I think Xbox game pass is a great service for people who can’t afford PCs or consoles, but not being one of those people I had to stop using the service. I kept noticing games I was excited about playing before they were released I would only touch for a few hours and basically forget about them after a couple sessions. I had atomic heart on my steam wish list for years and I followed its development eagerly, but when it came out I got it on game pass instead of waiting to get it on a good sale on my steam account like I normally do, and despite enjoying the first 3 hours I still haven’t played it again. The only thing I can conclude is the nature of game pass itself has robbed the specialness of new games.
Counterpoint: Game Pass frees you from sunk cost bias and you do not feel compelled to keep playing a game because you invested money in it.
That’s mostly how I feel about it. I have noticed 3 patterns in my own usage: “full on playthrough” (actual loss of a sale), “couple of hours and call it quits” (would have been a candidate for refund), “20 minutes then uninstall” (basically a demo).
I never had a problem with giving up a game i wasn’t enjoying, but i can see it being nice for removing that commitment if you find yourself overstaying your welcome in a game you’re not really enjoying just to get your moneys worth.
It’s not that I want gamepass to go away or think it’s bad. But i can’t help but notice the second a game releases to gamepass I’m less interested in it. Commodifying games has done what was intended, i suppose…made them a commodity rather than something special.
I guess this also makes more sense in 2023, where AAA games are often not very good and often even broken on launch, or incomplete with day one dlcs. Not very tempting to drop 60$ on a product like that.
I think the conclusion I’m coming to, is game pass is a good solution for the annoying terrible state the game industry is currently in. But not for me personally. I’m too jaded to pay attention to new games, I stick with my classic titles and indies mostly.
FunnyUsername@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I think Xbox game pass is a great service for people who can’t afford PCs or consoles, but not being one of those people I had to stop using the service. I kept noticing games I was excited about playing before they were released I would only touch for a few hours and basically forget about them after a couple sessions. I had atomic heart on my steam wish list for years and I followed its development eagerly, but when it came out I got it on game pass instead of waiting to get it on a good sale on my steam account like I normally do, and despite enjoying the first 3 hours I still haven’t played it again. The only thing I can conclude is the nature of game pass itself has robbed the specialness of new games.
NeryK@sh.itjust.works 7 months ago
Counterpoint: Game Pass frees you from sunk cost bias and you do not feel compelled to keep playing a game because you invested money in it. That’s mostly how I feel about it. I have noticed 3 patterns in my own usage: “full on playthrough” (actual loss of a sale), “couple of hours and call it quits” (would have been a candidate for refund), “20 minutes then uninstall” (basically a demo).
FunnyUsername@lemmy.world 7 months ago
I never had a problem with giving up a game i wasn’t enjoying, but i can see it being nice for removing that commitment if you find yourself overstaying your welcome in a game you’re not really enjoying just to get your moneys worth.
It’s not that I want gamepass to go away or think it’s bad. But i can’t help but notice the second a game releases to gamepass I’m less interested in it. Commodifying games has done what was intended, i suppose…made them a commodity rather than something special.
I guess this also makes more sense in 2023, where AAA games are often not very good and often even broken on launch, or incomplete with day one dlcs. Not very tempting to drop 60$ on a product like that.
I think the conclusion I’m coming to, is game pass is a good solution for the annoying terrible state the game industry is currently in. But not for me personally. I’m too jaded to pay attention to new games, I stick with my classic titles and indies mostly.