Xbox Teases More 'Shadow Drops' As Game Pass Fans Go Wild Over Upcoming Lineup

If all these stacked months don’t pull any more people into Game Pass then nothing will, there’s something for literally everyone only in the first half of this year.

@IOI I would argue BO6 and Indy was the biggest moment last year and it pushed PC subs and maybe little bit on consoles but I dont think we will ever see a massive growth until xcloud fully comes in and be as good as running from hardware (so easily 10-15 years later).

Not even mentioning that we went from $10 when service launched to $20 for GPU (which is the only tier to play day 1 games on release on console).

Another problem is most people want to play specific games that not necessarily are on service. Plus overall, people have too many subs these days and tired.

I think the service is great tho but dont see it becoming a new standard for average gamer or something like that. Good news are MS does not think so either seemingly as they removed GP compensation from execs and are pushing multiplat strategy actively to earn today on actual sales.

I guess we wont be seeing Tony Hawks 1+2 on GP until after 3+4 launches.

@Millionski game pass is superb but when I'm subbed it definitely takes me away from playing other stuff (I'm replaying OG FF7 right now in the hope that remake will be announced soon 🤣)

But I find it much easier to drop off and back onto game pass than something like netflix, so I like to view it as just another excellent bit of choice I get as an Xbox user. Certainly not one of those people that often buys new games at MSRP so it's opened up the new game market a lot for me

Nice to hear! Game Pass is wonderful value! That said, I'm gagging for Crash 4 to drop and have hopes it hits at the end of this month. Given the new Dragon Age just went to PS Plus, I'm thinking EA Access is imminent (perhaps back end of March or April).

@Coletrain Don't be put off by maxing that out. It's a LOT easier than it sounds. I did it recently too - following a very simple and easy to follow guide.

@themightyant I believe that Microsoft’s mentality is too add as many longer games and rouge lites to GamePass thinking that subscribers will have to keep subscribing each month. That’s how they get me… there is no way I can get through Avowed in under 6 months with all the other content. In most cases I almost never 100% a game but I keep subbing in the hope I do….

Its a strong line up for sure!
I cancelled my sub in September 23, but resubbed for Indiana Jones and I'm enjoying Avowed and wish to play Clair Obscura, so I'll stay with it for a while, but I dislike shooters and £180 is a lot of money, so unless something else I really love comes out, I'll cancel again once Clair Obscura is played. I don't want to play 80% of what's added and can buy quite a lot of games in the sales on the PS5 for that kinda money, and my wife can then enjoy them too - she won't touch xbox controllers, hates them with a passion.
Great value, but most people want 3 or 4 titles a year and will be able to buy them much cheaper than the sub cost unless they must have them day 1, which is why subs have stalled despite the value proposition. Its a shame, but most people don't want what GP offers...

@Millionski Yeah I think the main problem is that subs are still tied to console sales, people on PC just avoid the Microsoft Store like a plague and Cloud isn’t feasible to be considered a platform, but of course, Microsoft already gave up on selling consoles which leaves Game Pass in a really weird place because as much as I like the stacked lineup we’re getting, the service doesn’t seem sustainable with “only” 30 million users even with the price hike.

Best deal in gaming.

@IOI it is sustainable as they sell all games on other platforms. The only revenue they are losing is on xbox consoles which is low anyways compared to steam or PSN.
They dont have many expensive games aside likes of COD but its multiplat and historically was on PS.
The only cost is 1B/Year to bring in 3rd party like Expedition 33 and such. They are projected to make 5B+ from GP alone this year. So, I am pretty confident they can drag the service up until cloud actually becomes a thing.

Moreover, I am convinced they lose hard with next gen and overall lose the platform short term but will eventually comeback long-term in cloud.

Gamespass slate and Switch 2. 2025 is Goated

@IOI I think the truth is the latter, nothing ever will. We had loads of bonkers months years ago when the price was significantly cheaper and it still plateaued. The market for not owning your game (licenses) is apparently not that big in the non mobile game space. I say this as someone who has been subbed to GPU since very close to its launch and doesn't care about owning digital games at all

It's definitely kept me subbed. Lots of good stuff this year. Haven't even started avowed yet either.

Fair lineup. Besides South of Midnight nothing really for me. But it's fair. My tastes are too different even though I play all genres.

I'm still playing more retro then anything modern unless it's Switch or PS4/Xbox One old releases that's it. Switch is my PS5/Series X access of games I am interested in and anything needing more power, sure I have access to the consoles (but I never use them, family do, I couldn't care less, I refuse to buy my own because there is nothing there for me to play of interest, any that do I know their design isn't good enough, or any others are my level of AA sub par enjoyment but they flop regardless/I'd buy them anyway so what difference does it make, my 1 sale of contribution means nothing XD),

I still don't care for 99% of them because their gameplay design doesn't appeal to me, the level design, movesets, modes/events or mechanics just aren't exciting at all so why would i bother. So in turn their worlds/story/settings don't matter to me, are they appealing sure, but if the gameplay isn't why would I buy/play them. They don't appeal to me on the factors I'm looking for.