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Microsoft insists Game Pass prices will not increase as a result of Activision merger
- Thread starter jshackles
- Start date
Bumblebeetuna
Member
Except we have all been saying for years it’ll eventually go up, long before the ABK merger, because that’s what the sub services do once they get enough penetration.
But we all know there will be plenty here who will conveniently forget and claim MS are DIRTY LIARS and raised prices solely because of CoD2k24
adamsapple
Or is it just one of Phil's balls in my throat?
Sure, but the gist is that they're not gonna increase the price one week after the merger approving (if it does).
Just as long as my Rewards points still cover the cost......
And they don't axe Gold > GPU conversion
Off-topic but I've started getting into the reward point meta-game and man having Xcloud makes it such a cinche to do all the punch card stuff, rather than having to download something entirely just to do that. Finished that "women of game pass" punch card in 5 mins via xcloud.
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ChorizoPicozo
Member
you bet is going to happen. it already happened with Bethesda's exclusivity statements in those documents.
that is the art of PR/ corporate messaging/marketing.
Hendrick's
If only my penis was as big as my GamerScore!
But not because of Activision. Well, not just because Activision anyway.
feynoob
Member
They are going to increase it because of these, regardless of whether this deal is approved or not. Hence netflix and disney plus comparison.
ChorizoPicozo
Member
that is the point.
and each company can choose any kind of messaging to communicate the increase of price.
Hawking Radiation
Member
“As CoD titles are only released once a year, any impact would be short-lived as gamers who exhaust their enthusiasm for the new version of CoD within a few months will churn because of the higher price."
'Only' once a year? That's already far more frequently than most other games. How would those people churn exactly? People play multiplayer CoD throughout the year religiously. If they wanted to leave the service they would be met with a $70 or more cost depending on the price you set. Not to mention that it would be difficult to switch to another subscription service as your mtx you've spent money on would be tied to xbox. Meaning you've just made them spend $70 more (money that goes to you MS) by increasing the price of gamepass. $70 more for yearly COD is an almost 50% gamepass price increase.
'Only' once a year? That's already far more frequently than most other games. How would those people churn exactly? People play multiplayer CoD throughout the year religiously. If they wanted to leave the service they would be met with a $70 or more cost depending on the price you set. Not to mention that it would be difficult to switch to another subscription service as your mtx you've spent money on would be tied to xbox. Meaning you've just made them spend $70 more (money that goes to you MS) by increasing the price of gamepass. $70 more for yearly COD is an almost 50% gamepass price increase.
ChorizoPicozo
Member
desperation is reaching levels of "I have to poop but the bathroom is occupied"
RCU005
Member
With diarrhea!
Seriously, though. I don’t get how people can defend Microsoft. They have done so many deceptive things. Just about Xbox, they knew about the red ring of death months before the 360 released. They knew it had a huge failure rate, and still they released it to the public and lied for months saying it was an isolated issue.
Of course many companies do that one way or another, but Microsoft has made it clear that they don’t care about consumers at all. This goes beyond Xbox, it’s their whole heritage. I mean, the company started by stealing concepts and ideas. What can you expect?
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ZehDon
Member
I look forward to pre-cogs chiming in when Microsoft do eventually raise the price of Game Pass by a dollar a month or something.
"See! I told you nine years ago they'd raise the prices! I was 100% correct! This is why I've never subscribed once - they'll keep raising the prices! It's all a scam!"
"See! I told you nine years ago they'd raise the prices! I was 100% correct! This is why I've never subscribed once - they'll keep raising the prices! It's all a scam!"
FunkMiller
Member
No.
They'll just increase for completely different reasons...
They'll just increase for completely different reasons...
They aren’t promising that they’ll never increase Gamepass prices.
The Shepard
Member
There gonna cancel the £1 gold upgrade to game pass ultimate I bet though, no way is that staying after they get cod
Hero of Spielberg
Member
Jacking up the price would also churn people who don't care that much about COD in the first place. When they say 'only once a year' it's because GP is an ongoing subscription including many games for many different players, not everyone on GP wants to play COD all year.
RPS37
Member
Came here to post thisJust as long as my Rewards points still cover the cost......
Of course not everybody wants to play CoD all year but most people want to play CoD and a lot of people who do play it play it through the year, there are seasons and battlepasses for it. Its the bestselling title every single year since 2009 bar a rare Rockstar release so it obviously attracts the most people.
Those people who play other games would be left with the same dilemma of an exit cost depending on the games they play. Those who churn due to a price hike won't outweigh those who would join for COD.
How many people would even churn on a price increase anyway? Netflix slowly doubled the price without losing subscribers and they don't even have GaaS games that people play every day over and over throughout the year. It increased price and increased subscribers until this year
Date Subscribers (mm)
2011 21.5
2012 25.71
2013 35.63
2014 47.99
2015 62.71
2016 79.9
2017 99.04
2018 124.35
2019 151.56
2020 192.95
2021 209
2022 220.6
Year Revenue ($bn)
2011 3.1
2012 3.5
2013 4.3
2014 5.4
2015 6.7
2016 8.8
2017 11.6
2018 15.7
2019 20.1
2020 24.9
2021 29.6
2022 31.6
No churn, only revenue increases on the price hikes.
