It was never a good thing for anyone. End users just got lured in by the glitter of "ton of games for just a couple bucks monthly", so nobody stopped to think about its negative implications on the industry as a whole, or does not realize them.

I wonder how good of a deal Gamepass is for devs?

There's some mention of it cannibalising game sales:

https://www.gamespot.com/articles/xbox-game-pass-does-decrease-base-game-sales-microsoft-says/1100-6511473/

but there should also be positives for them, like a lump of money thrown at the devs when signing up for it, people pulling the trigger after "sampling" a game, people buying more DLC after "sampling a game", increased exposure and marketing and word-of-mouth.

Hm. Wonder which is the bigger effect?

In any case, Microsoft has way too much money and power already, and will screw over everyone when it has locked in enough gamers. No doubt about it.

Not my cup of tea. Not that I drink tea, vile stuff.

I think I won because I discovered some great games, don't have Game Pass currently, and bought those games after I saw they were on GOG.
I am also going to buy "Graveyard Keeper" after first playing it there.
Will there be people who stay dependent on it? Sure but others won't and they will do EXACTLY what I did.

I hope you're right, but don't forget that you're technically already an outlier, since you are a GOG user. The majority doesn't and won't stop where you did.

Unfortunately, Microsoft is doing its best to push Gamepass as the next mainstream way of accessing games. Every major transition in terms of game distribution has been increasingly worse.

We went from physical copies to digital copies. Sure, on PC, a lot of copies had trash DRM which sucked, but on console it was great. Now, most games are sold digitally, and most sales are not DRM free. I'm glad GOG and other DRM free digital storefronts exists, but unfortunately, most people have transitioned into non DRM free digital purchases, and they don't really know or care about the implications.

Next, we'll probably go from digital copies to Gamepass-like services, or even "better": Cloud-only services.

I sure hope Gamepass doesn't become more mainstream than it already is, but I see everyone constantly saying how good it is, and very few actually taking into account its implications.

What scares me about going Cloud is GPU prices becoming business limited, which is to say ALL GPU's end up unaffordable because they are priced for small print production runs aimed only at businesses. I mean I am scared not enough people will end up buying them in the future they won't get the reasonable prices that come with mass production runs.

edit: I am not referring to myself going Cloud but if even a decent majority fall in line. As it stands Cloud gaming is utter trash now for various reasons and you would need ENORMOUS bandwidth and a monthly subscription in ADDITION to buying to make it even profit feasible. It is just a dumb idea compared to people grabbing a digital or physical game to play offline.
Along these same lines I find it incredibly dumb that Netflix and others have never created a hybrid model for streaming, using passive transmission like Satellite or OTA for incredibly demanding 4K so they can offer it at high bandwidth and let people just record it on a DVR if it isn't showing at a time they want. It just isn't practical for what a bandwidth sink that is for infrastructure for Netflix to air 4K, this is why they and other streaming services compress the crap out of it.

Aren't there already GPU models for businesses that are already priced out of affordability? Would be crazy to see a future where those prices are the standard for a consumer GPU.

I've read the comments on here and the arguments against Gamepass are fair, but ultimately the service (as of now) is way too convenient to make your average gamer dislike it. Even being someone who is aware of the problem with DRM and subscription models, the fact I can drop £10 and play through a new release worth £60 is still appealing. I won't stick around but it's easy to see why others would. This cost for some people is the difference of just not ordering a pizza.

With that being said, price is the main thing. The problem of ownership doesn't exist with a subscription model, so there has to be something else to really make people question the service.

What is that "Gamepass" thing?

It's like compass but points to the nearest game instead of the North.

I have to give it to you, that actually sounds like a line from The Darkside Detective.

Actually, it also sounds like an item that would be in The Darkside Detective.

Despite its negative aspects, the gaming industry today boasts unprecedented community engagement and accessibility. Affordable prices, regular discounts, and frequent giveaways, allow players more opportunities to enjoy more titles. And the remarkable crossover between gaming and other entertainment and social spheres brings some enrichement. I am optimistic our imperfect present is an improvement over the past.

Honestly just by looking at the price per month, I think it's not a bad idea as long as the games being made available in the game pass are also available here on GOG. Meaning, the rental service that the game pass provides can act as a means for you to try the game you wish to buy on GOG later. Of course this only applies when the total sum of the prices of the games on GOG available on the game pass is way beyond the rental fee per month.

It is not really for me but I do not see much wrong with it except maybe a bad deal for some of the game developers.

I do not own an XBox so no gamepass for me anyway. I understand it works with Windows too but I only have an old W7 system as a backup. I doubt that would work.

Exactly my approach. I bought it last night and have been playing Frostpunk 2. When my subscription ends and I'm still invested I'll then buy it here. There's a few other games on there I was reluctant to buy on GOG that I'll give a try too.

Afaik Microsoft pays a sum that would guarantee profit for the studio, and then MS would hope to take those would-be buyers.

If you support gamepass you're actively endangering game preservation and DRM-free stores, simple as, even if you buy the game here later, you have already given them money

But if you're okay with that, then I guess it's a good digital renting service if you play a lot of games