Microsoft becoming the Netflix of the gaming industry will be HUGELY disruptive to Sony and Nintendo.

Agreed. It's the same reason why Disney bought Fox. It's for the IPs to compete against Netflix. Buying EA will be the same reason, EA has a treasure trove of IPs that can be used or reused.

Why do gamers constantly think a "Netflix of Gaming" will ever work?

Because that is a market that isn't filled yet. Because of reoccurring revenue and because of its cheap price every month.

They already have gaming distribution services. Sony in particular are more ready then you think. Stuff like ps now, ps vue and most important ps plus shows you that sony is ready for any form of distribution. The funny thing is ps now describes what netflix is and psn is the biggest console distribution market.

Why is the news saying 'they could buy...' when said companies arent offering to sell?

see you need both

I think it will happen, and it will work, but the question stands...is this a good idea?

True, Netflix has given me countless hours of entertainment, plus some extremely unique content like GLOW or Stranger Things (2nd season is questionable). But since I started my subscription in 2010, I could've owned pretty much every series I liked on Bluray, and saved money. Now that doesn't include the shows I didn't like, or the movies I didn't have to rent, or some super sweet documentaries. That also doesn't factor in storing those physical copies, and not having to get up and put them in. But on the flipside, some of those shows and movies aren't on Netflix anymore. And to see them now I have to have more than one service. How many services are we going to need to experience all content we want when they kill physical and rely solely on digital?

I guess what I'm saying is there a clearly pros and cons to this scenario, but I really dislike what it's doing to us; we're selling freedom for convenience.

Yeah, yeah, but your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop and think if they should!

I wasn't thinking it to be bad thing. While HBO doesn't have a vast selection they do have some premo content that keeps them afloat

It will happen because it's the future. The only people that can't seem to see this are people that are still connected through the internet through ancient ways.

Physical is a dead end. It only still exists at this day of age because again people with ancient internet connections.

Since when can Sony afford to compete? The Netflix model requires you to constantly make/buy IPs. Sony simply doesn't have that money.

Won't affect Nintendo much..cause of that unprecedented partnership with EA... xD ...Sony yes....EA has continued to be shit &..all the crap XB1 has gotten since the Orth & Don Meathead **** up....& people are continuing to shit on XB1..if it happens well they are bringing in the Sports!!! for real!! so disrupt all the way I say. :P

Why on earth would you want this? Games as a service blows

Also, Netflix makes almost none of its content, nor will that be MS or Sony's bread and butter for this (Not sure why you seem unaware Sony is unfortunately aggressively building the same type of infrastructure, btw). MS would never, in a million years, buy and buy and buy developers in order to own every part of their service system. If they did, they'd charge you 100/month in order to make a proper profit. The reason that MS and Sony and Netflix can get away with 10-15 a month is that they are getting paid for the service of providing content that costs them less than that to provide. Constantly buying new studios and giving away 60+ dollar games for that price is an unsustainable business model. On the other hand, giving away a small and/or rotating selection of one's property mixed in with a ton of OTHER peoples' games for that price can turn a decent profit

@Gatygun: It exist because there's still a market for it, otherwise it would be gone. Even with amazing internet I'll still take physical 99.9% of the time over digital, why you ask? Because it's mine to do with as I please (within the law of course). I wanna trade it in, sell it, let friends borrow it, etc, I can do it. There's always going to be a market for physical media, hell CDs are still being sold and that market was hit the hardest and fastest by digital ( both legal and illegal). This is something the all digital crowd can't seem to grasp for whatever reason.

To an extent I agree with you to an extent I disagree.

Netflix spends hundreds of millions making their original content and I'd argue they make a hell of a lot more than next to none of the stuff that appears on the service.

Obviously no one would buy all the developers that make games for their service but under the hypothetical that Microsoft is going the Netflix route then they'd need a steady stream of content to supplement other company's content to entice people to buy their product. That is much in the same vein as Netflix does with it's content.

I agree that 10-15 a month probably won't create a profit but if done right they probably can get a profit out of a system like this.

Netflix is obviously a successful model for that particular medium, however the question is how well can it translate to the game industry. How would developers/publishers be remunerated is one question, and would it end up being more like a spotify service which kills the income of artists. I’m erring on side of negative for this one – at least with music its strength is in its adaptability and revenue can be gained through live performances, merch, TV, etc. whereas the gaming industry does not have that versatility (certainly single player focused games at least anyway). Maybe it would seem good for the consumer in the short term, I just can't see how it would seem a feasible proposition for a developer. Then again I haven't had a coffee yet.

