[Utomik] Full Games List

Actually, people keep forgetting that Steam is SaaS as well. You're putting Steam and Netflix as opposite examples, but in fact they are very similar. In Netflix, some shows can be delisted, and cannot watch them anymore. Unless you've downloaded their episodes, in which case you can still watch them. And in Steam some games are delisted, so you can't buy them anymore, unless you already own them... In Steam you're also responsible for games being compatible to your PC/OS, while in Netflix all shows are presented in a uniform fashion (there could have been PAL/NTSC issues for example). So they're not completely identical. One thing they do share, is that if tomorrow Steam or Netflix servers are taken offline, you lose access to all your Netflix shows, and all the Steam games you "own".

I do acknowledge that there are shows not listed of Netflix because they were removed (or never appeared, like older shows). Moreover, you didn't mention it, but Netflix has competitors, so Amazon, Hulu or HBO shows will (probably) never appear on Netflix, and you'll need to pay their competitors (as well) to watch their shows. There is a solution though - I don't believe this situation, where there are several competing services, each demanding payment for it's own content, can exist in the long run. Where I live for example, the TV content companies act as an "aggregator" buying content from all companies, so by paying them, you get content from Netflix, Hulu, HBO, etc. all at the same place (Although, they are costlier than each service alone).

Similarly, in the gaming market, you have Steam (which is by far the largest player), but others have noticed the economic potential and are actively trying to capitalize it. This is why we now have the Origin and UPlay stores, both with unique content which cannot be found on the other stores. So to play all the games you want, you need to install Steam client, Origin client and UPlay client. Adding Ubisoft store with Ubisoft client doesn't change the picture dramatically. And as with video Streaming services, eventually, I believe the model will not be able to work in the long run, and a consolidation will happen. Either by one company buying the others (or via a merger) or simply by the appearance of a new type of companies, which will have the ability to aggregate games from different marketplaces, and allowing you to access them in a single convenient location. This is what I believe Gaming-as-a-service companies will do (they will install the games on their servers, and you will play them via streaming).

And if you still want to own a game (because you really like it, and sure you'll want to play it in the future) you'll be able to buy it on a physical DVD, or a DRM-free method (GOG for example) and own it for life. But I do believe that this will be a very small minority of games, because looking at the PC gaming market, it looks like the number of games (even good games) is growing exponentially. Steam has added in 2017 15,000 new games. That's X2 more than 2016, which had X2 more than 2015, etc. So even if only 1% of these games is very good, that's still a huge number of games. Which brings me to wonder if we'll even be replaying old games in the future... If there is such a vast selection of good games to choose from (and considering Hardware will no longer be a limitation) I don't know how people will have time to revisit old games, when each person has a huge backlog of new games to try. I see it in myself already, My Steam backlog is so big, some games I bought recently because they are very good, will never be played, because by the time I finish playing all the games I want to play more, I will have new games in my backlog I want to play even more. And I have a total of 200+ games. Think of people with thousands of games and hundreds of them in their backlog at any given moment...

P.S. Thinking of replacing a $60 per-game with a $10 dollar per-month subscription model may seem expensive (because playing for 2 years will cost you X4 the full price of the game). But considering that in addition to the game, you will get all the DLCs, that actually amount to ~$120 price per game. And you get to play not just one game, but a bunch of AAA games for the same monthly price (All of which you would otherwise buy for full price). So eventually people will be spending less, not more.

As long as I'm able to afford that fee. This is my point. Today I have no money problem [thank God]. I got a job and can buy anything I want. But if my only gaming platform were subscription based and I suddenly couldn't afford that subscription anymore, then I would lose access to all those games and wouldn't be able to play them.

That is true. But let's say you play 10 full price games a year (or their equivalent). So it would cost you 10 X $50 = $500 to buy them and own them forever. If let's say a subscription service is $12 a month (like Netflix), it would cost you $12 X 12 = $144 to play them for 1 year (only). Let's say after 1 year you lose your job and can't afford a subscription service (although it seems that it's cheap enough to afford even without a job, if it's important enough for you). Even if 2-3 of these games you want to keep playing after finished them, buying only these 2-3 games (even at full price) AND paying a year for a subscription will still cost less than buying all 10 games.

Now it's true you could have bought only 2-3 games in the first place, but then A. How would you know which games you would like without trying them? B. You wouldn't get to try/enjoy the other 7-8 games. If to compare to Netflix, would you be willing to pay per movie/TV show separately instead of paying Netflix $12 per month? Btw, right now on Amazon Video you can buy an old movie for $10+ and a an old TV show season for $15+. Even if there is a 50% sale, it's still $5 per movie and $7.5 per tv show season (And that's for old movies). Would you pay these prices knowing you can get a subscription for $12 a month?

Sure, right now you can buy a full Civ V or Total War Rome II or GTA IV for $10 (during a sale)... But wouldn't you rather play Civ VI and Total War Warhammer II and GTA V, all for $12 a month?