Xbox Game Pass Is Hurting Right Now, But Larger Forces Are At Play

There have been a good few indies I liked playing on game pass this year (Nobody saves the world, TMNT, Citizen Sleeper, Trek to Yomi, Donut county, Tunic, Superluminal) but I haven't needed to remain subscribed to play them.
I think I've only been subscribed for two months altogether this year and I'm not planning on resubscribing until at least next year considering how packed the Switch's lineup is going to be (plus one or two games on ps5).
So ye for me indies have been good but there hasn't really been a big hit that's glues me to the Xbox for a long time in a while and I don't see one anytime soon.

I'm still loving it and getting my money's worth. Two Point Campus is fantastic. There have been better months in the past for sure. But surely everyone can't expect games like Forza Horizon 5 and Halo Infinite to launch within a month of each other all the time?
I'm also hoping Deathloop does indeed show up sometime this year still... Give me the Goldeneye re-release and I'll be over the moon.

I still have plenty of games in the wishlist but it is fair to say that the last couple of month's are some of the weakest yet (and it has to be mentioned that it goes in line with the revamped ps plus so maybe less deals to have atm)

If we all had a penny every time we’re asked to be patient waiting for Xbox to deliver games…We’d all be able to afford a ps5s!

You can get away with asking for patience when consoles your platform and people are making a longer term investment. Asking people for patience is not something you can get away with with when a subscription is your platform though…if ms don’t get on top of things they’ll soon learn this. Hopefully next year will ‘be the year’ they finally start delivering on their first party promise.

Looking at the gaming market in general over the past few months or so, its been generally 'lacking' in any major big releases and we have heard of 'numerous' delays too of games from ALL major Publishers requiring more time than they initially thought to get them to a releasable state.

Game Pass too is a reflection of the general state of the gaming market - particularly if you are looking predominantly at the Day 1 releases and particularly those AAA Day 1 releases. If there aren't many/if any AAA releases, then Game Pass can't offer these either.

However, Game Pass isn't 'just' about Day 1 'AAA' First Party games that will come on Day 1 when ready to release, its also offering a LOT of new games to the service EVERY month. There is always something NEW to play on Game Pass - regardless of whether they are 'older' games you may already own or brand new 'indie' games, they are still 'new' to Game Pass.

Due to the nature of Game development and releases, there are going to be 'months' where the big AAA games are not releasing as much, if at all, and other times when they all seem to be arriving at once. New year to March/April used to be very quiet, Summer too as they aimed for 'Holiday' releases.

Game Pass is more a reflection on the industry as a whole - there hasn't really been any 'big' releases since Elden Ring and why Game Pass hasn't had any big new AAA day 1 releases either - but its still continuing to offer 'new' games every month to play for such a small monthly fee by comparison. You couldn't buy an Indie game a month for the cost of Game Pass so getting a handful every month is still better value - as well as access to ALL those games (worth thousands) you can play at no additional cost.

I think it's fine, I'm lucky to be in a country were MS Rewards pays out enough points that I can manage a sub for free so I have no complaints.

There's plenty of excellent games on there but I'm not going to play most because I still own them on other platforms so I play them there, that said I have downloaded Skyrim & Arkham Knight again despite having the platinums for both on Playstation.

How could anyone complain? This is still an insane deal. New games are constantly coming and I will never be able to play all the games I want to even if they never added another game. If you have so much free time that you’ve already tried and played everything maybe it’s you that needs a hard look and not game pass.

Gamepass is still excellent value but it has been a bit slow recently still plenty to play though and next year should be amazing as long as everything doesn't get delayed again.

It's been a bad year for Game Pass. I've been leaning towards canceling for awhile now. I've exhausted the AAA games that I wanted to play and am now stuck with indies that have been hit or miss for me. It's getting hard to justify.

To be honest, I have had game pass for over a year now and I think I have played exactly one game on it.

The games they tend to offer are just not interesting to me(or I already own them).

On the other hand, I recently joined the new PS Plus program and there are more games there I am interested in even though the catalog is smaller overall.

My rule for game pass is whilst I have something to play, I'll stay subbed.

Between new releases, backlogs, content updates, and buying DLC (for titles I really enjoy and want the devs to get more money) I haven't "needed" to unsub yet.

With what I paid ( approx £2 a month ) for 3 years I'm well happy and to add to it my reward points go to AAAs that aren't on game pass , it may be a bit slow at the moment but they will catch up once all the games they have in the pipeline start coming out and lets face it for what I pay I really couldnt get much for that £2 odd a month

@Martsmall It is the same for me, I did a long gold conversion so it isn't costing me much. That being said, I am not sure I will keep it once that ends.