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TheThreadsThatBindUs
Member
This a quintessential example of corporate doublespeak.
They must think we're all naive goons.... well.... some certainly are; i.e. the ones who believe stuff like this.
They must think we're all naive goons.... well.... some certainly are; i.e. the ones who believe stuff like this.
Mibu no ookami
Member
I expect we'll see a price increase for GamePass by August ahead of the release of Starfield.
If Starfield is the game Microsoft thinks it is, they'll want to recoup as much revenue as possible from it. I think we'd see the price increase in July or August and maybe the 1-month offer removed.
If Starfield is the game Microsoft thinks it is, they'll want to recoup as much revenue as possible from it. I think we'd see the price increase in July or August and maybe the 1-month offer removed.
Nitty_Grimes
Made a crappy phPBB forum once ... once.
Reward points looked like they have been nerfed lately to be fair but I’ve just been able to get 9 months extra GPU with my points. Im good till middle of 2024 now never having spent a bean on GPU.Just as long as my Rewards points still cover the cost......
Mibu no ookami
Member
They're just trying to cover as many talking points as needed for the CMA.
They don't want to NOT address a concern even if the concern is addressed with pure bullshit.
Hero of Spielberg
Member
Of course not everybody wants to play CoD all year but most people want to play CoD and a lot of people who do play it play it through the year, there are seasons and battlepasses for it. Its the bestselling title every single year since 2009 bar a rare Rockstar release so it obviously attracts the most people.
Those people who play other games would be left with the same dilemma of an exit cost depending on the games they play. Those who churn due to a price hike won't outweigh those who would join for COD.
How many people would even churn on a price increase anyway? Netflix slowly doubled the price without losing subscribers and they don't even have GaaS games that people play every day over and over throughout the year. It increased price and increased subscribers until this year
Date Subscribers (mm)
2011 21.5
2012 25.71
2013 35.63
2014 47.99
2015 62.71
2016 79.9
2017 99.04
2018 124.35
2019 151.56
2020 192.95
2021 209
2022 220.6
Year Revenue ($bn)
2011 3.1
2012 3.5
2013 4.3
2014 5.4
2015 6.7
2016 8.8
2017 11.6
2018 15.7
2019 20.1
2020 24.9
2021 29.6
2022 31.6
No churn, only revenue increases on the price hikes.
Tbh I don’t know the numbers of people who would join GP for COD if it’s available elsewhere or who would leave if the price went up so I can’t say for sure.
Of the people who do play COD so fanatically, do many even really play other games? Again not sure.
I suppose they could increase the cost by a few dollars each year over the next decade, but is that what the CMA would be referring to? I was thinking they were implying MS could double the price once they had COD or something.
Topher
Member
Yeah, I've noticed in the quests, weekly sets, etc. don't seem to give as many points as they used to. I'm currently subscribed until the end of July and have nearly 70k banked so I'm set for 2023 at least.
Heisenberg007
Member
Microsoft insists Game Pass prices ‘will not increase as a result of Activision merger’ | VGC
It says a price rise “would be counter-productive as it would increase subscriber churn rates”…www.videogameschronicle.com
It reads a lot like "we don't have an incentive" to increase Game Pass prices or it "does not make financial sense" to increase Game Pass prices.
remember_spinal
Banned
I got two friends who play warzone religiously and buy the annual games just to get the guns or upgrades or whatever, theres nothign i can do to convince them to play anything else. One went out and got a ps5 two months after it came out and he hasn’t played one single other game on it. Its basically the call of duty 5 for him
I really don’t get the appeal. I wish i did, it would save me a lot of money to play one game year round
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Hero of Spielberg
Member
Yeah. Of the friends I have who still play games the one who plays COD pretty much only plays COD where the others play a variety.
Doubling the price of basic GP would go from $120 dollars a year to $240 a year. I don't think they need an extra $120 per year from each person (25M people) to recoup the cost of CoD. That would be stupid. I don't think even the CMA are suggesting more people will pay $120 extra per year to not pay $70 per year. Price increases would be a couple of dollars and they will boil the frog slowly.
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Hero of Spielberg
Member
If the CMAs concern is that after adding all Activision / Blizzard IP to Gamepass that it might go up a couple of dollars seems like not that great of a concern to consumers imo
Banjo64
cumsessed
sadly I’m waiting for that one. previously I thought they’d keep it alive until they gain market share but I think it’ll come sooner now. I was pretty shocked when they adjusted the conversion rate for an annual EA Play membership from 4 months of GPU to 2.And they don't axe Gold > GPU conversion
hopefully it lasts another year as that’s when my sub lapses.
It would be over the years that they can slowly increase price without a serious multigame subscription competitor who can't get the subscriber revenue required to secure content.
