PC Game Pass (was Xbox Game Pass for PC)

[Omaeka]

Horrible value though

You think so? I'm not a Ubisoft fan but I can't deny that their 1st party AAA titles are pretty impressive and make up a sizeable bulk of the AAA games released in the last few years.

Heard nothing but positive things about Division 2, Wildlands, Odyssey, Siege and Watchdogs 2, even though the latter got a bad rep most of what I've read on it recently was positive.

For me, Splinter Cell Blacklist, Far Cry 5 and AC Origins were great games, Blacklist especially. I'd wager the Uplay+ to be the best value of the lot.

 

[iv-tecman]

You think so? I'm not a Ubisoft fan but I can't deny that their 1st party AAA titles are pretty impressive and make up a sizeable bulk of the AAA games released in the last few years.

Heard nothing but positive things about Division 2, Wildlands, Odyssey, Siege and Watchdogs 2, even though the latter got a bad rep most of what I've read on it recently was positive.

For me, Splinter Cell Blacklist, Far Cry 5 and AC Origins were great games, Blacklist especially. I'd wager the Uplay+ to be the best value of the lot.

I think it maybe depends on perspective. Quite a few of the games i'd be interested in Ive already maybe got quite a few, UBI soft are however attempting to block the sale of CD keys, and clearly went with Epic to say - hey look our games are on other platforms, but they knew full well everyone would buy directly from uplay - 100% profit to them.

UBI soft have a bad history with PC gamers, they have treated many PC gamers as if they were dirty pirate crocks. Draconian DRM, always online gaming, since ditched, now they are attempting to stop the sale of CD keys and ditched Steam, and will no doubt ditch Epic too, shame as some of their franchises are quite interesting.

As said it needs a 12 month bulk buy option, thats where EA have get the better end of these deals, I still feel MS game pass for PC is the better value for sheer variety of games on offer.

 

[Omaeka]

I think it maybe depends on perspective. Quite a few of the games i'd be interested in Ive already maybe got quite a few, UBI soft are however attempting to block the sale of CD keys, and clearly went with Epic to say - hey look our games are on other platforms, but they knew full well everyone would buy directly from uplay - 100% profit to them.

UBI soft have a bad history with PC gamers, they have treated many PC gamers as if they were dirty pirate crocks. Draconian DRM, always online gaming, since ditched, now they are attempting to stop the sale of CD keys and ditched Steam, and will no doubt ditch Epic too, shame as some of their franchises are quite interesting.

As said it needs a 12 month bulk buy option, thats where EA have get the better end of these deals, I still feel MS game pass for PC is the better value for sheer variety of games on offer.

If you own a lot of the games then the pass probably isn't going to do that much for you tbf, I think a lot of people like me are very tempted to get the latest UBI game but don't and I've definitely had that happen with several of their recent releases, yet the pass I think would entice a lot of those types to have a gander. Especially the 30 day trial.

As for how they treat the PC platform, I have no idea honestly. Most games now-a-days have horrible DRM, the best game of this generation - Resident Evil 2, has bloody DENUVO which is seen as the epitome of shoddy DRM, but I'm not too clued up on the matter so won't say much more, but the few UBI games I've played I didn't feel it was so bad. I also think that stigma of PC gamers = pirates is fading, the 1,000,000 launchers are not a good thing but they at least mark some level of dedication to the platform from the big boys as they all have one these days.

Shocked there isn't a yearly sub though, seems any subscription service launches with one. Definitely odd.

On the brief topic of too many launchers though, GOG 2 seems amazing, and I've honestly no clue why Microsoft didn't go a different path with the Xbox/W10 store apps and instead just make a big program that gobbles up all of the launchers into one library or at least a single installation, they do own Windows after all. Instead they just added fuel to the fire.

 

[mark43]

Although Unisoft are knocking out decent games, I just find them a bit samey and lots of sequels, so I don't feel there is as much variety in what they are offering. I can certainly imagine subscribing for the odd month at a time though when they launch something I want to play.

 

[iv-tecman]

If you own a lot of the games then the pass probably isn't going to do that much for you tbf, I think a lot of people like me are very tempted to get the latest UBI game but don't and I've definitely had that happen with several of their recent releases, yet the pass I think would entice a lot of those types to have a gander. Especially the 30 day trial.

As for how they treat the PC platform, I have no idea honestly. Most games now-a-days have horrible DRM, the best game of this generation - Resident Evil 2, has bloody DENUVO which is seen as the epitome of shoddy DRM, but I'm not too clued up on the matter so won't say much more, but the few UBI games I've played I didn't feel it was so bad. I also think that stigma of PC gamers = pirates is fading, the 1,000,000 launchers are not a good thing but they at least mark some level of dedication to the platform from the big boys as they all have one these days.

