PlayStation Plus and Xbox Game Pass: Are games as a subscription still worth it?

So, the big news last week, among many other things, was Sony’s decision to raise PlayStation Plus prices by up to 35%. Which many are pointing out is the largest hike ever in the history of the online service. The move has left the internet baffled. Well, at least among those who haven’t been paying attention.

I will defend Sony a bit here. Due to rampant inflation, which has been mostly caused by bad government policies, businesses are facing rising expenses alongside a consumer base that are now having to tighten their belts. Yet they still have a responsibility to shareholders, who it’s worth reminding aren’t just your Blackrocks and Warren Buffets. Chances are your retirement plan is in there somewhere. So it’s put them in a tough place. I’ve recently been part of a networking project with my employer, and it’s astounding how expensive things have gotten, and keep getting.

That said, while I get some of the business reasons behind these decisions, it doesn’t mean I agree with them as a consumer. Whenever a company pulls in profits like Sony does, any hike that big is going to be bad optics no matter the justification. Many PlayStation fans are saying they’re going to cancel. Though for Sony, that might just be an empty threat, since you need PS+ Essential at minimum just to play online. Which in and of itself is bullshit, and one of the reasons why I, even as a single player gamer, still inevitably circle back to PC. Today’s gamer is also a masochist, so they always just go along whatever corporate daddy wants regardless of protest. But people are right to be upset here. Especially considering that Sony was also the first to lead the charge for $70 games. Not to mention the first to hike the prices of their consoles outside the US.

That brings us to Xbox. Earlier this year, Microsoft quietly upped the cost of Game Pass. The price for consoles increased an extra $1 a month, while Ultimate rose a couple of bucks from $14.99 to $16.99 US. This equated to a 10% and 13% hike respectively. They also eliminated the $1 trial. PC pricing didn’t change.

Now, these increases are certainly a lot less than Sony’s massive jump. However, it’s still the more expensive. While a subscription to PS Plus Premium will now set you back $159.99 ($216 CAD), Game Pass Ultimate costs $203.88 (about $278 CAD) annually. Roughly a $44 difference. Yet Microsoft doesn’t seem to be getting the same amount of flack.

Between the two, I think Game Pass is objectively the better service. Both offer a similarly sized game catalogue, along with streaming, store discounts, a back catalogue of older titles, and an added subscription to a third party storefront (EA for Xbox, Ubisoft for PlayStation). That’s on top of access to online play. I tried looking up what PlayStation offers game wise, but their PS+ website is just atrocious. But needless to say both have a pretty good library. The main difference is that Xbox offers access to first party games day-one, where PlayStation does not. Xbox also offers better support for backwards compatibility, with Game Pass offering Xbox and Xbox 360 games that can be played natively with additional features, versus streaming. Ultimate also includes two platforms to play on; console and PC. However, you have to make a decision whether those extras are really worth an extra $44 annually. It’s also worth noting that Xbox Live Gold still costs $10/mo, which is also considerably more expensive than PS+ Essential, even post-price hike.

In reality, both deals are junk. With the proof being PC gaming. Valve, Epic, GOG, or any other storefront have never charged for online access. Nor do they have plans to, at least to my knowledge. So it makes you wonder how they can offer online for free when consoles can’t.

Game Pass and PS+ Premium also bring into question the issues surrounding software-as-a-service (SaaS). You’ll notice that everything now has a subscription fee tied to it. Want to watch movies? Listen to your music? Use Microsoft frigging Word? There’s a monthly fee to it now. This is kind of a part of the notorious “you will own nothing” consumer culture major corporations are building towards. Rental is just more profitable than the old pay-to-own model of software retail. At least for the company doing the renting, since it provides a continuous revenue stream. Something that looks really good on an income statement.

Sure, Game Pass and PS+ give you access to a library of instant games you might not have otherwise played. But you also might end up paying several times more than what you would have buying the game outright. It really depends on what you play and how much you play it. On top of that, your games could get removed from the service at any time, without notice. So if you end up deleting a favourite title to make up space, and it gets removed, well, you’re SOL until you buy it outright. When you could have just bought it to begin with.

Then there’s the matter of publishers discovering that these subscription services aren’t really as profitable as they expected. Game development costs have been ballooning in recent years. Many studios have already complained that putting their games on Game Pass or PS+ actually loses them money. As former Blizzard producer Mark Kern pointed out on Twitter the other day, that will just mean they’ll be pressured to introduce further monetization schemes as the industry shifts to a subscription model. While the benefits to corporate ultimately outweigh the disadvantages, it’s still the consumer who’s getting the shaft in the end.