Is the MMO sub model outdated?

[Beastorizer]

https://vgsales.fandom.com/wiki/List...ng_video_games

The top titles, or highest grossing online games are either F2p, or Buy to play. This got me wondering, WoW may simply be an anomaly. As times changed, with the emergence of PS Plus and Gamepass......More MMO have become F2P.

WoW has also recently fell off while XIV lost a HUGE chunk of their Steam player-base not long ago (Not so nice news of XIV seems to be well hidden unless you are Anonymous or some internet sleuth team....).

This is why began to play XI mostly during events. I rarely touch XIV...if ever....(I did sub to check out the Island stuff.....Instant regret.....plan on going back to the free trial after that). To me, it is not justifiable to pay $13-15 for one game, when I can pay the same for hundreds of newer titles.

This is not a bash XI thread; XI is actually my favorite FF. It is just a random thought I had.

[Pixela]

It's shocking to me how little money XIV has made given it has a cash shop, a sub, expansions and they keep saying they have millions of players. I think the problem is how expensive development is for that game, given the high burn rate due to it being aimed at more casual players.

Also all the money XI makes ceased being counted as its own entity and was merged with XIV many years ago, XI profits are now counted towards XIV and have been for over 6 years. If you check financial reports XI stopped being counted then.

[Sp1cyryan]

No, it's not. It's only outdated if you are considering how the other micro transaction and intentionally undercutting the game experience to further profit is far more profitable than a sub.

[Zehira]

Not 100% outdated now with movie streaming subscriptions raising the standard prices and adding the ad service for whoever can't afford in order to produce more. The real genre of MMORPG has been dead since social media is a thing. That does slowly drag me away from the MMO in general and make me to carry on with my life in the real world. I am already as tanned as Mithra. Unfortunately, kids today will never understand the N64 era was so much better with real friends back in our day until Microsoft created the live service to keep us social distancing. MMOs today are designed to give young players more space. Life-ruined players don't matter. I mean it's SE. They are earning money as much as they can for their tropical beach vacation with sweet spiced rum while enslaving you at home playing FFXI...

I don't mean to be rude. Just a random thought.

[Alhanelem]

Also all the money XI makes ceased being counted as its own entity and was merged with XIV many years ago, XI profits are now counted towards XIV and have been for over 6 years. If you check financial reports XI stopped being counted then.

False and disingenuous. Both projects, along with others are all reported as Creative Business Unit III. Not "FFXIV." Or FFXI. Or any other individual project.

As far as "oudated." No, it's not "outdated." Not being the biggest cash grab does not mean its outdated. MMOs with subs are generally higher quality in every conceivable way. F2P games make lots of money because idiots spend tons of money on accelerators and crap. Not because they're better games.

[Pixela]

No, all the money XI makes is counted towards XIV and has been for years. Yoshi has stated the game was given to him and his project officially. Also they forced all XI players to use teh payment system XIV had made for it (which means the money goes to it) and other games in that BD are counted on financial statements separately where XI is not and has not been for many years.

All money XI makes goes to and is counted towards XIV, which is why many infrastructure staff from XIV now also work on XI, GMs, server staff etc.

This is also why XIV can use any texture and model from XI they want at any time they want, where they can't do that from any other game SE operate. Project leads have to sign off on using any asset from the games they run, and since he runs both he can do what he wants.

All profits from xi are counted towards xiv, all player numbers are also counted towards it too.

[Pixela]

btw I'm not even saying it's a bad thing, I'm just pointing out comparing XI to XIV in terms of profits is pointless since they haven't counted any profits from XI since many years back.

[BST]

Subscriptions are becoming a thing of the past, without the Cash Shop in FFXIV to keep many people interested, it would see the same Fate as this game.

They have a serious problem when long-time veterans like me un-sub, just wish I didn't do it sooner, wasted hundreds of dollars on these two MMOs.

[Alhanelem]

No, all the money XI makes is counted towards XIV and has been for years.

You can repeat it as much as you want it doesn't make it true. Both games as well as other projects are controlled by Business Unit 6 which is what Yoshida is the head of. It is entirely because both projects are under BU6's custody that the earnings from those and other projects are combined.

Subscriptions are becoming a thing of the past, without the cash shop in FFXIV to keep many people interested, it would see the same Fate as this game.

also both straight up false and making a false equivalency without any basis-FFXI's lack of a cash shop (which I will not capitalize because it is a generic term and not a proper noun) has little if anything to do with its current state- and it's not like FFXI itself doesn't have some additional paid features of its own, which many serious players make use of. And I can promise you that the existence of the FFXIV Online Store (There, now that's proper use of capitalization) has little if any bearing on my level of long term interest with the game. These are short-term value-adds at best. In fact the shop takes away some of the FOMO of seasonal events, and FOMO (Fear Of Missing Out) is a lot more powerful than any "cash shop" thing could ever be. FFXIV's purchasble items are all permanent shop additions- there is no FOMO here.

Even many F2P mobile online games have an optional subscription that grants perks as long as it's active.

[Alhanelem]

WoW has also recently fell off while XIV lost a HUGE chunk of their Steam player-base not long ago (Not so nice news of XIV seems to be well hidden unless you are Anonymous or some internet sleuth team....).

Would like to know where you're getting stuff like this. your assertion is laced with vague weasel words. Baseless bashing without sources.

This is not a bash XI thread; XI is actually my favorite FF.

it sure seems like a Bash XIV thread though. The island sancturary has proven to be a hugely popular new feature, and you had "instant regret?" okay, sure. I mean, it doesn't surprise me, since this forum is largely populated by people who resent FFXIV for merely existing.

As far as gamepass goes... I'd rather have permanent access to the games I like, rather than see them come and go. I absoutely hate the pass trend. Everything is passes, battle passes, game passes, I dislike all of it. battle passes force you to play the same game more than you necessairly want to because of FOMO, and since freaking every game has a pass these days, you can't get all the stuff in all the games you play and that's deliberate. Sure, I guess game pass is okay if you're not one to stick with any one game for very long, but then you'll get that itch to play a game again but you can't because you didn't buy it and it isn't in the game pass anymore. Even Nintendo is guilty of this sort of thing with their stupid online "expansion pack." Yay, temporary DLC access while you have the pack, and you lose access if you cancel. It's not worth it, it's better to just buy the DLC and have it as long as you want instead.