Yess this is exactly what I always wanted. To pay a monthly service for games I dont own and still get raped by microtransactions.

all those are easy problems. the answers are all 'the same as it works with movies'

the real problem is technical around latency. which for many games is honestly not a problem however for many others it would be

First party console exclusives, so they're looking to offer like 1 or 2 games per year. For a $120 service on top of XBL I hope it will bring some more new games to the table. I mean I hope it will be a good service but I'm not like jumping up and down yet. If it includes new 3rd party games it becomes more interesting.

The idea that you can play a new first party game for $10 is something I'm not sure I believe yet. That would be amazing. There may be a minimum amount of months that you have to subscribe for before being able to cancel it, or some other shenanigans.

for me (and I know I dont speak for the majority) I immediately loose intrest at 'can play 1st party games'.

I dont care the price, I have no interest in those games

@metalboi: No, they're saying it because its a shitty idea period.

I also dont think netflix of gaming is going to be 'hugely disruptive'.

the cost of entry into video games is already really low and digital distribution already exists.

I didnt get Netflix because of the cost, I got it because of the convenience and selection of content and that I can watch whenever I want with easy

GameFly = Netflix of Gaming

lol well said

Double lol.

MS recently acquired PlayFab, so sounds like MS is ramping up game development and looks like PlayFab will be a huge help for smaller dev. Teams. I think the EA, Valve, mumbo jumbo is far fetched. MS heads been joking they'll buy Purell, Apple and Google on twitter.

@jcrame10: Because it isn't viable all that long and trade in value sucks. A new one is out every 12 months. Sports gaming definitely benefits from this

Same as movies? So we'll see games initially release at the cinema followed by a physical/digital release 6 months later then finally dumped on a streaming service? Games aren't movies, and people in general don't have the same relationship/attachment with games as they do with movies.

I suppose games could release on a streaming service many months after they've rinsed as much as they can from a physical format. I'm not sure that constitutes 'the future of gaming though' as some people seem to think...

@jcrame10: the difference is that there is access to many more games. Not saying I like it, but this a seriously pro-consumer move.

MS and Chill

Giving a huge boost to Sony and Nintendo isn't what I'd call "hugely disruptive". Retailers don't make money off console sales, but do so to make money off games and accessories; of which, due to size, games are more valuable. This is why the digital prices on consoles don't regularly undercut physical retail prices and why MS including 1st party games on day one for Game Pass already annoys retailers. If MS were to buy EA and all those became MS 1st party, Xbox consoles would disappear from all retail shops within a week. No console can survive when it's only sold by its manufacturer, just look at the quick death of PSP Go. So not only would it cost MS a huge amount from their war chest, it would also cost them their console business. Investors would see this and the stock would get devalued, perhaps to the point where they become vulnerable to takeover by Google or Apple. Either way, with Xbox gone, that leaves more of the pie for Sony and Nintendo. The only way MS could possibly counter this is to restore the margin that retailers expect and hike the MSRP for their consoles by 25%, which will also kill it off.

The digital will only work though if games aren't tied to particular hardware. I will NOT buy sony games digitally because of this. But M$... I'm coming around.. and have already bought several play anywhere games.

Console gaming becoming a streaming service is inevitable for both MS and Sony (Nintendo will do their own thing, just as they always have).

@waahahah: The digital will only work though if games aren't tied to particular hardware. I will NOT buy sony games digitally because of this. But M$... I'm coming around.. and have already bought several play anywhere games.

Your thinking is too enclosed in the console generation box. A streaming service would be provided through a set top box, not a traditional console, meaning the generation thing with bespoke software would a thing of the past. The hardware is provided through the data centre, not what you have in your house.

The same could be said for PCs as well. With the limits of current materials approaching, the cost of more power will put it out of reach for most individuals and will also shift to a streaming to console setup.

What is going on in this thread? If MS doesn't make enough software they won't be disrupting much of anything. It would be best to use it to try games before buying them.

Its only for sony, if possible its always better to run software locally... M$ is taking xbox as a platform not a single device. I highly doubt we'll see hard cut offs for forwards compatibility in future consoles. Sony is kind of locked into streaming for now.. we'll see what they do with ps5, Most likely BC will be more important to them.