I’m the first in the queue to moan about game pass, but if the delays in Redfall and Starfield until 2023 mean a top end AAA in all areas game then that’s fine with me.
It’s when a game like Halo Infinite gets delayed for a year and still ends up overall half the AAA game it should been, is when I get pissed.
Yes Nintendo delayed BOTW2, Sony delayed GOWR and delay a lot of their big AAA show case games. But when they do finally release they do release to big acclaim usually. Just like BOTW2 will.
That’s what worries me about Xbox studios and game pass, delay with the end result not being to the high standard it should be. I mean FH5 is really the only Xbox studio game that released to the main stream gamer and general public interest that cut it 92% and to massive critical acclaim all round.
Things need to improve if they want to sell more game pass and Xbox consoles.
In the UK people still flock to get a PS5 not Xbox any more. They use them to attract dust now in most shops.

@evan23 yeh but lately there have been better deals like one a few weeks back ( for £30 ) but hey I still got a bargain

You never know the next time u get to renew it still might be the same

Xbox in general has been rough since April, not just Game Pass. Like big showcases usually act as a beacon of hope for a platform but the Xbox Showcase in June felt very off and the Gamescom lineup also seems off. Makes me think that Microsoft are heavily relying on the Activision acquisition going through sooner rather than later to get a massive quantity of games added to Game Pass in one drop. It wouldn't improve my opinion of Xbox but it would for others.

This is a bit of a hurt piece. Heavy hitters differ per person. I much rather play TMNT Shredders Revenge than any Madden or Tom Clancy.
To each their own but for 14.99 or less when you buy the subs on sale, it's still a bargain vs any other service, especially after all add ons, inability to use dlc etc etc etc.

@Grumblevolcano
It’s not a bad thing dropping loads of Activision games, and most will go, look even better value for money.
But they will be old games. Xbox needs some momentum of new games that catch the imagination of gamers and the big general public.
People can say what they like, but look and Nintendo and Sony sell very well and releasing in their own way new AAA games. It’s a formula that is working go look at console sales and the momentum behind those brands.
Also their general public PR is pretty dam good compared to Xbox no PR.
Unfortunately Xbox momentum after the initial Xbox fans buy up including me, is almost zero in the UK.
Very sad state for the Xbox brand for a trillion dollar company, not sure what direction they are aiming for, but time will tell.

Gamepass ultimate costs me less than $30 a year, so not too chuffed about the lack of additions. Besides, the games on there are still pretty good and the future looks good. Compared to ps+ tiers, I'd rather have gamepass. Do the people who complain have zero backlog AND beaten every game on gamepass, already?

Microsoft good help the situation and sweeten the gamers and maybe help more new game pass subscriptions as they have no new AAA coming this year from their studios and god knows when in 2023.
Just bring Elden Ring and Dying Light 2 to game pass 2022. I mean we should have got Redfall and Starfield 2022 so it would make up a bit for that.

@SplooshDmg
And one of those years if and when it maybe happens. Will be to late for this generation.
It will then become catch up that will never happen. At the moment I think they will do the same as last generation with maybe some little gains.
They have just been demoted to third in the UK for sales year 2022. Xbox second biggest single country market after USA, they were second but have no chance recovering this year, then it will become an upward struggle of catch up. Same as last generation. And trying to gain the almost zero momentum back. Being honest even Redfall and Starfield won’t do that much for them, they need a lot more than that, especially being third and playing catch up.

I still think it’s been great. So many good NEW indies like Two Point Campus and As Dusk Falls. It more than pays for itself every month.

I looked at PlayStation’s line up next month and everything was old games I either already have or didn’t get because I wasn’t interested in. And I say that as someone who has the highest level Plus and want it to be good.

There’s so many new experiences out there that GamePass let’s me try out. And I’ve always found at least two or three new games I’ve liked every month (usually more).

Two Point Campus alone is a $40 game that I didn’t have to buy. And we still have Immortality and Midnight Fight Express coming this month. Both games I’m excited about!

I thing its value is different to each Person, for those who have no interest in the majority of xbox's first party games and only play the big third party games then gamepass isn't for them, gamepass isn't for casuals either or for those who play a lot of free to play titles. Most of the ubisoft games getting added are always on sale and the EA access doesn't get the new Battlefield and those wanting fifa have to wait until the end of the season to get it which they won't wait that long.

