After a tweet from Xbox Game Pass displaying ‘cozy’ games which then was completely altered by getting into the freshness and the newly announced prices just raised their tongues got stuck in Xbox Game Pass and they voiced our their grievance. The official Xbox Game Pass account posted a very simple tweet saying to ‘get cozy and play’ but the feedback was far from calm. The service was hit by hundreds of replies saying that it was showcasing what some called ‘mobile phone games’ and ‘slop’ and that it was charging a monthly fee of up to $30 for that.
The battle was triggered when Xbox Game Pass posted a cozy photo with a caption that read ‘step 1: get cozy, step 2: play these games’. Players, however, quickly added a ‘step 3’ with many replies saying ‘step 3: cancel gamepass because it’s too expensive’ and ‘step 3: ignore all of your customers and charge them more money than ever before.’ The overall atmosphere was quite negative with most of the people questioning the value of Game Pass Ultimate at the new $30 monthly price.
It was Arcadius, one of the players, who expressed the collective indignation when he referred to the cozy games announcement by saying ‘slop lol for $30 a month endian.’ This triggered a very heated debate in the comment section about whether the service is still worthy of the money being asked. Another user, Bad Benny, also was very straightforward and said ‘Raises price by double Only releases indie games no one fucking wants’ in a reply that attracted quite a bit of attention.
Yet, the pricing wasn’t the only issue that received criticism. A lot of players were dissatisfied with the games being offered. User Stephane humorously commented in French, ‘Games for mobile phones. 🤣🤣’ while another player, mercede, just stated ‘This is… is awful’ as a reply to the cozy games promotion. The term ‘mobile phone games’ was repeatedly brought up in the answers confirming that the players consider that the service is limiting itself to lower quality titles rather than providing blockbuster experiences that they expect.
Nevertheless, there were also some positive reactions to the cozy games announcement. There were some players who seemed really enthusiastic; for instance, CoSyncs was saying ‘YESSS LETS GO WINTER BURROWLS’ and Ventilator added ‘It’s new games added every day on Game Pass. Impossible to keep up.’ However, the number of positive comments was a lot smaller than the critical ones. This indicates that there is a growing divide between how Microsoft perceives its Game Pass offerings and how players view them.
The players’ debate was particularly heated between the two users who went by the names Arcadius and SrDroolcup. They were discussing whether a person supporting the present Game Pass offering has to possess low standards. Arcadius remarked, ‘Microsoft could poop in a bag and sell it to you, and you would still argue that it’s a worthwhile purchase,’ and SrDroolcup countered that a person who disparages games without even playing them is ‘a terrible person.’ Their exchange not only revealed how intense the passion of the players is for this service but also the personal nature of the argument over the value.
Criticism came from all parts of the world, and German user tubag313 made a comment ‘Jungs ich sachs nur ungern aber gar nicht posten ist besser als sowas posten,’ which translates to ‘Guys, I hate to say it but not posting at all is better than posting something like this.’ Criticism from different parts of the world suggests that the problem has not just a limited geographical scope but a general concern within the global Xbox Game Pass community.
Besides complaints, some users made specific suggestions as well. One of the users, Gxzeo, said, ‘Guys, please put F1 25 on xCloud already’ and VashorWhoever asked, ‘How about you bring back subs through points?’ which points out that the players are not just complaining but are also looking for and suggesting solutions to improve the service. Particularly, holyrustedmetal criticized the practice of ‘locking Indies behind the Ultimate Paywall’ as another source of frustration.
This backlash is coming at a very interesting time, especially considering Microsoft’s recent changes in the gaming industry. The company has considerably expanded its game development team by acquiring new studios over the past few years, and now the players with the biggest expectations are looking for more titles from top-tier than the indie and cozy ones that are presently being promoted. The gap between player expectations and Microsoft’s current Game Pass offerings seems to be widening every month.
A wise man once said: ‘This situation is particularly challenging for Microsoft because Game Pass has been the cornerstone of their gaming strategy for years.’ If the core players start leaving the service because of the perceived value issues, it could have a significant impact not just on the whole Microsoft gaming ecosystem.
