Imagine that there is an Xbox under your TV, a brand new controller begging to be used and you have not the slightest interest in subscribing to Xbox Game Pass. Or that you pay PlayStation Plus solely and exclusively to play online. It doesn’t matter the reasons. What would it cost you to get all the games that Microsoft and Sony offer by skipping their services? Things vary depending on many factors and what enters your catalog each year, but in both cases the figures when looking at the cart before paying at the checkout They are impressive.
First things first: video game subscription services have existed since the days of the NES and the Mega Drive, but accessing them has never been so easy, although the question has always been there: is it better to buy a single game or spend that same money to have access to hundreds for an entire year?
There are no wrong answers, but rather factors such as the availability that each person has. And there are those who are happy with their annual copy of EA Sports FC or Call of Duty and don’t release the disc until the new installment comes out. And there are also those who are happy simply playing Fortnite
The value of Game Pass in games throughout 2023
First batch of Game Pass Games for January 2024
But there is one fact that speaks for itself: the medium Trueachivements, dedicated to Xbox, has calculated the value of all the games that came to Game Pass throughout 2023. And not only that, it has established the figure in different currencies. The result: 8,763 US dollars or 8.879 dollars.
Not bad, considering that 12 months of Game Pass Ultimate (which includes online gaming, console and PC games and even cloud gaming) are less than 180 dollars. Approximately what two Triple A launch games plus an indie are worth.
In fact, the Game Pass model is especially attractive when all of the company’s games enter directly into the catalog. And 2023 was a very good year on Xbox with Starfield, Forza Motorsport or Hi-Fi Rush. It will be interesting to see this figure in perspective when Activision Blizzard games begin to arrive throughout 2024.
However, not all the big releases have been signed by Xbox Game Studios: some of the most important titles of the year such as Atomic Heart, Lies of P or Sea of Stars could be played from day one. And others, like the remake of Dead Space, took a little longer to arrive. A trend that will continue to continue over the next 12 months.
The value of PlayStation Plus Essential in games throughout 2023
PS Plus Games of the Month for January 2024
And what about PlayStation Plus? The calculation there is a little more complicated, given that the games that are added are rarely new or newly released, those from EA Play are not taken into account, and PC titles must be purchased separately.
In any case, the sister website of the previous one, Truetrophiesplayed it safe and calculated what players on the PS Plus Essential plan have saved on games, although there are two ways to look at it.
- If we counted each of the 37 games offered in the Essential plan during 2023 of PS Plus, the figure is $2,599.39. Technically there are 64, since in many cases it is the same title for two consoles. And it’s not bad at all. Here we are not taking into account the classics, nor the game tests nor the titles that fall into the Extra or Premium plan.
- But of this previous amount, that of the Essential plan, if we have a PS5 we would actually be talking about $1,479.63 since many titles are shared with PS4. If we stay only with the games from the previous generation, they are $1,434.64.
Why does PS4 count less? According to Truetrophies, three games made the difference: NBA 2K23, The Callisto Protocol and Sable. And we cannot forget that the latter deserved a patch. In any case, the average value of what was offered over the last 12 months was $121.43. Not bad if we take into account that the year of PlayStation Plus Essential, including the price increase, remains at 71.99 dollars.
The problem is no longer what to play, but finding time
Let’s face it: releasing a new game (whether new or not) every week is no longer a problem. On PC things are simpler and you don’t need to subscribe to anything to have something to play: between what they offer from Epic or GOG, the digital sales and the points and loyalty programs there is always a new excuse to give up our thumbs. Playing everything is impossible. On Nintendo Switch Online they advocate for their classics, and they do well.
Would the comparison be fairer by pairing PlayStation Plus Essential with Game Pass Core? Well, then we would have to take into account that the catalog of 43 games of the basic Xbox service is fixed and is not removed on a monthly basis. In any case, many of the games that were in Game Pass on consoles have ended up arriving some time later on PlayStation Plus Extra, such as GTA V or Metal Hellsinger.
But in the end it all comes down to something very simple: the time each person has to play. For some, just a few games is more than enough. Others believe that variety is the fun and, it cannot be denied that Game Pass and PlayStation Plus players have had many, many reasons to have fun.
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