Streaming will never be a completely popular unless we can find a way to engineer faster electrons/protons to reduce latency of streaming. Otherwise could you imagine lag ontop of input lag in MP? It would be terrible. We've hit a point of diminishing returns with graphics and hardware is and will always be a viable option...

Lol... when you can't beat em, buy em. A classic Microsoft strategy ever since they became filthy rich. Guess it's time to buy MS stock.

If anything Tencent's WeGame is Steam's true competitor. China has the biggest gaming market that is still growing. China is steams fastest growing userbase and will eventually generate the most revenue by the end of this year or next. Tencent is partnering with developers to get the rights to distribute their games in China and are making them region lock the Steam versions in China. Tencent already boast about having 200 million users for their platform. This is a big deal because if take a look Chinese are gamers starting to buy things besides PUBG on Steam. China already owns the most copies of GTA V and own the second most copies of games such as The Witcher 3, Nier Automata, Dark Souls 3, Rise Of The Tomb Raider, Bayonetta and several other games, especially Japanese games. If Tencent were to undercut the sales of games like this can be a big hit for Steam.

TC has been owned...lolz

SONY, current gen 8 console winner, by golly WINS again.

Thank you SONY. <3

It wouldn't be on 1 system at very least it would be PC and Xbox.

Microsoft own Minecraft and that's on nearly all systems, so it could be the same here. With profit going to Microsoft.

You totally owned yourselves there

It won't because licenses will not be given out, and sales in general will not recoup the investment.

The only thing changes is EA becomes even more god awful.

oh for the love of god since when is when you release something a technical problem.

TECHNICALLY it works the same as movies. you can release it to your gaming streaming services WHEREVER THE _________ YOU WANT

jesus h christ!

Been using Gamepass for some time now, it needs more titles though. Bought Forza Horizon 3, but I wish Forza 7 comes available soon.

Gamepass requires you to download the game install and play. latency wont be a problem. Some games will be delayed in a similar way to movies going to cinema. Some games will go direct to gamepass (Microsoft exclusives to start). Netflix and Amazon exclusives are pretty good and they go straight to their platforms.

Just face it, Lems... The Xbox had one chance to truly displace Sony and they decided to lose focus on that for the Kinect last generation. You can't disrupt gaming without games. You can't make those games without a focus on quality and showing your consoles strength. Ya'll are perpetually doing this thing where you are looking for the "next thing" and it is always the "biggest" or the "best".

Can you please, for once in your fanbases existence, focus on getting things right in the now? Can you address what it is that gamers want and makes them flock to other platforms before trying to deep throat everyone with the next "future"? Just .... once? Would it actually kill you to stop looking at the XBox as some thing we are all supposed to inevitably love and cherish and, instead, just deliver on the expectations of the gamer? Hmm?

You persist on this notion that the rules don't apply to you. You insist that you can "innovate" your way out of a paper bag. It's ridiculous. XBox was at its peak of strength when it was getting a lot of things right including getting an exclusive Tenchu game and an Ace Combat. THAT sold some XBoxes. THAT was disruption! Perhaps that is the single saddest things about the current Lemming population. YOU GOT THINGS RIGHT, but apparently, that was hard work. You refuse to do the one thing that works and you even go so far as to ignore what you got right to try to do it the stupid way. And now we here fam.

@tdkmillsy Self Owned himself. roflmao

exactly.

when it comes to gaming what is important is the quality of the actual game and we are not talking about no bugs we are talking about it being fun.

Netflix was a different disruption, one that in gaming already exists. what made Netflix disruptive was not streaming in of itself but rather the fact that I can watch when I want to watch, I can watch past shows, I can watch entire seasons and I can watch anywhere I have a connection, cable TV didnt do that easily. THAT is what was disruptive.

I dont think Microsoft understands gaming deeply enough to understand what matters in gaming.

@Epak_:

I plan on getting Gamepass about two weeks before Sea of Thieves launches and take advantage of the 14 day free trial trying some of the games there that I never played then when SoT hits the street I'll get the full subscription. :)

@SolidGame_basic: gaming is already digital, with the exception of Switch now you play the game from the HDD, so there’s no point in having the disc, besides, you may have the disc but you end up needing the updates.