Is anyone actually happy with where things are right now?

Microsoft has finally completed its gargantuan acquisition of Activision Blizzard King. After so many months of drama, my own feelings on the subject have turned to malaise. The biggest Xbox fans are anticipating Activision's hits on Game Pass. But will that move the needle on subscription numbers in the way the execs are hoping? Gaming and TV subscription models alike have stalled in growth, causing prices to jump up across the board for customers. The Hollywood strikes of this year have emphasized just how broken the model is beyond what we already knew. Yet, with Best Buy starting to phase out physical media, it seems inevitable that this model will be the primary one remaining before too long. Is a $70 billion merger able to fix systemic issues with how the subscription model was built? I'm not convinced.

As you can tell,, my feelings on Xbox Game Pass are a lot different than they used to be. But there are more reasons I haven't gotten the most out of my subscription this year. The continuing backlog battle and my other pursuits keep me busy. And, unfortunately, I haven't found a Game Pass release that I've truly loved in 2023. Looking at my Xbox history, the closest contender was Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance of the Slayer. This spinoff of Hypnospace Outlaw is a fun romp for boomer shooter FPS fans. The presentation and humor are on point, but it was still out of my wheelhouse for genre. I almost wrote a review, but never got around to it. Other day one indie releases were Venba, a narrative cooking game that sadly didn't move me much, and Sea of Stars, which I still have on the back burner but have spent little time with.

Older indie games also pop up regularly on Game Pass. Credit where it's due, these are always high quality selections. If you didn't play the titles when they were new, it's a nice bonus. A Short Hike was a pleasant exploratory adventure game. I thought the cute photography game Toem was a delight and achieved 100%. And Game Pass was where I finally finished Hollow Knight... a game I already own on Steam. These games were already on my radar, and I would have gotten to them eventually regardless. But having them included in my subscription feels good.

Many people judge Game Pass on Microsoft's first party contributions, which haven't kept me rapt. Hi-Fi Rush held a lot of promise. It's a game I should and wanted to love, but quibbles with pacing and writing stopped me from getting very far. I gave Minecraft Legends a chance, but it didn't hold my attention beyond a single play session. Ditto for Redfall, though that's a whole different can of worms. The new big ticket items are Starfield and Forza Motorsport. I'm a fake gamer because I never had any interest in these. I acknowledge that they've had mostly positive reception, though. It's funny - the point of my backlog battle is to finish games I wound up with, even if I don't care for them. Meanwhile, the Game Pass model leads to me trying games for an hour, then putting them out of my mind completely.

Despite all the studios under Xbox, I still feel like we're always waiting for the next thing. Is Activision Blizzard going to change that? To be honest, it won't for me. I'm not a Call of Duty player. I have never touched any Blizzard brand product. I don't see why I should start now. I already own the excellent revivals of Spyro, Crash Bandicoot, and Tony Hawk. The studios responsible got absorbed into the CoD machine and I don't know if they can return. What else are we looking at... a new Guitar Hero? King's Quest? For decades, Xbox has sat on a treasure trove of IP, and if there's one constant in that time, it's coming up short of their potential. Just look at everything that happened to Rare. After the Crackdowns and Redfalls and Halo Infinites, I just feel like this leadership and business model is leading to games that come out underbaked. It's great for smaller scoped projects, but the math doesn't make sense on the scale they want.

Despite my concerns, I still love using my Xbox Series X. I have so much accumulated stuff that I would be set even if there was nothing on Game Pass for the next year. There are exciting things coming, though. Cities: Skylines 2 is already installed and waiting. I probably wouldn't have paid full price for the upcoming Persona games, but I will be able to dabble to my heart's content when they come out. If Hollow Knight: Silksong is ever a real product, it too will be on Game Pass. Then there's Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name. This title is not getting a physical release in the west. But the pricing worked out that it was the same to import a PS5 copy from Asia, which is what I was planning to do. Then, they announced that it's launching on Game Pass. Forget the PS5, I'll be there. It's only now that I realize I played out the exact script they were hoping for. I abandoned my physical principles and contributed to the digital-only future. If that's the way it has to go, I guess I can live with it. There isn't much room on my shelf anyway. But if I'm to fully embrace the world shareholders want, there have to be serious conversations about fixing this model. If it all goes belly up and I'm in a bunker with no internet, I'll be stuck with my damn backlog again.