Google responds to Apple Arcade: GooglePlay Pass

[suicidalfranco]

Looking for some heavy-duty gaming experience on your android device?

Google's got you covered. Just like Apple Google is bringing a subscription service where you get access to a librabry of games (currently 350) without any ads or in app purchases. Similarly to Apple Arcade it will cost you 4,99$/month, it will currently be available on in the US with more countries coming up later.

As stated by xda there is a promotion where you can get it for 1,99$/month for a year and upped to 4,99 afterwards. It will also offer 10 day free trial to see if you're young and hip enough to be a "hardcore" mobile gamer.

Spoiler

 

Quote

Games like Risk, Stardew Valley, Terraria, Monument Valley, Risk, Facetune, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, LIMBO, Lichtspeer, Mini Metro, Old Man’s Journey are set to be available through Play Pass, as well as apps like AccuWeather. You’ll be able to check out apps available through this subscription model through a dedicated Play Pass tab in the Google Play Store. Additionally, apps and games available through Play Pass will be identified with a Play Pass “ticket”, and will be completely unlocked for you to download and check out. More options will be added to the section every month, with titles like This War of Mine and Cytus coming soon as well.

 

Play Pass is coming to the  U.S. this week at a price of $4.99/month price, with availability extending to more countries soon. You’ll also be able to get a 10-day free trial to see whether it’s worth it for you or not. For a limited time, you’ll be able to get Play Pass for $1.99 a month for 12 months, after which you’ll start paying the normal $4.99 subscription. Family managers can share their Play Pass subscription with up to five other family members, and each family member can access Play Pass individually, so experiences within the family will remain unaffected by what others have downloaded.

 

Source: https://www.xda-developers.com/google-play-pass-monthly-subscription-store-apps-games/

[Guest]

Pass. Yes... hard Pass.

[DrMacintosh]

So, no originals?

[Guest]

These subscriptions just aren't worth it for mobile games. They just aren't good enough, most of the nice ones are free anyway. 

[Curious Pineapple]

Erm, nahh.

[Origami Cactus]

2 hours ago, suicidalfranco said:

as well as apps like AccuWeather.

Ah yes, my favourite mobile game.

 

 

[RedRound2]

Well, that was fast.

[suicidalfranco]

56 minutes ago, Origami Cactus said:

Ah yes, my favourite mobile game.

 

 

seems like it gives also access to paid/premium apps and not just games

[Blademaster91]

Access to paid/premium apps to try is nice,but meh i'd rather buy games.

[suicidalfranco]

1 minute ago, Blademaster91 said:

Access to paid/premium apps to try is nice,but meh i'd rather buy games.

frankly i've already paid for all the apps i might need so it's definitely not for me

 

[Salv8 (sam)]

so it's like that Nintendo online NES thing but without the Nintendo or NES and it's on android and is mostly filled with crappy apps and games?

 

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[suicidalfranco]

7 minutes ago, Salv8 (sam) said:

so it's like that Nintendo online NES thing but without the Nintendo or NES and it's on android and is mostly filled with crappy apps and games?

 

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well... terraria and stardew valley are there 

[That Franc]

To they basically just give you access to the trash that is already on Google Play Store, without bothering to make any games that are actually worth playing?

 

That's quite a weak response.

[Salv8 (sam)]

2 hours ago, suicidalfranco said:

well... terraria and stardew valley are there 

they are also on PC and can be bought for like $10 each and you can keep them forever.

i've said it in the past, subscription based gaming will not work, if the game is taken off it's gone forever, unlike steam where valve can keep the game up for those who bought it.

not that perfect of a solution but i don't think people want a "Scott Pilgrim vs the world: the video game" pulled again.

[TrigrH]

7 hours ago, suicidalfranco said:

Looking for some heavy-duty gaming experience on your android device?

Last time I checked steam-link was free.

[Zodiark1593]

5 hours ago, floofer said:

These subscriptions just aren't worth it for mobile games. They just aren't good enough, most of the nice ones are free anyway. 

If it gave incentive to put together better quality mobile games (and provide the option for a subscription, or buying the game outright), I'd be all for it. Good quality mobile games are few and far between, which is a shame as modern mobile hardware can get us some pretty competent visuals nowadays.

 

While I can definitely pick out visual flaws in this game (lack of dynamic shadows), Asphalt 9 definitely doesn't look like it would be out of place from really late PS3/360 games, and this is running on a device from 2016. 

[williamcll]

But I could just download them off dubious play store mirrors?

[ZacoAttaco]

I'm glad services like this are becoming common. For too long mobile has been a wasteland of greedy microtransaction riddled titles. Developers simply chasing trends for quick cash grabs. It can be hard to distinguish quality mobile titles from the rest so hopefully Google Play Pass and Apple Arcade can achieve this.

[WereCatf]

22 minutes ago, ZacoAttaco said:

I'm glad services like this are becoming common. For too long mobile has been a wasteland of greedy microtransaction riddled titles. Developers simply chasing trends for quick cash grabs. It can be hard to distinguish quality mobile titles from the rest so hopefully Google Play Pass and Apple Arcade can achieve this.

You're a regular optimist, aren't you?

[ZacoAttaco]

5 minutes ago, WereCatf said:

You're a regular optimist, aren't you?

I'll take that as a compliment haha 

[Guest]

5 hours ago, Zodiark1593 said:

If it gave incentive to put together better quality mobile games (and provide the option for a subscription, or buying the game outright), I'd be all for it. Good quality mobile games are few and far between, which is a shame as modern mobile hardware can get us some pretty competent visuals nowadays.

 

While I can definitely pick out visual flaws in this game (lack of dynamic shadows), Asphalt 9 definitely doesn't look like it would be out of place from really late PS3/360 games, and this is running on a device from 2016. 

If I remember asphalt was free though. I could see more of a use if it was like a ‘season pass’ or something, where you pay a subscription for in-app purchases.

[Gegger]

i mean if you do want to play paid games over the price of $5 often i'd say go for it. i would probs just get it for 1 month and try it if i actually had time

[paddy-stone]

Not sure where I stand on this... on the one hand you would be able to try out paid apps for a relatively low price compared to the actual prices and in-app purchases, and on the other hand the offerings could be riddled with crap titles that makes it's value not worth it.

For someone new to Android, I think it'd be worth it though, maybe that's their target demographic?

[Zodiark1593]

7 hours ago, floofer said:

If I remember asphalt was free though. I could see more of a use if it was like a ‘season pass’ or something, where you pay a subscription for in-app purchases.

I just used Asphault as an example of modern phone capabilities. Not necessarily because it is the glowing example of how a game should be.

[LAwLz]

17 hours ago, RedRound2 said:

Well, that was fast.

They have been working on it for a long time. Here is an XDA article about it that's over a year old.