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Nov.9,2023
Not even accepting a windfall from the sky? The Xbox Game Pass lifetime membership was rejected by the winner! Membership economy, as a business model aimed at increasing consumer engagement and enhancing the consumer experience, has deeply penetrated various aspects of people's daily lives. With the vigorous development of online consumption, various types of membership services have continued to emerge. Video memberships, cloud storage memberships, music memberships, and many other categories offer value and quality to consumers while providing new revenue opportunities for operators. However, as membership services have rapidly expanded, the industry has also seen various issues emerging. These issues include "subscription stacking," "automatic renewal of online memberships," and "splitting user basic rights into paid memberships," all of which infringe upon consumers' legitimate rights. However, for console gamers, there is no need to worry about such irregular charging practices. They simply pay a monthly membership fee to enjoy a variety of large "AAA" games. Additionally, they often receive additional freebies, making it a cost-effective deal. Both Sony's PS Plus and Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass (XGP) have gained many loyal users over an extended period. PS Plus offers a vast array of first-party games from Sony, allowing players to experience excellent exclusive games at a relatively low subscription price. Moreover, every month, they offer "free" games for subscribers to claim and play as long as their membership is active. XGP offers a more affordable subscription price compared to PS Plus, along with free games that don't require claiming on a monthly basis. While Sony has a larger advantage in terms of game lineup, XGP is often considered more cost-effective. Microsoft, with its substantial resources, occasionally offers lucrative rewards to promote its services, such as "Microsoft Rewards," where users can earn points through tasks and redeem a variety of prizes. Last year, they introduced a highly enticing promotion related to XGP. Players needed to spend 200 reward points to participate in a drawing for a lifetime XGP subscription. Winners would also receive an exclusive trophy with their user ID imprinted on it. However, even though the promotion had ended several months ago, no one had claimed the "lifetime XGP" prize until a few days ago when a player who appeared to be a winner came forward on the internet. A player named "Elvite" revealed on Reddit that he was the lucky winner of the "lifetime XGP" prize. However, to claim the prize, he had to pay a substantial tax. After careful consideration, he decided to give up the prize. While the prize was enticing, the trouble it brought far outweighed its value. First of all, the so-called "lifetime XGP" subscription had an actual validity of only 40 years, with the subscription cost roughly equivalent to $7,300. If Elvite accepted the "lifetime XGP" prize, he would need to pay taxes based on his location in California, amounting to 24% of the prize's value, which was $1,752, not including state income tax. For a subscription lasting 40 years, Elvite did not feel any regret for giving up the prize. He stated that if it were a computer worth $7,300, he would have readily accepted it because the $1,752 in taxes would be worth it. However, for a subscription service like "lifetime XGP," the value of the prize needed to be proven over time. If he were to pass away during these 40 years, he would essentially have paid the taxes in vain. Moreover, his children were not particularly interested in Xbox games. Therefore, inheriting such a subscription seemed impractical and not worth the high tax cost. Considering all these factors, he chose to decline the prize. Elvite's decision might appear irrational, but 40 years is a long time, and many things can change. Although it's unlikely that Microsoft will go out of business, the fate of its Xbox division is uncertain, and the quality of games it produces cannot be guaranteed. The risks associated with this "lifetime XGP" subscription are more significant than its immediate benefits. In fact, different types of game subscription memberships are still competitive methods used by major companies to retain their user base. As gamers, we simply need to choose the subscription service that suits us best. So, which gaming subscription service have you chosen, dear readers? Feel free to share your preferences in the comments!
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