Business aspects of Subscription Game Libraries [Xbox GamePass, PSNow]

Yes. I think everyone is going the disc borrowing/resale market.
Long term savings over the short term gain over DE

Which is what I've been saying for a while. People on a tight budget aren't paying for GamePass on Series S, they scrape together the console cost then borrow games from libraries (yes, many British library stock video games) buy them second hand or trade them. When I got the original PlayStation we and friends had a game club where we'd club together to buy PS games and swap them around. I wasn't the rich bastard I am now.

The lower-tier nextgen digital-only consoles don't service this market.
 
Game pass is a bit of an exception to the rule. It’s extremely affordable. Mow or shovel 1 lot a month and you have it covered.

All access series S is only 24 a month. That is both console and all those games for 12 lawns to mow a year. It’s very reasonable.

the library would be unable to offer the selection that GamePass has and not nearly the availability.
 
the library would be unable to offer the selection that GamePass has and not nearly the availability.
You've obviously not been in a British library. :nope: Many have THOUSANDS of games.
 
You've obviously not been in a British library. :nope: Many have THOUSANDS of games.
yea, but we're talking millions of players playing the same games at the same time right?

If they sell 1M all access units in GBR, no library could support a halo launch etc.
 
yea, but we're talking millions of players playing the same games at the same time right?
Millions around the world, not millions of members of any one local library. Blimey, have you see library Blu-ray collections? They're insane. In the UK libraries only real outgoing are running costs, almost all media is otherwise subsided by central Government and there is a mechanism to order things from other libraries that aren't available from your local library.

What's your personal experience of British libraries by the way?
 
Millions around the world, not millions of members of any one local library. Blimey, have you see library Blu-ray collections? They're insane. In the UK libraries only real outgoing are running costs, almost all media is otherwise subsided by central Government and there is a mechanism to order things from other libraries that aren't available from your local library.

What's your personal experience of British libraries by the way?
There are 50M xboxes today.
There are 10M Game Pass subs at least
Consider that there is no upfront cost, or interest, the bundling the cost of console with gamepass is actually cheaper than buying them separately, you have make some assumptions on seeing more people leaning towards getting all access.
Lets just assume upfront costs alone. @24 a month, that's 1 full year of game pass vs. just obtaining the console alone. So instead of buying the console outright at 299 and then borrowing titles. Why not just pay it over 12 months and have access to all the games for the year and you can still use the library as well (if you got XSX)?

Against PS5, which is 499, that's 2 full years of game pass + the console for the cost of a little more than a PS5 disc system with no games. Once you've now had access to 2 full years of gaming (with EA Play) with new and old titles, and you can play them on your phone, and you can provide for your whole family, with the convenience of never having to wait for your software or leave the house and if the title you want isn't there you can still borrow the title from the library as well (if you got XSX)?

Now, I'm assuming someone would have to weight that against wanting to just buy the console outright at 499, and have to go through all the labour to get what they want. All games can't have 100% availability, there will be competition for newer titles. I'm just assuming that there would be a distribution problem on any launch game day.
So with in any given country, if you have 1M subs. When a new launch day title is out, day 0, game pass members can all play it together.
With the library system, somehow you need to distribute 1M copies in a particular country. I find this unlikely that there any public system could handle that load of players.
 
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@iroboto again, what is your personal experience of British libraries? Because you see writing stuff that suggests you've never been in one. You're making a pile of incorrect assumptions about how it works.
 
@iroboto again, what is your personal experience of British libraries? Because you see writing stuff that suggests you've never been in one. You're making a pile of incorrect assumptions about how it works.
None, please explain to me what I don't understand.
 
Is this accurate? Is there a source? This is insane. :oops:

This is twice what GTA V cost to make and five times what Red Dead Redemption 2 cost.

That’s probably the planned investment over the life of the product like Bungie and Destiny.
 
None, please explain to me what I don't understand.
Local libraries will hold a selection of the most popular books, movies and games according to the preferences of the local area. If a game is not available, they will order it and you pick it up tomorrow. It's really that simple. They're not GameStop and they don't need to be. Local get everything at a special library rate which is way below what distributors and retails pay, nor do they need to pay tax. It may be different where you are but many British local libraries have books (incl. ebooks and audio books), magazines (incl. e-magazines and comics), periodicals, music, movies (incl. Blu-ray and 4K) and videogames. Not everything is available everywhere, but for the most part the vast majority it's accessible. The weirdest thing is not a lot of people use libraries which is weird because it's like FREE BLOCKBUSTER+++ :yes:
 
Local libraries will hold a selection of the most popular books, movies and games according to the preferences of the local area. If a game is not available, they will order it and you pick it up tomorrow. It's really that simple. They're not GameStop and they don't need to be. Local get everything at a special library rate which is way below what distributors and retails pay, nor do they need to pay tax. It may be different where you are but many British local libraries have books (incl. ebooks and audio books), magazines (incl. e-magazines and comics), periodicals, music, movies (incl. Blu-ray and 4K) and videogames. Not everything is available everywhere, but for the most part the vast majority it's accessible. The weirdest thing is not a lot of people use libraries which is weird because it's like FREE BLOCKBUSTER+++ :yes:
Its similar in NZ, though there you have to pay to rent the games,films,cd's from libraries
I think though Iroboto was more talking about the british libraries having the ability to lend a million copies of game X on the same day, which of course they don't
 
Local libraries will hold a selection of the most popular books, movies and games according to the preferences of the local area. If a game is not available, they will order it and you pick it up tomorrow. It's really that simple. They're not GameStop and they don't need to be. Local get everything at a special library rate which is way below what distributors and retails pay, nor do they need to pay tax. It may be different where you are but many British local libraries have books (incl. ebooks and audio books), magazines (incl. e-magazines and comics), periodicals, music, movies (incl. Blu-ray and 4K) and videogames. Not everything is available everywhere, but for the most part the vast majority it's accessible. The weirdest thing is not a lot of people use libraries which is weird because it's like FREE BLOCKBUSTER+++ :yes:
that's pretty neat; thanks for explaining, and certainly ahead of most other libraries we don't get to choose which video games go into our libraries. I suspect our libraries take all sorts of donations etc, but they wouldn't go to select media for you if they don't have it. Certainly resolves obscure titles if you can't find it - in that respect you can get any title you want.

But I was referring to the challenge Zed is saying below. If everyone wanted the same title at the same time, your library wouldn't order 1M copies of Halo to ensure all their members would get their titles concurrently on the same day.
 
Givens:
MS's cut on console games sold: 30%
MS's cut on PC games on Steam/Origin/Epic/GOG: 0%
MS's cut on PC games via Win10: 30%
Typical game price: $60
Game Pass Console: $120
Game Pass PC: $120 (out of beta)
Game Pass Ultimate: $180
Not all of Game pass revenue belongs to MS.
 
that's pretty neat; thanks for explaining, and certainly ahead of most other libraries we don't get to choose which video games go into our libraries.
Anything the Government deems culturally important falls within the purvey of libraries. Fortunately, the British Government has been fairly progressive in this regard. But to be honest, for any country with a nuclear weapons programme and extensive military force, buying books, games and comics really isn't a big deal especially given the demand on libraries isn't that great.

Not all of Game pass revenue belongs to MS.
This may be true (I don't know) but even if Microsoft make nothing, or it costs them a small amount, the inclusion of certain high-value/appeal continue helps broader appeal.
 
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