Gamepass is for those that want to play the newest first party games from Microsoft or the latest indies, and in that regards this year has been poor and wouldn't be surprised to see the numbers drop and then pick right back up next year when the new forza, Redfall and starfield release.

On a personal level though I unsubscribed after Christmas and went 4/5 months without touching gamepass as I initially bought it for xbox exclusives but I've recently re signed up and completed Gears of war ultimate, nearly done with Back 4 Blood and Forza Horizon 5, half way through guardians of the galaxy, downlaoded Far Cry 5 and True colours.

Its got value for me as I don't play xbox much, so there's a lot to play right now on gamepass for me, but for xbox regulars and those who only game on xbox then I can definitely see the value decreasing because its been a very dry year

The game industry as a whole has been lackluster especially on the aaa front. Almost every one of them has been delayed or pushed out of the year. So there aren't many aaa games they can even add. Dying light 2, Lego star Wars and Elden ring ain't gonna happen and besides those we barely had any other releases. So yeah I don't think it's that weird gamepass has been filled with aa indies and old aaa games since there weren't many games to be added and the few interesting games won't happen since they will be to expensive to add. So yeah meanwhile I just keep enjoying the aa indie games they keep adding.

Doesnt bother me. I have a ton to play on PS5 and Switch as well as their backlogs. Ill continue to play there and my 360 games until MS releases something. I have 5 months in reward points through bing saved so i can play for free when the time comes

I think Game Pass has been fantastic this summer! Both Shredder’s Revenge and PowerWash Simulator has been some of my favourite games this year, and I think I’ll start playing Shadowrun Returns soon.

@SplooshDmg
Yes I think the Activision deal when going through has got Sony thinking a bit for sure.
Which in turn make Sony try harder so competition is always good.
I’m just after some of them sweet Xbox first party AAA from the xbox, Xbox 360 days and even a few from the Xbox one days.
I think they should of done a few second party type deals to cover 2022 to keep momentum going from 2021, in stead they will go into 2023 with most of the 2021 momentum un done.
Momentum counts for a lot in most markets.

It’s been slow this summer but with all the games already included it’s still a great value , and when you know that Sony is paying développer so they won’t release their games on gamepass it’s sad for us and the publisher who accept these not on gamepass bribes should think about it twice , maybe they receive full payment for their games but they have less visibility and in the end less people will play their games maybe Microsoft should increase the money they give to publisher when they put their games on gamepass to counter what Sony is doing.

@SplooshDmg
Sony where just and still seem to better organised.
Take the release of the PS5 yes maybe consoles issues and that shows to me. Bad design decisions etc or rushed to market.
But game wise they paid blue point to remake demon souls, they paid sumo digital to do sack boy adventure.
Yes insomniac their studio to an off shoot miles morales a short 8 hour game.
Leaving their studios to do ratchet and clank, HFW etc. Sony are just managed and organised better through their business, that is all nothing to smart.
They then back that with three big releases for 2022. Just pure good organisational structure and studio management. That’s is where some of Sony strengths is.

Only a few months with a xbox for the first time, so for me a its a most have a lot of games i never experience.

@SplooshDmg
Xbox won’t die never unless a massive corporate decision is made to, but no way.
Very brave words on the series eclipsing the Xbox360, that generation had massive Xbox momentum behind it, in the UK it was a bit Xbox crazy same as USA i guess. I showed mates gears of war etc and next month they purchased an Xbox 360. Currently I have nothing to do that with really at that level, FH5 gets a very good response and I mention game pass, but currently it’s not enough UK wise I’m afraid.
If Xbox do what they say and deliver big time then maybe late into the generation a good pick up and some marginal gains but not Xbox360 level.
However I hope your are right 😁

No issue here. Love trying all the games that come to game pass. If I see something I like that’s not on game pass I buy it. If there is a good sale on older games I buy them. Game pass brought me back into gaming hardcore. I just use my reward points for three months of game pass and I’ve paid 20 bucks for 18 months of game pass. I’ve bought plenty of games too.

This feels a bit like manufactured outrage, tbh.

gamepass is awesome

I barely use GamePass and will probably cancel when it runs out. I have a huge backlog of purchased games and most new games I wanted to play weren’t on GamePass. The games that I did recently play on GamePass were The Outer Worlds and FFXIII-2 and I still spent more money for the complete experience with DLC. I plan to play Starfield, but it’s probably better to just buy it outright.

