The inevitable merger of Battle.net and Gamepass

[Poppincaps]

For people talking about WoW and Game Pass, Elder Scrolls Online is not on Game Pass at all currently, so I doubt WoW would be on Game Pass either unless they change their mind later.

[thunderdragon2]

You don't see the big picture here, MS does not need WoW money - what they want is more people joining their gaming ecosystem. That's what they bought ActiBlizz for, not some silly monthly subs.

WoW sub $$ is a small price to pay for adding millions of people to Game Pass and having a chunk of them explore it. It's much more $$ in the long run.

as some 1 that doesn't have a xbox or pay eso what use would i have for gamespass if i have to pay alot more money to play wow because of this merge ill stop

[Gaidax]

as some 1 that doesn't have a xbox or pay eso what use would i have for gamespass if i have to pay alot more money to play wow because of this merge ill stop

You are you.

Microsoft does not need you.

For every you like you, there will be someone else who will say "so they give me Game Pass anyway, let's check out Xbox stuff..."

Think... That's what Microsoft needs, not WoW pennies - WoW sub won't even be 0.1% of their revenue.

[Gorsameth]

For Microsoft the purchase is not about WoW. They are desperate to add subscribing users to their online Game Pass ecosystem. Fragmenting it with multiple subscriptions and making it harder to get a buy-in is not how they achieve that.

Desperate for subscriptions?

Game pass has 25 million subscribers, they don't need WoW to 'desperately' add subs.

Nor did Microsoft buy Activision-Blizzard for the battlenet app. The Blizzard part of Acti_Blizz isn't what Microsoft spend 70 billion on. Its a side garnish. King is a lot bigger and Activision even more so.

[thunderdragon2]

You are you.

Microsoft does not need you.

For every you like you, there will be someone else who will say "so they give me Game Pass anyway, let's check out Xbox stuff..."

Think... That's what Microsoft needs, not WoW pennies - WoW sub won't even be 0.1% of their revenue.

it depends on what they charge, the pricing might just ruin wow as it may just drive people away while economies are still recovering

[PACOX]

For people talking about WoW and Game Pass, Elder Scrolls Online is not on Game Pass at all currently, so I doubt WoW would be on Game Pass either unless they change their mind later.

Its on the console version of Game Pass

[StillMcfuu]

I'd rather they keep the sub, and combine the features and infrastructure of bnet into gamepass app, because as a service gamepass is garbage.

I also feel that combining the sub into gamepass would basically mean wow was f2p and I'd expect that lowered level of support.

[rrayy]

I wouldn't be so sure. I don't sub to WoW more than once every 4-5 months because a) I have less time these days to play/when I do I'm catching up on the pile of shame and b) the sub got price jacked.

I don't sub to Game Pass as I don't see the value in it.

Roll the two together, I'm in. Bam, they just got someone to subscribe who currently doesn't pay for either service ongoing. Lots of people are on the fence.

But they are going to lose all the money from those who are subscribed to both. And they sure as hell are not getting rid of the WoW Token. That would be a ton of money they would be losing.

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Desperate for subscriptions?

Game pass has 25 million subscribers, they don't need WoW to 'desperately' add subs.

Nor did Microsoft buy Activision-Blizzard for the battlenet app. The Blizzard part of Acti_Blizz isn't what Microsoft spend 70 billion on. Its a side garnish. King is a lot bigger and Activision even more so.

No it isn't. The bought Act-Blizz for EVERYTHING it has.

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You are you.

Microsoft does not need you.

For every you like you, there will be someone else who will say "so they give me Game Pass anyway, let's check out Xbox stuff..."

Think... That's what Microsoft needs, not WoW pennies - WoW sub won't even be 0.1% of their revenue.

They don't turn down money. .01 > 0. You are crazy if you think they are going to give up the money the subs bring in to put it on game pass.

[Unholyground]

I'd rather they keep the sub, and combine the features and infrastructure of bnet into gamepass app, because as a service gamepass is garbage.

I also feel that combining the sub into gamepass would basically mean wow was f2p and I'd expect that lowered level of support.

Wow subscription being part of gamepass ultimate would actually increase the amount of support because it becomes one of their baseline things they provide with gamepass ultimate I also see people mentioning ESO as their loaded gun but it is a free to play mmo with optional sub so it is in no way the same. Also Gamepass Ultimate is cheaper than the current WoW sub is in Canada, and we are not the only country where that is true so let that sink in.

Microsoft has one goal, make Gamepass have enough value that you will choose it over other similar services and for many people they will take it over Netflix , HBO Max, Disney Plus+ etc. We are in the middle of the subscription wars and Microsoft is going to be one of the winners.

[Beefhammer]

So I have been thinking about this a lot and it is a certainty that it will happen. I am wondering how long they will wait and how they will go about it.

My best personal guess is that they move the WoW sub into Gamepass Ultimate when it happens and then phase out the battle.net app and then make some kind of season pass you can get for cosmetic rewards.

Considering the sub version of ESO is not available on GP, WoW will not be on GP.

If MS was smart they would work with Blizzard to develop B.net into a better launcher for GP. After all there have been long time widespread reports of games not being able to uninstall or losing disk space after the uninstall(think it's the latter). Not an issue with B.net.

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Both? WoW's subscription is too high if the only justification for collecting a sub at all is to cover running costs. And there needs to be justification considering it's nearly the only subscription based game on the market anymore. But if you are considering content and access to your account many people invested literally years into, then you're not overpaying, since you still get what you've paid for 10 years ago. The amount of ingame content and your collectables do not diminish.