Shocked there isn't a yearly sub though, seems any subscription service launches with one. Definitely odd.

On the brief topic of too many launchers though, GOG 2 seems amazing, and I've honestly no clue why Microsoft didn't go a different path with the Xbox/W10 store apps and instead just make a big program that gobbles up all of the launchers into one library or at least a single installation, they do own Windows after all. Instead they just added fuel to the fire.

I will concede the DENUVO comment, wow that is 100% shoddy DRM

I do take the point of if you own hardly any EA or UBI soft games these subs are maybe a good way to play some of the publishers back catalogue, any case, its all making PC gaming easier in the end, either shell out £45 + for a single game or pay out around £25 ish a month for subscription if you take the best deals and get over 350 ish games from the three main players a month.

Granted you might not get the exact game you wanted, but surely something to play, and no harm dropping £35 for a Cd key for a game you must have.

As for GOG 2 and MS, yeah good point, why didn't MS just do a one launcher wrapper, team up with Valve correctly, they said theyd release on Steam as a PR stunt against Epic, thats clear, but the game pass for PC is a step in the right direction IMO - if it even does add yet another app, launcher.

 

[McPhee]

If €14.99 translates to £14.99, then that's £180/year. At that price, the value does seem questionable unless you like Ubisoft games enough to buy every new release (with the season pass). That's enough to buy two new games each year, with the season passes, with some change left over. And that's if you buy direct from Ubisoft. Grey Market resellers could turn that in to 3 or 4 releases a year.

I hope they do a second tier; no DLC, just the base games. Or maybe like EA Access - a trial for new releases, and the full version of old(er) titles for <£5/month. I can't justify anywhere near £15/month when I've got Xbox/PC Game Pass and Origin Access running already (and all three services for less than half the monthly cost of Uplay+).

 

[Omaeka]

I will concede the DENUVO comment, wow that is 100% shoddy DRM

I do take the point of if you own hardly any EA or UBI soft games these subs are maybe a good way to play some of the publishers back catalogue, any case, its all making PC gaming easier in the end, either shell out £45 + for a single game or pay out around £25 ish a month for subscription if you take the best deals and get over 350 ish games from the three main players a month.

Granted you might not get the exact game you wanted, but surely something to play, and no harm dropping £35 for a Cd key for a game you must have.

As for GOG 2 and MS, yeah good point, why didn't MS just do a one launcher wrapper, team up with Valve correctly, they said theyd release on Steam as a PR stunt against Epic, thats clear, but the game pass for PC is a step in the right direction IMO - if it even does add yet another app, launcher.

I think with every studio being so different though, you can easily ride one subscription for a very long time instead of all 3. EA offers nothing outside of DA or The Sims imo, so the EA Prime is just not worth it (to me), but MS pass and Uplay+ are just lovely

Be careful with MS though, with all their talk about streaming being the future of gaming, we need to watch out that Xbox pass doesn't become Netflix gaming over night, gotta watch that horizon real careful like.

 

[McPhee]

Be careful with MS though, with all their talk about streaming being the future of gaming, we need to watch out that Xbox pass doesn't become Netflix gaming over night, gotta watch that horizon real careful like.

Phil Spencer recently commented that Microsoft aren't really looking at hardware sales as the barometer for success any more. Instead, it's subscriber numbers; how many people can they keep on Xbox Live Gold subscriptions and Game Pass subscriptions (and presumably, in the future, xCloud subscriptions). It doesn't really matter what hardware they're using, as long as they're still an active customer.

"The Netflix of Gaming" seems the likely end game. And for that to happen, any hardware barriers need to be reduced. I'm not sure that means an end to consoles, as there will likely always be a market for high-end hardware. But it does mean that the hardware needs to become optional.

 

[Random Guy Esq.]

Doesn't really deserve its own thread at the moment, but there are rumours that Square Enix are considering their own subscription service too.

 

[XeNoNF50]

You think so? I'm not a Ubisoft fan but I can't deny that their 1st party AAA titles are pretty impressive and make up a sizeable bulk of the AAA games released in the last few years.

Heard nothing but positive things about Division 2, Wildlands, Odyssey, Siege and Watchdogs 2, even though the latter got a bad rep most of what I've read on it recently was positive.

For me, Splinter Cell Blacklist, Far Cry 5 and AC Origins were great games, Blacklist especially. I'd wager the Uplay+ to be the best value of the lot.