For $15 a month I can't complain, even though I haven't been playing my Series X as much lately. GamePass helped me in deciding to pre-order physical copies of games (Trek to Yomi, Death's Door) I probably wouldn't have played, let alone purchase. I'm really looking forward to A Plague Tale in October. Until then, I have plenty to play on Switch, PS5, and Series X with such a huge backlog. So I'm good.

The main draw of Game Pass is day 1 exclusives and there’s been hardly any in the last 2 years. Forza H 5 is the only one i play. At current i’d put PS+ extra and premium above Game Pass. It has more games, more gens and the quality of the games is much higher. A lot of PS exclusives which are often on another level.

@pip_muzz halo infinite shouldn't have launched within a month of Forza horizon 5 in the first place should've been delayed atleast another year

That's the thing with subscription services your paying in advance for content that could easily be delayed aswell as actually not knowing what games will or won't come to the service

People make me laugh when they say that there’s more “quality” on PS Plus Extra/Premium vs GamePass. There’s a Reddit post that showed there are 89 games on PS Plus Extra/Premium with a Metacritic score of 80+. There are over 150 on GamePass that have a score of 80+. But sure, GamePass quality sucks, lol.

People just see what they want to see.

@PhhhCough the average consumer won't be using loopholes to get it cheaper or ms rewards to get it free & most people don't want to play & beat every game that comes to gamepass just because it's part of the subscription like they don't subscribe to netflix & watch everything on it just because it's part of the subscription

@Would_you_kindly for multiplayer yes, the campaign however was very enjoyable

@pip_muzz I haven't played the campaign because as I've said in previous articles I don't like how they completely moved away from the story in 4 & 5 but from what I've heard about it it sounds like it could've definitely benefited from a delay to add more variation to the environment

I am sorry but I need to be honest; Elden Ring is a "Never Without" for gamepass... It needs to come as soon as possible. Sorry for being honest

@Would_you_kindly the repetitive environment is a valid negative point. That said the campaign is without a doubt the most fun that 343i have made being definitely better than both 4&5's. If the story is the only thing putting you off its well worth a play still for sure. One of the best FPS campaigns in a good while.

If no more Gamepass games were released for the rest of the year I’d be happy and never clear my backlog.

Guess if you get time to game all day every day it’s be a different story.

I have Gamepass Ultimate until March 2023 as part of a 24 month subscription that came with my Series X. In my opinion, I've already gotten value for money with 7/8 months remaining. Between catching up on Xbox One console exclusives to current gen AAA,indies and everything in-between, I'm entirely satisfied even if there have been some quieter months. I still have a backlog in all honesty.

The only people that complain about game pass are ps fans or little kids who mommy and daddy's pay for their sub so they don't understand how great of a deal they're getting really is. If Microsoft where do not drop another game this year we'd still be getting our moneys worth. Most people don't go outside their gaming bubble to see what else is on game pass.

So, next year Starfield, Redfall, Forza Motorsport... not too bad... but I have a feeling people will still be wanting more AAA (personally, I don't mind quality games of any budget/size... I'm happy with a bunch of great Indies).
However, I am concerned that people have built Starfield up too much... I just have a hunch there's gonna be a lot of bitching and disappointment when it drops (gamers love to complain, right? 😉).
MS will need to up their game and get studios delivering quality product at a regular cadence.
I think most people have been pretty understanding about covid related delays, but now I think gamers want to see a solid roadmap on which MS can deliver.
But, hey... I'm happy, I've got a backlog 😆

If I cancel GamePass, it will be bc I just don’t have time to play games anymore.

Hopefully it's more Appetite for Destruction than Chinese Democracy

Honestly this has given me time to explore more existing gamepass titles. I’ve been playing Sniper 5 and turbo golf racing.

I really enjoy game pass and think it is a great value would we be saying the same negative things if starfield and redfall launched but were not ready? I can wait for the big games. I think one of the things undervalued is the discount you get for buying games you like. I think the two biggest benefits are being able to play games you may never try unless its on the service and the first party games day one. I am not being a fanboy here but PlayStation doesn't have a single game I would buy the system for specifically now that the show is on Xbox. However, If starfield was coming out on it and not Xbox I would buy a PlayStation that's how much I enjoy Bethesda's games. the fact that they are all coming day one for 15 dollars is huge to me fable as well just my two cents.

all the ones voting (Yup best value in gaming) are all paid off spoon fed incell's shilling game pass for Microsoft.

