The gaming industry is battling on two fronts nowadays, with game engineers competing to offer material duplicates of games to console and PC clients just as attempting to bait the same players to their cloud streaming stages and even with leading platforms offering these services there are other takes on this approach such as those deployed by online casinos, where through a series of no deposit bonuses players can start at no cost.
In this article, we take a gander at the advantages of both the outdated method of purchasing and messing around and contrast it and the idea, where individuals can peruse an entire library of games just for a set month to month cost.
Pay as You Play Means You Call the Shots
The all to know classical way to buy and then play games is to pay a fixed amount in advance that then gives you total access to a new game, allowing you to enjoy it forever until you have finished it or want to start enjoying the next gaming craze.
Xbox and PlayStation are on top of this business by continuously offering this type of option to purchase. However, there are other ways of using this technique like those that can be found on sites like OddsChecker with offers and a wide range of games, allowing the players to have the control. Another way of using their themes is offering mobile games for free and then promoting micro-offers during different phases of gameplay.
The Subscription Model Comes to Gaming
For some time now, people have been getting used to registering for subscriptions to gaming services even if they are streaming music, TV shows, or movies.
It took a bit of a while longer to reach the gaming industry, but we have finally come to that point in history.
The main perk of this for many players is that they get a vast selection of games to select from, allowing people that have a short span of attention to switch between different games at will. It is certain that if you are someone who likes to immerse themselves in the same title over a period of months then subscription formulas might not be for you.
The most popular subscription services
If you have a PlayStation 4 or 5 in your home, then a PlayStation Plus subscription is a bonus. It is not for nothing that tens of millions of gamers are members of the service. You need it anyway to be able to play online on PlayStation, for example a game of Call of Duty against friends or strangers. In addition, you can download two PS games each month at no extra cost and continue to play them as long as you are a PS Plus member. If you cancel your subscription, these games will no longer be available until you become a PS Plus member again.
This includes some great titles, including Sony’s own! In a special menu on the console or on Sony’s website you can see the free games every month. PS Plus also allows you to save your save games on the cloud so you can always access them (you get up to 10 GB of space) and finally you get access to exclusive deals and betas of games.
A monthly PlayStation Plus subscription costs €8.99, a quarterly subscription €24.99 and an annual subscription €59.99. For the same prices, you can also purchase these subscriptions via Game Mania – the added advantage is that you do not have to provide credit card details and your subscription will not be automatically renewed after it expires.
Publisher Electronic Arts – known from FIFA, Apex Legends and the Star Wars games among others – has set up its own game subscription. EA Access gives you access to quite a few of the publisher’s games – 44 at the time of writing. Think of games like the one-last FIFA, Titanfall 2, Anthem, Battlefield V and Star Wars Battlefront 2.
You can also try out trial versions of the latest releases, such as FIFA and Need for Speed. Find all the games you can play with an EA Access-abo on PlayStation 5. You’ll also get a 10% discount on all EA games purchased digitally, as well as downloadable content and season passes. You’ll also be able to get up to date with the latest releases on a regular basis, keeping you ahead of other gamers. For just €3.99 per month (you can become a member via the official website or PS Store), there are a lot of benefits, especially if you play EA games fanatically.
Xbox Live Gold is similar to PlayStation Plus: you need it if you want to take on other players online. A subscription is therefore essential for multiplayer gamers. Each month you will also receive up to four free games, which you can continue to play on Xbox One until you cancel your Gold subscription.
This includes not only Xbox One games, but also Xbox 360 games that are backwards compatible on Xbox One. The ‘Games with Gold’ of the month can be found here. Gold members are also treated to all kinds of offers so that you can get certain games cheaper. Xbox Live Gold costs 6.99 euros per month, 19.99 euros per quarter and 59.99 euros per year. You can become a member via the menu of your Xbox One, the Xbox website or by buying a code via Game Mania.
As mentioned earlier, the latter option offers the advantage that you are no longer stuck with anything after the subscription expires.
Sweetening the Cherry
The main reason why most technology and video-game experts believe subscribing to gaming services will come out on top is that they will become part of larger entertainment packages, meaning players will pay a monthly fee and then be able to stream any type of media from music to movies to games all from a single platform.
All this will be sure to also take place on mobile devices, as gaming continues to move in that direction.