I’m sure you’ve seen those random advertisements where people ask random passersby on the street if they know how many subscription services they’re paying for. Every time I see one of these ads, I’m reminded of how many gaming subscription services I have, which typically prompts me to start looking through them all. Well, in doing so, I realized that I don’t think I’ve purchased or at least paid full price for a game in so long because of services like Game Pass, PlayStation Plus, Epic Games, Twitch gifts via Amazon, and even discount services like G2A and more. In fact, I’m still enjoying Indiana Jones and The Great Circle courtesy of Microsoft’s Game Pass. With so many of these different services popping up to lay the foundation for competition in the gaming industry, my library is just about bursting at the seams.
The Curse Of Having Almost Every Game At Your Fingertips
The gaming industry is only about 50+ years old, but digital gaming has been prominent for nearly two decades. Storefronts like GOG and Steam have dedicated many resources to bringing some of the most beloved games from the early 2000s and before to PC, allowing them to be enjoyed once again. However, in doing so, now there are just so many games to play, which, in turn, means that there are so many games to give away.
Just today, I went to follow a friend on Twitch and found that I had several gifts waiting for me due to being a Prime member. After five minutes, I had redeemed Bioshock 2, Deus Ex, Zombie Army 4 Dead War, SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech, To The Rescue!, and so many more that I simply can’t remember off the top of my head. I then remembered that Epic Games did the same and quickly redeemed my copy of Undying while also making a note in my calendar to remember to revisit the app to pick up Beyond Blue next week. In just under ten minutes, I was able to accrue nearly 100 hours worth of video game time without paying full price or spending any more money than I would normally.
While that’s all great for me, it also made me realize how easy it is to forget that the completely digital age is much closer than any of us could ever imagine. What do I mean by that? I mean that by the time the next generation of consoles rolls around, there won’t be disc drives anymore to play your older games with. No, it shouldn’t surprise anyone; PCs haven’t had disc drives in years, and it’s only a matter of time before home consoles do the same. However, I can’t help but get a little excited at the prospect of more companies trying to compete with their own subscription services so I can get more games. If any of them are like Game Pass, which launched on of my favorite 2023 games, Hi Fi Rush, then I can almost taste all the day-one and exclusive releases I can get my hands on.
Of course, I’ll still hold onto my love for physical media, but it’s almost inevitable that the next generation of games will exclusively rely on streaming or subscription services. After calculating costs, I spend a little over $30 a month on various services that provide me with near-endless hours of gameplay without paying the full price. Now, I just need to stop telling myself that I have nothing to play whenever I boot up my PC.
