Microsoft Raises Price of Xbox Live Subscriptions and Ire of Gamers Everywhere
Microsoft Raises Price of Xbox Live Subscriptions and Ire of Gamers Everywhere
Posted 08/30/2010 at 10:38pm
| by Nathan Grayson
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Hi there, valued Xbox Live Gold customer! Are there any sharp objects nearby? How about firearms? We're just the messenger, after all, and would rather not be shot for this one. So, are you calm? Have you followed the late, great Bruce Lee's teachings and become as water? Ok then, here it goes:
Beginning November 1, Xbox Live Gold will cost $60 per year. That's a ten dollar price hike, for those of you who don't read your credit statements. One month and three month subscriptions have also been increased accordingly.
So, why's Microsoft randomly kidnapping yet another one of your precious Alexander Hamiltons – especially after eight years of the same price point and Sony's constant “neener-neener" proclamations of free online multiplayer? Well, the long and short of it is that you're now getting a whole lot more stuff.
“As an Xbox LIVE Gold member, you can not only play blockbuster games, such as Halo: Reach with your friends online, you can also stream movies from Netflix and music from Last.fm right to your TV. You can even connect with friends near and far on Facebook and Twitter. Plus, you also enjoy exclusive discounts and early access to game demos,” said Microsoft, while also citing the upcoming additions of Hulu Plus, Video Kinect, and ESPN this holiday season.
Granted, some of those services require you to fork over additional subscription fees, but there's no doubting that Xbox Live Gold's a pretty slick service. The question, however, remains: is it pocket-change-worthy fool's gold, or is it the genuine, worth-$60 article? Also, what about people who bought their game consoles for, you know, games – and couldn't care less about Facebook, Twitter, Netflix, ESPN and the like? What's in it for them, if anything at all?
Tough questions, huh? So we'll let you do the heavy lifting on this one: Do you think Microsoft's decision to rip another rib out of your piggy bank is a fair one? Will you continue subscribing to Xbox Live Gold?
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Bean Bandit
October 27, 2010 at 5:10am
I'm not a big console person. I am the owner of a Xbox 360 that was giving to me cause it had the RROD in which case I fixed it. I don't really play online cause I'm a PC gamer at heart but I do watch NetFlix thru it. I've only purchased one 3 month card with it and mainly watch nextflix with it. I've played a few games but that's it. I don't see the reason behind the price hike except MS wants more money. They already gave people a system that had issues from day one even though they extended the RROD warrenty but what happens when your system is in the shop more then you actually play it during the warrnety? I'm thinking perhaps to building a media center that's at my TV with a wireless keyboard/roller ball and start using that for netflix streaming. I don't have a TV that has the player built into it and I don't own a BluRay.
MS if you wanna keep your customers drop the price to what it was. They added content like ESPN but it was stated that it was Free at G3 so how the hell do you justify the price hike? Facebook? WTF people do that on there damn phone.
csbutler3
September 02, 2010 at 12:07pm
Honestly I think it's just a matter of time before they offer a "slimmed" Xbox Live Service. Maybe Silver becoming the new gold? Either way, if they don't let me keep my 19.99 for 3 months then there will be one less L4D2 player on Live...potty training boys potty training toddlers
Red Ensign
August 31, 2010 at 2:13pm
I had Live until this month when it expired. I don't really need it any longer. There's few games that I play online anymore. The only thing I'll be missing out on is Left for Dead 2. Anything multi format online I will just get for PS3. As for all the extras, TV/Bluray makers are adding Netflix, Twitter, Hulu and whatever else on the web they can cram into their products now. I can do all of those little extras that I would need a Gold membership on Live, for free on my TV & Bluray player. It's MS that loses out, not me. I'm not poor by any means as I own 2 PS3s, 2 360s, Wii, decent gaming pc, as well as most every little fun gadet you can think of. It's just a price vs value thing. Why pay MS when their competition, yes Samsung & LG and other electronics makers are their competition now too, are adding features I can use from my couch and not charging me a "Service" fee.
dillweed1212
August 31, 2010 at 1:43pm
I'm a PC gamer, and have many friend that I know would not be happy with this. It's just stupid. Everything that there "offering" is either already free, or could be done EASILY through Steam. Steam in-game layout is perfect, has internet so you could start a song in the middle of a round of MW2 with groove$hark, you could start watching a a hulu in between rounds, you can go ANYwhere on the web, facebook, twitter, hell, you could go on you clan site! Netflix is free anyway and for all you Xbox quitters, I would Highly suggest moving to PC, it rocks XD (not to be an advertisement haha) This was my personal testimonial.
My 2 cents
BiZZuRKS
August 31, 2010 at 11:44am
Really? Is it just the principal people are balking at? I use live constantly for Netflix, Halo, and inter-game chat. Sure I could move my livingroom into my office or drag my 30 pound desktop around to stream Netflix to my tv but why? Also where else can I play Halo: Reach online? Where can I talk five of my friends who are playing five different games? (OK I could do the last one on a PC, but I'm the only person I know who plays PC games) I like MS's ranking system TrueSkill. How do I get that on a PC or PS3. Anyway I find live to be a valuable service and next year I will probably pay 60 bucks for it.
