hire an attorney full time to send notices to and sue any site they feel is overly negative about them.
There’s a number of problems with a site like that.
I really hate how they destroyed the loot system from 2 onwards. The core fun of anything being able to drop something awesome was a big part of the fun.
I really don’t care what they use to make a game. I care that it isn’t shit. There’s plenty of good and bad uses of generative AI.
Nintendo mostly lost. They did have to make some minor game updates, glider pals no longer appear when gliding, and you can’t throw a captured pal’s sphere on summon.
Xbox 360 emulation is getting better, so it would be playable on pc.
Apart from semi standard bug fix and texture mods.
Try the ordinator mod for a complete overhaul of skill trees to be a lot more interesting. It also makes playing a caster a lot more interesting compared to the vanilla experience. You probably also want the uncapper mod to customize the amount of perks you get per level.
Personally I also use material chest mods that are basically cheats to level crafting skills, I’m not interested in grinding them out multiple times. Up to you if you want to use them to gear yourself as well or not.
If you want the game to feel truly different, you need to change your play style as well. Playing a dual wielding berserker is a lot different than a stealth archer.
I’m already at the point I don’t really need to buy anymore games, and my library isn’t even that old or impressive. Add emulation and it’s even harder to justify purchases.
I think there was a beautiful 2 week period where games had open worlds that weren’t just dead empty space everywhere.
The real killer feature was not having to manage cd keys to install games on new computers or just reinstall them.
Shootas Blood and Teef. A 40k themed side scrolling shooter with very heavy stylized graphics. If you like 40k it’s a good insight in how orks see themselves. If you don’t like 40k it’s still a mechanically solid game and it doesn’t really have the same grimdarkness that is common in 40k games.
Something major is going to have to change at some point though with game pass. This year is probably the last time we see a day one release of a major title. Cutting CoD is to test the waters for future cuts.