Loyalty programmes in online gaming
Ranking the best game passes available to players today who are hooked to their digital devices
The way we play games is changing, the shift from using physical media like CDs, DVDs, and Blu-ray discs has become increasingly apparent as consoles have now begun to ship without optical drives. At a time when players acquire most of their gaming software online, digital game stores have increasingly become like streaming platforms and thus overtime acquired versions where games can be played/streamed from online repositories.
As services like Google Stadia suddenly go into periods of uncertainty this week, we evaluate four services that are of great value to gamers.
PlayStation Plus (Rs 3,000 annually)
On the surface, this is a service that allows players on PlayStations to play online but if you dig in, this is so much more. It offers three free games a month religiously and often games for consoles like the PS Vita (when it was still there), PSVR (until recently) and now games for the PS5. The titles on offer have been spectacular, this month’s offering includes Control, the best game from 2019 with PS5 compatibility.
If you have managed to snag a PS5, then you can also access the PS Plus collection where you can play the upscaled versions of some of the best games from the last generation. To put it simply, there are a lot of pros and few cons if you become a plus member. If you don’t mind playing the best games a little late, then with PS Plus you might never have to buy games at all.
Xbox Game Pass (Variable pricing)
There are several versions of the game pass, one so that you can play games only on the console, one for those who play on a Windows 10 PC and one for those who play on both.
Similarly, pricing also varies on the kind of games you desire to play as the Ultimate pass allows access to certain titles from EA too. The value for the game pass is great as most Microsoft exclusives and certain 3rd party titles are available for extremely affordable pricing. I really enjoyed using the PC version in the last year as I fired up games like Ori and the Will O’ the Wisp, Flight Simulator and recently the Medium, and every time I used the service, it did seem like great value.
EA Access (Rs 1,990 per year)
A service that allows you to play some games pre-launch and a lot of older EA games, this is a service that is available on both major consoles and the PC. While value of the service is debatable considering the quality of recent games from EA (Anthem and Andromeda included), if you play a lot of games from their stable you should like what is on offer here.
Apple Arcade (Rs 99 per month)
A game subscription service for mobile, this includes a curated list of the best games available on Apple’s ecosystem. With games like Sayonara Wild Hearts, Oceanhorn 2, and Manifold Garden, this can be incredible value if premium mobile games are your thing.
As video games become more mainstream, numbers suggest that subscriptions services are becoming incredibly popular among players. Over 85 per cent of the owners for PS5 have access to PS plus, for instance — a sustainable service if you look at the numbers.
With the great value on offer here, it is the players’ decision to make entirely. How they spend their funds while choosing services, a toss-up that mirrors the decisions between streaming platforms like Netflix, Hotstar and Prime, if you think about it!
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