Xbox Game Pass is getting Doom Eternal, Control, Dragon Quest XI S: Definitive, and more in December

When it comes to volume/ value / selection, Xbox GamePass is clearly the best option of all subscription "rental" type services. The one critical issue that keeps me from supporting it however is the requirement to use the Xbox app / Windows Store for PC use. If it worked through Steam, I'd likely sign up quite quickly. Steam has a pretty comprehensive API for such 3rd party subscription services but few are taking advantage of it (ie EA Play has a crappy version) which is frustrating.

I know some will say that MS doesn't want to cut Steam in, but they'd make WAY more from the audience (including those like me) by allowing them to access titles on the platform they actually choose. MS has seemingly figured this out with games like Master Chief Collection and Sea of Thieves on Steam, so all they need is to bring GamePass Ultimate over - all the PC games are already there in the vast majority of cases!

 

It is great that the Dragon Quest game will also be on the PC game pass. I am surprised as i thought it would be on the console only.

 

The value of gamepass is ridiculous. No regrets buying 3 or 4 years and upgrading to ultimate for $1 during the promo.

 

There's hardly any revelation in expiring licenses though - Microsoft itself is open about titles coming and going, having the Leaving Soon section and giving players a 2-week period to finish the games. Such is the nature of streaming services, after all.

What matters is that there's still a large influx of good titles entering and staying on service, and some of the licenses also get renewed for future runs. As long as there's consistently many good games to play, GamePass will be fine.

 

What is wrong with using windows store? Everyone already has it.

This service is looking to be better than PlayStation Now. I hope Sony wake up and catch up soon. I went for PS5 being disappointed with XBOX one and happy with PS4. Needing two subscriptions instead of one is just ridiculous on the PlayStation side and right now the list of games on PlayStation Now isn't fantastic. Last gen PSN was better than Xbox Gold.

 

Many things from both technical and ethical/philosophical perspectives. For instance, Steam supports MacOSX and more importantly Linux, a pair of platforms that don't have the Windows store. It also has (on Linux anyway, Mac is falling behind here for Mac reasons) an integrated version of Proton that makes it easy as possible to have a solid chance at parity play of Windows native titles. This, like many other things Steam offers (ie SteamVR) is open source/spec, which I like to support in general. Packaging of game content for the Windows Store means adhering to the more app-like structure which prohibits access to game files deeply in ways that affect everything from modding to how they might be run by other launchers.

Overall, Steam has some of the most user-focused, open, and viable value added features ( MacOSX support, Linux support, the Proton project, SteamVR, BigPicture mode, Steam integrations/single-sign-on, all the various features for controller mapping, even community things like cards, achievements, points, the integrate Guide pages, Workshop pages for Mods, review/curator content etc. On the developer side, it has one of the largest user bases, a whole host of Steamworks features allows for easy player account management and online multiplayer , among a ton of other options ) around that nearly any other major store/platform falls short. This is to say nothing for stuff like pioneering the concept of the deep-discount PC digital content sale in the modern era or their attempt to allow digital resale (which sadly got undermined years ago by major publishers). .

In an era where game publishers/developers etc.. .are telling us that we don't really "own" the copy of the game in the first place, we still have to put up with increasing fiefdoms of multiple incompatible launchers, each with different features. Steam is one of the few official ones that has and continues to earn my business when it comes to "general" game use; many others range from outright rejection (ie Epic Games Store/Launcher, on moral grounds for their harm to PC gaming by pushing exclusivity) to midding frustration with 1st-party only launchers (ie Rockstar , Blizzard, Ubisoft) that are an unwelcome additional step to jump through. At the moment, aside from 3rd party open source unifying launchers like Lutris or Playnite, I primarily see value in Steam (for wide, near universal use) and Itch (which restricts itself to indies, but does so in generally an ethical and open manner)

I'd love to see things evolve whereas you can choose whatever launcher/client totally independently and inter-operating with the same features but sadly things seem to be going the other direction. All I can do when it comes to voting with my wallet is supporting only those launchers/stores that make better decisions. As I wrote above, Microsoft could make money for their subscription service even from those that would not choose to touch their client (including those using other OSes like Linux) , if they did things like make their subscription compatible with Steam and used platform-independent open source tech for their cloud streaming service. It should be a win-win if they can look beyond their need for control and adherence to their proprietary platform and technologies

 

Isn't all other game subscription services have this restriction of needing to use their app to access? Windows store is slightly better in that it is actually a store and not a even more restrictive app. Subscription means never owning anything other than the right to access the service which subscribers may enjoy access to a bigger library for a lower cost than owning even just one item in the library. So it is some what fair?

I guest your wish of going to many stores to access the one game you paid one time is very unlikely to happen unless the publisher only have to pay a one time fee to be on the stores and has no sale commissions to pay. Unless some country comes up with some law requiring this model it will probably never happen.

The other option you have is to buy DRM free games. There are some available. You probably still only get to run it in one OS, only escape from store restrictions.
Steam is not bad for users. Too bad some publishers don't think it is best for them.

Do you buy Rockstar games on PC? They are the worst when it comes to lousy experience on PC due to their stupid DRM. With DRM like that they should allow buy one copy play everywhere model.

Game subscription services must not be allowed to dominate game spending or the game industry will be a pale shadow of what it is today. People who are willing to spend money to pay for individual game is what fuel the development of games today and people on subscription service get to enjoy these games for a small fee (extra earning for the developers, it's like stock clearing for black Friday).