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The story
Matt Piscatella, an analyst at US market research firm NPD, pushed back on commentary treating the Xbox exclusive “Gears of War: E-Day” as “basically free” just because it launched on Game Pass. “Game Pass Ultimate is a $23-a-month paid service (21 euros in Europe) — let’s stop calling it free,” he said. When the comment reached 5ch’s hardware/industry (“Geha”) board, it sparked a debate over how cheap Japan’s pricing is by comparison, how Game Pass actually makes money, and whether subscriptions or buying games outright is the better deal.
What people said
Game Pass Ultimate is $23 a month. (21€ where I live.)
So can we please stop saying Gears was "free" on Game Pass? Okay?
Then who was Re: #2 even talking to?
LMAO
He clearly can't keep up with how low PS users' IQ is lol
If you had a functioning brain you wouldn't be a PS fanboy in the first place
No wonder their exclusive Wolverine ends up in "nursing-home mode" (slang for a game dumbed down to be laughably easy)… just saying
It was Xbox fanboys who started saying Game Pass is free in the first place
"The online fee is mandatory, but you're not paying extra for Game Pass itself — so Game Pass is free," they said
or ¥1,300 for 1 month
It's $23 overseas, so Japan's pricing is way too good a deal
What's the math there?
Give me a quantitative breakdown
Microsoft makes 65 billion yen in profit per day
That's how they can afford to be this generous
Only Microsoft could pull off a stunt like this
I just saw that figure somewhere, that's all
If anything, I want someone to explain how maintaining AAA day-one releases could possibly be covered by just tens of millions
For Game Pass, especially first-party AAA titles, isn't DLC the main revenue driver?
MS disclosed in last year's earnings call that annual Game Pass revenue was at least $5 billion
Assuming a single Western AAA title costs $200-500 million, I'd like to know how they'd possibly be losing money at the current day-one release pace
MS: "We recouped the cost in a month."
Then why's there a layoff carnival going on, huh?
That's not about Trash-tation (derogatory 5ch nickname for PlayStation), is it?
If you cancel PS Plus you can't launch them anymore, so they're not really free games, are they?
But it's still a layoff festival over there
Doesn't change the fact they're ruthless with underperforming divisions
That's not about Trash-tation, is it?
Start by explaining that lol
Even that 100-yen campaign back then only covered the first month, c'mon
And subscribers typically stay signed up well beyond a single month anyway
You're mixing up Microsoft's profit with third-party publishers' profit there
NPD: "A lot of PS users are idiots who think Game Pass is free"
Couldn't they be non-PS users too?
Just by playing on the subscription (plus doing some web searches) you earn rewards you can redeem for new releases — it's a great deal
There's no way this "it's not free" excuse flies now
Good evening, you relic from a bygone era
[Current era] These days it's all free-to-play. Buying games outright is outdated
https://krsw.5ch.io/test/read.cgi/ghard/1638575010/1
1 Name: Anonymous, Desperately Trying [] Posted: 2021/12/04 (Sat) 08:43:30.07 ID:Fmo7xzZ7r
APEX, Fortnite, Genshin Impact, etc. — that's where the times are heading
Also Uma Musume, Shadowverse, FGO, Monster Strike, Puzzle & Dragons
Anyone still buying games outright is an outdated idiot
We're the High-Spec Alliance (PS/Xbox owners) and we only team up to dunk on Nintendo fans
[Game Pass Is Finished] Sony to add new releases to PS+ every month. March lineup includes the FF7 full remake and Kena, among others
https://krsw.5ch.io/test/read.cgi/ghard/1614256127/1
1 Name: Anonymous, Desperately Trying [] Posted: 2021/02/25 (Thu) 21:28:47.57 ID:L2n5cQCE0
Kena: Bridge of Spirits – a PS-exclusive Zelda-like 3D open-world action adventure
Its trailer has already topped 4 million views
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxzWlIbnp3U
Final Fantasy VII Remake: Ever Crisis has already leaked, existence and details included
https://www.reddit.com/r/GamingLeaksAndRumours/comments/lrxe6p/final_fantasy_vii_remake_ever_crisis_for_ps4ps5/#:~:text=3%20hours%20ago-,Final%20Fantasy%20VII%20REMAKE%3A%20Ever%20Crisis%20for%20PS4%2FPS5%20to,tomorrow%20at%20State%20of%20Play&text=Take%20this%20with%20a%20very%20huuuge%20grain%20of%20salt.&text=FINAL%20FANTASY%20VII%3A%20EVER%20CRISIS%20will%20launch%20globally%20on%20April,%2F%E2%82%AC69.99%2F%C2%A359.99.
https://wccftech.com/final-fantasy-vii-remake-ps-plus-march/
https://www.reddit.com/r/PS5/comments/lrmk86/kena_devs_have_responded_to_the_rumors_about_the/
This guy's a well-known account for impersonating Nintendo fanboys ("Nishi-kun")
For someone so cunning, the way he still frames Nintendo as a "small but decent cake" shows he can't quite let go of his pride
Background and Key Points of the Debate
Game Pass Ultimate runs around $23 a month in the US, while Japan gets a comparatively cheap deal at ¥1,300 for one month or ¥3,980 for three — and that regional price gap itself became one of the thread’s talking points. The “it’s free” misconception likely stems from past promotions like the 100-yen campaign, as well as confusion with PS Plus’s monthly lineup of included titles. Microsoft discloses overall Game Pass revenue in its earnings reports, but it doesn’t publish profitability per title or development-cost breakdowns for new releases, so figures thrown around in the thread — like “65 billion yen in profit per day” or “over $5 billion a year” — are ultimately speculation based on earnings materials and media reports, nothing more. Because subscription revenue and outright-purchase revenue rest on different underlying assumptions, simple comparisons between the two should be treated with caution.
*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Hardware/Industry, “Geha”) thread “NPD: “A Lot of PS Users Are Idiots Who Think Game Pass Is Free”.”
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