It's £180 if you kept it going for a year!!! You can buy every new major release of from ubisoft from cdkeys every year for less. I have every single one of those games you listed bar Division 2 and I probably got them at less than £180 in total.

 

[Omaeka]

Phil Spencer recently commented that Microsoft aren't really looking at hardware sales as the barometer for success any more. Instead, it's subscriber numbers; how many people can they keep on Xbox Live Gold subscriptions and Game Pass subscriptions (and presumably, in the future, xCloud subscriptions). It doesn't really matter what hardware they're using, as long as they're still an active customer.

"The Netflix of Gaming" seems the likely end game. And for that to happen, any hardware barriers need to be reduced. I'm not sure that means an end to consoles, as there will likely always be a market for high-end hardware. But it does mean that the hardware needs to become optional.

I aint against it as long as it's optional, gaming dies when streaming is the only option, unless it has 0 pixelation, 0 frames of delay and is less than 1GB per hour in bandwidth. Something I don't think will ever be possible, no matter how much money is thrown into it.

It's £180 if you kept it going for a year!!! You can buy every new major release of from ubisoft from cdkeys every year for less. I have every single one of those games you listed bar Division 2 and I probably got them at less than £180 in total.

Jesus christ, they really need subscription packages then, because £180 to not even keep any of them is absurd. They could offer a unique deal like £180 a year and every 3 months you get to choose a Ubi title to keep forever, I think that could work if they don't want to do longer & cheaper packages.

 

[pestt]

Damn, Wolfenstein 2 is now off the pass offer. Missed that one.
Been playing Metro all afternoon and had a ball. Got The Turing test installed as I've always been curious but never got around to it and also We Happy Few to see if it's as horrid as I've read.
Tomb Raider is in the line if I get enough time. And all for under the price of a pint.

 

[mark43]

Hmm, I'm guessing there isn't anywhere that tells you when a game is being removed? Obviously it's fine that games are removed after a while but would be annoying to be part way through playing something when it gets removed.

 

[HungryHippos]

Damn, Wolfenstein 2 is now off the pass offer. Missed that one.
Been playing Metro all afternoon and had a ball. Got The Turing test installed as I've always been curious but never got around to it and also We Happy Few to see if it's as horrid as I've read.
Tomb Raider is in the line if I get enough time. And all for under the price of a pint.

That's a shame I really enjoyed all of the Wolfenstein games.

Metro is worth a playthrough, and best of all it's pretty quick so should only take a few sessions to finish it.

There are a bunch of games that I would not mind playing that are on the game pass, just got a bit of a back catalogue to finish first on the PS4 before I start new games.

 

[Heisenberg]

Damn, Wolfenstein 2 is now off the pass offer. Missed that one.
Been playing Metro all afternoon and had a ball. Got The Turing test installed as I've always been curious but never got around to it and also We Happy Few to see if it's as horrid as I've read.
Tomb Raider is in the line if I get enough time. And all for under the price of a pint.

What do you mean by "Wolfenstein 2 is now off the pass offer"?

 

[Drukk]

Damn, Wolfenstein 2 is now off the pass offer. Missed that one.
Been playing Metro all afternoon and had a ball. Got The Turing test installed as I've always been curious but never got around to it and also We Happy Few to see if it's as horrid as I've read.
Tomb Raider is in the line if I get enough time. And all for under the price of a pint.

They take games off the game pass? So a game could just vanish at anytime?

 

[malachi]

Doesn't really deserve its own thread at the moment, but there are rumours that Square Enix are considering their own subscription service too.

They are all doing it now and then we up with the same issues TV streaming services a now facing. Too many subscription with exclusivity costing more. Turning people off.

 

[arknor]

I'm not a fan of these subscription services, end game is what?

Doing away with selling games all together and forcing people to subscribe to a service?

 

[Tombstone]

I'm not a fan of these subscription services, end game is what?

Doing away with selling games all together and forcing people to subscribe to a service?

I dont mind them, depending on the cost, the 3.99 I pay for Origin for example has enabled me to play many games that I simply would never have bought/played otherwise (like Into the Breach, FTL, Titanfall 2, Star Wars Battlefront 2 etc, all games that I'd never have bought normally). The MS gamepass is much the same for me, for 3.99, their have already been some games that I've played which I would never have considering buying normally, stuff like Forza 4 and Gears of War 4, plus when The Outer Worlds and Borderlands 3 come out they will both be on the gamepass, so 3.99 to play those both works out nicer on my wallet than £80+ for those 2 games

 

[Tek81]

They take games off the game pass? So a game could just vanish at anytime?

As far as I understand, once you have a game installed, it remains playable for the duration of your subscription, even if it is then removed from being part of the game pass selection.