I love gamepass I always still find something to play. would I spend £10.99 a month on it god no but then i dont have to Microsoft rewards pays for it so its free

The output of Xbox first party games is pathetic I think. Look at Nintendo. Constantly putting out top quality games

Lately indeed things have been slower and im not 100% happy about it (basing on purely subjective likes and dislikes in games). That being said there are 2 games that make me not want to unsubscribe - Forza 5 (now with HW) and MSFS2020. These alone are worth keeping the sub. That being said i did recently start on Until Dawn which is great, but i'm waiting for games that will be bit larger. The nearest ones that ill play are Plague 2 and Scorn, so there's something to look forward to

Since couples of month i noticed microsoft adding more and more pc games to their service and less and less games on xbox gamepass they don't seems to threat their xbox game pass subscribtion as "ultimate" anymore they don't have to add recent releases AAA all the times alot of new games where a year or two ago they could easily add it to their service do not forget microsoft is a trillion dollars company they can afford to pay for huge games on their service, i hope that the second half of the year will be less empty and filled more with big hits.

The last game I enjoyed on gamepass, the "I will buy the game normally even if it isn't available in gamepass" is the new turtle game. I still subscribed to gamepas though since I'm still playing the other games on it, both AAA and indies.

@el_pieablo You're speaking my language (although I actually like CD)

Seems like there is a deliberate lull in gamepass at the moment almost as if MS are getting ready for GP to shift up a gear when the Activision deals gets the all clear,kind of like when the zenimax deal went through.

My issue is that I bought 3 years of Gamepass at once when the Series X came out — and the big selling point, AAA games day and date — has mostly been bust. That’s maybe less to do with the service itself and more MS’s first-party output, but they’re all intertwined.

Thankfully I also have a Switch and PS5 so between the three I have been busy this year, but I have to be honest — I feel like I’m not using it enough to probably get my “money’s worth” every month. Xcloud is probably the biggest selling point for me these days; I use that all the time. When I do turn on my Xbox over the other consoles it’s more for games I own, with the exception of Forza Horizon 5 and the glut of kid-friendly games recently.

That said I also don’t have as much time to play anymore (jobs, little kids, etc.). So I’ve probably fallen out of the Gamepass target audience for a while; I think it’s something that gives more the more you put in.

I have another three years of ultimate, but I would have dropped it by now if I didnt. Ive played two titles on gp all year and am just not interested in all that indie content, its absolutely not why I game.
That said, I still get why its so valuable for so many people who like to discover indies as well as get the day 1s when they drop.

Im fortunate, i can grab stuff on steam, ps5 or switch whilst I wait for something on xbox thats attractive, but when I got that series X and installed the 'monolith of power', I was hopeful that this gen it would be a major machine for me. Its barely ever switched on, and thats a shame.

@evan23 I've had it over a year and the only game I've played is Halo Infinite. I'm really disappointed with the service and tired of every game I want to play being delayed.

There is too much on Game Pass for me and my friends to get through. We still have most of Horizon 5 to get through, haven't even gone through the Halo Infinite campaign at all because we are waiting for the co op update, have played the great MP off and on but still have most of that to rank up through, have hardly scratched the surface of Flight Sim, still have most of Sea of Thieves content to get through, still haven't gotten through all of MCC content, and still have tons of other games on Game Pass we haven't even touched yet.

Why?

Because we don't just play Xbox. We have a lot of games that we play and our time is split between them all. We are true gamers, play tons of games, and it takes us a lot of time to get through them all. We like it that way because we are never able to exhaust content too quickly. We never get burned out on a game, and never blow through it too fast. We've yet to exhaust even games like Battlefront 2 and Battlefield 5. It's great! I feel sorry for people who only play 2 or 3 games and exhaust all of that content within just a few weeks. Put more games in your weekly rotation and don't play the same games day in and day out.

With no interest in indies and having played mostly FH5 for the last few months on gp (untill that major disappointment called Hot Wheels dropped) i unsubbed till prolly next spring when the new FM drops.There are a few games that I'd like to try this year but none came out on gamepass...hard to justify keep paying for it when it's costing around 20$/month in Canada.

Honestly I can't stand game pass atm. The amount of 2D metroidvania style games and simulators this year is mind blowing when we're on Series X now. Why did I buy one when it's just the same? Quick resume is about the only decent feature atm. We've still not seen anything properly utilise the Series Xs power. They say AAA games aren't released through the summer. So put some AAA games on from last year instead? Darktide and Scorn, all I'm looking forward to this year.