THE DUCK
voted poster of the decade by bots
That's not true at all if you actually stop and think about it. Not to say ms don't do corporate doublespeak when it suits them, this just doesn't happen to be one of those timed.
Dlacy13g
Member
Well given one of the sticking points to the ABK deal by orgs like the CMA has been claims they could increase prices it seems pretty reasonable they would not do that to avoid possible issues post acquisition. In a few years I suppose sure it could increase as I would expect it to happen just like how we are now at $70 per AAA game.
Wind's Howling
Member
The fact that Microsoft truly believes that people will fall for this ''promise'' is baffling to say the least. Their entire approach to defending the merger deal with Activision has been an absolute megaton of errors. A drowning man will clutch at a straw, they always say. The regulators have seen countless of promises from other companies regarding sub prices still being raised in the long run. The market is simply not sustainable enough for a company to promise to keep their monthly subscription the same price forever and ever.
Let us see what Microsoft will come up with next. This has already been an amusing year from Microsoft and a true lesson for other companies on how not to use the media.
Let us see what Microsoft will come up with next. This has already been an amusing year from Microsoft and a true lesson for other companies on how not to use the media.
systemr123
Member
Yeh sure, as if MS would even twitch if the deal doesn’t go through lol. Remember their browser monopoly and other things before?
They got a fine, they sort of fixed the issues with the monopoly and I gues not a single person lost their job.
This deal not going through wouldn’t even hit MS in the slightest when you see how big MS is. They will also never pull out their products even if they wanted to, there’s too much money and reputation at stake. It’s not like there are no alternatives for MS software nowadays so if they’d pull out they lose their market until the end times.
Hero of Spielberg
Member
I would have thought of anyone, the market leader in Sony could provide that competition. They obviously have the IP and development capabilities.
systemr123
Member
They already made their gamepass family account 299kr, it’s a complete scam.
StealthGoblin
Member
If they really believe that and are committed to that, whack that in their deal to get the purchase over the line.
10 year commitment.
What’s that? It’s bullshit?
Oh…
10 year commitment.
What’s that? It’s bullshit?
Oh…
Freeman76
Member
They are £3 a month cheaper than Sonys copycat premium bullshit anyway, and GP is a much better service imo. I wouldnt blame them for matching that price, and I would still think GP is a good deal even at £14.99 per month. Thing is, MS are so far behind they need to try a lot harder than Sony, so I doubt they will risk pissing too many people off with anything they do atm.
Mibu no ookami
Member
If you don't think Microsoft spending 70 billion dollars and picking up substantial operating costs wouldn't cause them to increase the price of GamePass, I have a bridge to sell you.
At 30 million subscribers (assuming they're all paying full price) paying 10 dollars a month is 300 million dollars per month or 3.6 billion per year. If CoD can increase that amount by say 10 million subscribers AND you raise the price to say 15 dollars per month, that gives you 45 million subscribers at 15 dollars per month or 600 million dollars per month or 7.2 billion dollars per year.
That's an increase of 3.6 billion dollars per year.
Now let's get a bit more aggressive and say 15 million more subscribers to gamepass due to CoD, now we're talking about 45 million subscribers at 15 dollars per month. That's 675 million dollars per month or 8.1 billion per year. That's an increase of 4.5 billion dollars per year.
That doesn't even include revenue from Steam and PlayStation and B2P on Xbox.
Microsoft probably believes that they can pay off the Activision buy within the 10 years they've promised to keep CoD on other platforms and on the other end of the 10 years, you simply have the largest publisher paid off as well as a larger percentage of market share and a sustainable streaming service, but it's entirely tied to increasing the price of GamePass.
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Bumblebeetuna
Member
They’ve already talked about increasing it. We’ve all been saying they’re going to increase it. No one believes they aren’t increasing it.
Mibu no ookami
Member
My point is that this acquisition further increases their need to increase the price and it is silly to suggest otherwise.
Hero of Spielberg
Member
That’s no thread, it’s a tomb.
Of course but they are not the market leader there and the acquisition would make it more difficult for them. They won't have the subscriber numbers to do it effectively especially if they can't secure content. They have tried with PSNow and are trying again with PS+ Premium.
For some back of the envelope calculations as to how much MS would need to raise the price of gamepass to pay for its CoD sales:
CoD usually sells about 30M on all platforms. If we generously assume half of those are on xbox and they all sell at $70. That means gamepass would only need to increase its price by (15M*$70)/(25M*12) = $3.50 per month increase to pay for ALL lost sales of COD on the platform. Increasing the price by $7 per month would be what is financially required to remove all sales on every platform. Of course this is an estimate and the split wouldn't be 50/50, not all sales would be at $70 and subscriber numbers may even be higher than 25M, meaning an even lower price increase required in reality than $3.5 per month. This isn't even mentioning the possible boost to mtx.
Now though compare that to a competing service where game sales are likely higher and the subscriber numbers significantly lower. It becomes more difficult to secure that content with your lower subscribers and much lower subscription price.
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