How exactly the money is spend on WoW is not all that important, it's the overall sum that interesting. I'm pretty sure Microsoft sees it also that way. I can't imagine that they micromanage how costs are distributed to keep one game running. Sure, some financial officer will do the calculations. But that officer will sit at Blizzard, not at Microsoft. Microsoft will probably just pay and demand a game once in a while to add to their XBox environment. As long as Blizzard delivers and doesn't cause any scandals, Microsoft won't care how exactly the money is spend.

All the big ones still have subs, ESO, FF14, SWTOR, all have subs.

[LordVargK]

All the big ones still have subs, ESO, FF14, SWTOR, all have subs.

ESO and SWTOR are free to play with an additional abonnement option. I would not call them subscription games, the same way I would not call WoW F2P even though it is possible to play WoW without investing any additional money into it.

[Beefhammer]

ESO and SWTOR are free to play with an additional abonnement option. I would not call them subscription games, the same way I would not call WoW F2P even though it is possible to play WoW without investing any additional money into it.

Yet there are options to subscribe to both of them weird. They are both subscription based MMOs with F2P options. WoW is a full fledged subscription based MMO. There is no F2P option at all. Someone is paying a premium sub price for a token that can be traded for gold. Every player is 100% paid for.

[LordVargK]

Yet there are options to subscribe to both of them weird. They are both subscription based MMOs with F2P options. WoW is a full fledged subscription based MMO. There is no F2P option at all. Someone is paying a premium sub price for a token that can be traded for gold. Every player is 100% paid for.

No, that's factually wrong. ESO and SWTOR are F2P with a subscription option as you said yourself. WoW is a subscription based game with a F2P option. ESO and SWTOR even started as subscription based games and then switched over to F2P, publically advertising they are F2P, because they were flopping as subscription based games.

[Lodreh]

... People have been paying $15 a month for 50 years...

I know this is hyperbole but damn.

Anyway, launcher or not I can see the WoW sub being folded into GamePass Ultimate in order to pad those numbers for investors after the merger. Likewise I see GamePass Ultimate going up about $5 a month. It's still be worth it but there will be push back.

[Unholyground]

Considering the sub version of ESO is not available on GP, WoW will not be on GP.

If MS was smart they would work with Blizzard to develop B.net into a better launcher for GP. After all there have been long time widespread reports of games not being able to uninstall or losing disk space after the uninstall(think it's the latter). Not an issue with B.net.

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All the big ones still have subs, ESO, FF14, SWTOR, all have subs.

You are not taking into account the console port of WoW which will very likely happen now. If it does happen they are not going to push having to pay for gamepass and WoW it will all be included with ultimate.

Besides FF14 all those other MMO's are not hardware or service pushers, WoW is instatly recognizable among the others

[Utrrabbit]

So I have been thinking about this a lot and it is a certainty that it will happen. I am wondering how long they will wait and how they will go about it.

My best personal guess is that they move the WoW sub into Gamepass Ultimate when it happens and then phase out the battle.net app and then make some kind of season pass you can get for cosmetic rewards.

They will never phase out the app. It already intergrates all the games. Also microsoft wont be dealing with stuff like that. Microsoft after they screwed up with other companies has taken a 100% hands off approach to all the day to day stuff. They will come in and clean up the personel, but apart from that. They will leave the other stuff alone.

[cuafpr]

5 years... I think in 5 years this process will start. Not sure why that's my guess it just is. ESO doesn't really comparable when it has a F2P option unless, of course, WoW gets a F2P option. I'd love to see WoW rolled into gamepass though, and it makes so much business sense it's silly not to think it will happen, even as a premium addon to GP ultimate

[Unholyground]

They will never phase out the app. It already intergrates all the games. Also microsoft wont be dealing with stuff like that. Microsoft after they screwed up with other companies has taken a 100% hands off approach to all the day to day stuff. They will come in and clean up the personel, but apart from that. They will leave the other stuff alone.

Wishful thinking at best, all of those bnet games are going to be part of gamepass soon, they are going to need a way for people to merge their liscences to have everything in one place.

[Katchii]

Wishful thinking at best, all of those bnet games are going to be part of gamepass soon, they are going to need a way for people to merge their liscences to have everything in one place.

Perhaps.

I see gamepass and BNet being linked, but that doesn't necessarily mean they'll completely phase out one app in favor of the other. Seems like a logical choice to only have one, but depending on how much work it would be I don't know how soon, or if, they'd actually put the time into it.

As long as they get their money, I'm not sure they'll particularly care which app it comes from.

[Beefhammer]

No, that's factually wrong. ESO and SWTOR are F2P with a subscription option as you said yourself. WoW is a subscription based game with a F2P option. ESO and SWTOR even started as subscription based games and then switched over to F2P, publically advertising they are F2P, because they were flopping as subscription based games.

Other way around, they started off as P2P that added F2P options that limit what you can do or have access to. WoW has no F2P option other than the4 level 20 trial.

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You are not taking into account the console port of WoW which will very likely happen now. If it does happen they are not going to push having to pay for gamepass and WoW it will all be included with ultimate.

Besides FF14 all those other MMO's are not hardware or service pushers, WoW is instatly recognizable among the others

I've heard this for at least 15 years now. It ain't happening.