Breaking Down Video Game Subscription Services

While the excitement of subscription-based services with tv shows and movies has generally subsided due to the fatigue and oppressiveness of all the options available, it’s only hit its stride in the video game industry. There are certainly a lot of options becoming available, some more well-received than others, and the general success that they’re seeing has only fueled them to improve their offerings. Nothing is saying that they’ll completely replace traditional sales, but subscription services are here to stay.

With the increasing amount and availability of various services, it’s only natural that you might be looking for which one will be the most beneficial. Not unlike tv subscriptions, it all comes down to what you prefer and what’s available to you.

The first three are the ones you’re most likely to have because they allow you to play most games on your console online. These are PlayStation Plus, Xbox Live Gold, and Nintendo Switch Online.

They’re not like the others, but they are all subscription-based and the first two even offer different games to download and play monthly for as long as you’re subscribed. It’s also important to mention them as both PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live Gold are separate from other services by their respective companies.

Nintendo Switch Online doesn’t offer a new pick of games each month for “free”, but there are some that are exclusive to the service, such as access to an expanding catalog of playable NES and SNES titles. It also costs less than its console competitors as PlayStation Plus and Xbox Live both go for $59.99 a year, while Nintendo Switch Online costs $19.99 a year.

Only recently has Nintendo released a new tier of their online service. Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack adds an additional catalog of Nintendo 64 and Sega Genesis games. It also allows players to play the Happy Home Paradise DLC for Animal Crossing: New Horizons, with an unconfirmed assumption that potential DLC for other Nintendo games may become available on there as well. As of now, this tier hasn’t been accepted too warmly as the price of it jumps up to $50 a year.

Temporarily leaving the console-specific services, some come from the developers/publishers of specific series. The more popular of these is EA Play, which was previously split up as EA Access and Origin Access on consoles and PC respectively. For $4.99 a month or $29.99 a year you get access to a growing library of EA games. Certain brand-new EA games are also available to try out with a 10-hour trial.

There’s also the more expensive EA Play Pro. For $14.99 a month it offers access to the premium editions (all DLCs included) of their brand-new titles and even early access to many of them, days or weeks before the public. If you’re a fan of what EA has put out or looking forward to some of their titles, they’re both great deals.

The second of these is Ubisoft+, which was formerly known as Uplay+. Although its base price is a bit pricier at $14.99 a month, the service boasts a growing collection of 100+ titles, including the premium editions of the latest Ubisoft titles at launch.

Considering the price and a somewhat common criticism that many Ubisoft games follow a certain formula, this isn’t the most hyped-up service. For those who just can’t get enough of Assassin’s Creed or Far Cry though, $15 isn’t a bad deal.

Aside from these, there are a number of third-party subscription services. The first of these is Prime Gaming, which is one that many likely have by default because it’s packaged with Amazon Prime.

Along with a selection of free games each month, it also comes with access to unique in-game loot and a host of Twitch-related content. If you’re curious about what kind of games are being given, Keiran has been covering the offerings this whole year.

This is now the time for transparency and to remind you that Phenixx Gaming is a Humble Partner, and the inclusion of their Humble Choice subscription service is on here for the same reasons the others are. Each of its plans allows access to Humble Trove, a library of DRM-free games that’s available as long as you’re subscribed. There’s even a specific “Lite” plan for $4.99 a month that solely provides access to this.

Where Humble Choice stands out the most is its format of announcing a set of ten games each month. Depending on the plan a subscriber has (Basic at $14.99 a month or Premium at $19.99 a month), they can choose between keeping three or nine games. As these are keys and not tied to a specific launcher, the subscriber can keep the game even if they stop their subscription. While each bundle of games isn’t going to always appeal to everyone, it’s a great deal and you can pause your subscription if the games don’t pique your interest.

The next options are those centered around streaming games. Arguably the one you’ve likely heard of is Google’s Stadia. While they do have their own store to buy games individually, a $9.99 Stadia Pro subscription allows access to a growing library of “free” games that you can play if you’re subscribed.

It hasn’t become as popular as Google hoped and in fact had a bit of a negative reputation when it first launched. However, it’s a decent option if you have a strong internet connection and lower-end hardware or something portable like a phone.

Another streaming subscription service is Nvidia’s GeForce Now. What’s unique is that it doesn’t provide any exclusive games on its own, but instead supports 1000+ games that you likely own or have access to playing already.

The $9.99 a month price for being able to play your own games through various devices you have is a unique option that won’t appeal to everyone, but certainly is appealing for those who wish to play the games they own without being limited to low-quality graphics.

We come full circle back to consoles again, as PlayStation and Microsoft both have additional subscription services. With the former, there’s PlayStation Now, which allows you to stream PlayStation games to your PS4, PS5, or PC.

The price is $59.99 per year and has select titles from the PS2, PS3, and PS4 libraries. It’s a great deal if you’ve missed out on some older PlayStation games, although it doesn’t offer anything from the current PS5 generation.

Finally, we have the most popular subscription service and the commonly nicknamed “Netflix of video games.” Xbox Game Pass has been a focal point for the Xbox brand since 2017. In addition to offering a lot of popular triple-A and indie titles alike, the biggest draw is their day one releases. From smaller titles to games from Microsoft-owned studios such Halo: Infinite, Forza Horizon 5, and eventually Bethesda’s Starfield, subscribers can play brand-new games with the only restriction being that they remain a subscriber.

Its price is also a low barrier of entry as both the console plan and the PC plan (now called PC Game Pass) cost $9.99 each for one month. For those who want Xbox Game Pass for both console and PC, there’s the $14.99 monthly Xbox Game Pass Ultimate plan. Along with some additional benefits such as playing games over the cloud on PCs, phones, and tablets, it also includes Xbox Live Gold. Another huge benefit with both Ultimate and PC Game Pass is the inclusion of the previously mentioned EA Play service at no additional cost.

Perhaps one of the best aspects of the success of Xbox Game Pass is that it has inspired many others to follow suit and create and bolster their own. We’ve seen a lot of them grow tremendously over the last few years and that’s sure to continue into 2022 as they each vie to offer the best deals. There may come a time where there are far too many subscription services to keep count of, but until that day, there’s no better time to try out a subscription or two to get the most bang for your buck.