Pricing for the first batch of games distributed via streaming service Onlive has been revealed and appears to be similar to buying a physical copy. Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction will set you back $59.99 and your purchase will last ‘Until at least 17th June 2013’. Last year’s Borderlands can be bought for $29.99, rented for five days for $8.99 or leased for $5.99 for three days, pricing similar to grabbing a second hand copy or renting from Blockbuster.
The upside of the service is that you should be able to access your games anywhere you have a decent internet connection, the downside is that on top of your game purchase you also pay your OnLive subscription fee. At present the fee is free for the first twelve months, of course if you cancel your subscription you lose everything.
OnLive will be launched in the UK near the end of 2011, here is the full pricing list:
| Aaaaa!!! – A Reckless Disregard for Gravity | $9.99 | Until at least 17th June 2013 | |
| Assassin’s Creed II | $39.99 | Until at least 17th June 2013 | |
| Batman: Arkham Asylum | $6.99 / $4.99 | 5 days / 3 days | |
| Borderlands | $29.99 / $8.99 / $5.99 | Until at least 17th June 2013 / 5 days / 3 days | |
| Brain Challenge | $4.99 | Until at least 17th June 2013 | |
| Colin McRae: DiRT 2 | Demo only | N/A | |
| Defense Grid Gold | $13.99 / $6.99 | Until at least 17th June 2013 / 5 days | |
| F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin | $19.99 | Until at least 17th June 2013 | |
| Just Cause 2 | $49.99 | Until at least 17th June 2013 | |
| LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4 | Demo only | N/A | |
| Madballs in Babo: Invasion | $9.99 | Until at least 17th June 2013 | |
| Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands | $49.99 | Until at least 17th June 2013 | |
| Puzzle Chronicles | $9.99 / $3.99 | Until at least 17th June 2013 / 3 days | |
| Red Faction: Guerrilla | $19.99 | Until at least 17th June 2013 | |
| Shatter | $8.99 | Until at least 17th June 2013 | |
| Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction | $59.99 | Until at least 17th June 2013 | |
| Trine | Demo only | N/A | |
| Unreal Tournament III: Titan Pack | $19.99 / $6.99 / $4.99 | Until at least 17th June 2013 / 5 days / 3 days | |
| World of Goo | $19.99 / $6.99 / $4.99 | Until at least 17th June 2013 / 5 days / 3 days |
Source: Eurogamer
TSBonyman
Why pay for games you can’t play offline?
Raen
I always kinda assumed that you paid your subscription and got everything else as you wanted it. This is terrible.
KeRaSh
That’s what I thought. Some kind of flatrate with different levels, like pay 15€ / Month and have access to 2-3 games at a time or something like that… I was interested in OnLive until I saw the pricing list above.
BIGAL-1992
No no no no no no. I’ll stick to physical disks.
Charmed_Fanatic
Hmmm this sucks.
First – prices are high!
– You only keep them for limited time?
– You lose it all if you cancel?
Download is a BIG NO to me!
hazelam
if you paid the sub and you got access to any game on the service included, it might be worth it, assuming it actually works that is.
but you buy games or rent the games, and then you have to keep paying them to retain access, which might be taken away after a few years anyway.
this service is a big pile of frakk.
bet activison would frakking love it though, you never own your purchases and are forced to keep paying to play them.
like in said they’re holding your games hostage.
i will NEVER, and i mean EVER sign up for a joke service like this.
seriously, who’s gonna abdicate total control over their purchases like this?
“The upside of the service is that you should be able to access your games anywhere you have a decent internet connection”
and the upside of having discs, or even downloaded games, is that i can play them anywhere where there’s a machine that plays them, whether there’s a decent net connection or not, and i don’t have to keep bloody paying.
i sincerely hope this travesty fails miserably because bad as i think drm is this is a thousand times worse.
if this is where this industry is headed then you can count me right the frakk out.
FoxHoundGabe
What is this, April’s Fool Day??
First Pacman, now this….
Hoopiness
Who thinks this crap up? Why would you pay the same price to rent a game for 3 years and not have a physical copy, as you do to buy a physical copy that’s yours for life. Idiots.
andytorr
Always knew this would be an utter waste of time. Seriously, who will pay these prices?
hazelam
i bet onlive will be dead before they ever get round to a uk launch.
SeLwOoD-X
Give me a Blu-Ray disc anyday over this, and it only lasts until 2013, give me a break… this aint going to work.