For years, gaming subscription services have been positioned as the “Netflix for games.” It’s a tempting comparison—after all, why wouldn’t players want unlimited access to a huge library of games for a monthly fee? Xbox Game Pass, PlayStation Plus, Apple Arcade, and others have been built on this premise.
But there’s a problem: gamers don’t consume content the same way movie or TV audiences do. While Netflix users might binge dozens of different shows a year, most gamers stick to just a handful of titles—often for years. This creates a value perception problem for subscriptions, which rely on players exploring new games regularly to make sense financially.
So what’s next? Subscriptions can still work, but they need to evolve. The model must shift from offering access to driving engagement.
And this is where Thrum.gg comes in.
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The Core Problem: Gamers Play Fewer Games, but for Longer
Let’s compare two entertainment habits:
- The average Netflix user watches dozens of different shows per year, making a $15/month subscription seem like a bargain.
- The average gamer plays just 4–5 different games per year—often sticking to the same multiplayer or live-service titles.
If you’re a gamer, ask yourself: When was the last time you played more than 10 different games in a year? For most players, it doesn’t happen.
Subscription services are built on the idea that variety equals value. But if most gamers aren’t exploring new games, what are they actually paying for?
The Rise of Free-to-Play (F2P) Changed the Rules
The problem gets even bigger when you look at the most-played games today:
- Fortnite — Free-to-play
- League of Legends — Free-to-play
- Roblox — Free-to-play
- Counter-Strike 2 — Free-to-play
- Call of Duty — Paid, but Warzone is free-to-play
This means subscription services aren’t just competing with each other—they’re competing with free.
Why would a gamer pay $15-$20/month for a library of games when they can get hundreds of hours of entertainment from free titles? And even when they do buy a premium game, it’s often one they’ll stick with for months or even years.
This is why simply adding more games to a subscription service won’t fix the problem. Gamers don’t need access to more games—they need better reasons to try them.
The Fix: Game Subscriptions Must Shift from Access to Engagement
If subscriptions want to stay relevant, they need to move beyond being a game library and start delivering real engagement incentives.
Four Ways to Fix Game Subscriptions:
- Instant-Play Discovery
- Gamers hesitate to try new games because of long downloads, sign-ups, or commitment fatigue.
- Solution: Make every game instantly playable with zero friction.
2. F2P Subscription Perks
- If free-to-play dominates, subscriptions should add value to those games instead of competing with them.
- Riot Games and Xbox Game Pass already experiment with this—why not offer exclusive skins, in-game currency, or battle passes?
3. Exclusive Access & Early Trials
- Instead of static game libraries, offer early access to upcoming releases, time-limited trials, and premium versions of games.
- Players love exclusive content—Netflix figured this out; gaming subscriptions need to do the same.
4. More Personalization, Less Choice Overload
- Netflix succeeds by recommending exactly what you want to watch next—game subscriptions should do the same.
- AI-driven curation can match players with games they’re actually interested in, instead of forcing them to browse a massive library.
Where Thrum Fits In: Making Discovery Frictionless
This is where Thrum changes the game—literally. Instead of forcing players to commit upfront to a game they might not like, Thrum’s ‘Playable in Seconds’ model lets them try games instantly.
- No downloads.
- No complicated sign-ups.
- Just click, play, and decide if it’s for you.
For subscription services, this could be the missing piece. Imagine if Game Pass, PlayStation Plus, or Apple Arcade integrated Thrum-powered instant trials into their platforms. Suddenly, instead of being a static library, subscriptions become dynamic discovery platforms.
Players wouldn’t need to wade through a giant list of games—they’d try them instantly, get hooked, and stay engaged.
The Future of Game Subscriptions: Engagement, Not Just Access
Game subscriptions aren’t dead, but they need to evolve. The old “Netflix for games” model doesn’t work because gamers don’t consume content the same way TV watchers do.
The next phase of subscriptions must focus on engagement—not just offering access but actively helping players find, try, and stick with new games.
Thrum is built for this shift. By making game discovery frictionless and instant, it solves the engagement problem that’s holding game subscriptions back.
If subscriptions want to survive, they need to move beyond just offering access and start being active game discovery hubs. The future of gaming isn’t just about what you can play—it’s about how easily you can start playing.
Time to make game subscriptions work again, right?