PS It seems like no one who replied to this article even uses live. WHY ARE YOU OUTRAGED? It's like getting mad because the price of flubber went up. I don't even use flubber.
Caboose
August 31, 2010 at 12:50pm
Really? You know for a fact that no one here uses XBL? I use XBL for example. And I'm sure a good chunk of the commenters on this article do as well...
BiZZuRKS
September 02, 2010 at 7:26am
I was just commenting that I observed that most of the posters were avid PC users (makes sense this being a MaxPC article) and/or people who signed up for live and didn't use it. I completly agre that it sucks when the price of something goes up. Especially if you don't use it but still pay for it. It seemed to me that people just wanted to hate on MS and this gave them another excuse to do it. (I hate M$ too they just happen run XBL, a service I use every day). It's all just my opinion. I still don't like flubber. Which went up a dollar per ounce this week and nobody noticed.
AnglicDemon00
August 31, 2010 at 10:52am
As much as I think (and hope) I understand the reason's for the $50 fee each year. Which I am hoping you have been putting that money to maintain and expand your servers to support the millions of users who logged onto xbox live and and everyday.
I my self will not being paying for $60 due to a few services I don't intend to use on my xbox. More so now with other devices being able to stream services like netflex as well as even Hulu free of charge, as well as the fact I simply just use my own PC to go on Facebook and twitter.So all I can say is that I hope Microsoft comes up with a better game play like having us pay for services we use (as someone else mentioned on this artical), cause after November 1st; I am done.
sniggler
August 31, 2010 at 10:51am
Seriously, at first I was only toying with the idea of selling my 360 / 40 games in favour of a PS3 but now I think this seals the deal for me.
Microsoft turned on auto-renew on my visa, TWICE without my permission. I had to call 3 TIMES to have it removed (their website doesn't allow Canadian customers to turn this feature off), and each time I was spoken to in a rude, condescending way by customer service before being transferred to the wrong department and / or being hung up on (much like the pissing in the wind story from the guy on The Consumerist)
I am sick of Microsoft treating their customers like crap because they feel they are so big / rich / popular that they can get away with it.
Everyone do yourselves a favor, do what I did, and DON'T renew your LIVE subscription this year. Do corporate psychos like Ballmer / Allen really need your hard-earned $$$ more than you do?
Even so, I would probably end up replacing w/ a PS3 which offers the service for free (Sony doesn't need my money either but at least they are offering so much more). At least I wouldn't have to PAY to listen to a 12 year old raving about his relationship with my mother/sister (and how people with different coloured skin are inferior to him in every way).
Thank you for your CRAP service and your CRAP support, M$. You are welcome for the hundreds and hundreds of hard-earned dollars I have pissed away into your company for the last 3 years.
/rant
lathao
August 31, 2010 at 10:10am
...while Sony sits back and laughs. Only a money-hungry corporation like microsoft would charge their users to access free services (rather, those already paid for by internet and cable bills), kinda like charging for a life-dependent substance that falls from the sky in the form of rain... Although some will remain overcharged for their gold accounts, the microsoft bandwagon is clearly not fit to survive.
HeartBurnKid
August 31, 2010 at 9:51am
It wasn't worth 50, and it sure as hell isn't worth 60.
I'll stick with the PC.
machew100
August 31, 2010 at 9:13am
Thanks for turning me off of your service. I just turned off auto-renew, and with everyone else's help, I feel that Microsoft can learn from their greedy actions and keep the pricing where it is.
StingRay327
August 31, 2010 at 9:07am
I'm not renewing that's for sure. It really should be a free service. I can already stream lastfm for free and Netflix from the wii or PC hooked up to the TV. $50 was too much for me to make it worth it for I'd only use Live a few times a month.
Pball1224
August 31, 2010 at 8:22am
Just accessed my account and turned off the Auto Renew option. Once my time is up, I doubt I'll be renewing, it's just not worth $60/yr - $5/mo to me. Even at $50/yr I was a little uncomfortable with it.
ajuhawk
August 31, 2010 at 4:52am
Yet another marketing mistake by Micro$oft. While I'll probably go ahead and take advantage of their current discount and buy a card for prosterity...the only reason I'm on live is to play multiplayer games with friends who are only on the xbox (not PC gamers, unfortunately). If it weren't for that, I'd have a hard time justifying the cost as the VALUE of SERVICE is non-existant. I only play with people I know as otherwise you end up playing with a bunch of idiots who aren't at the same skill level (I have a family, I play for recreation, but can't even do that when some 10 year old is cussing me out.), detracting from the "value of service". As far as all the "reasons we need to charge $10 more a year - uh, hello - Netflix - free everywhere else (only M$ could get away with charging to use it), facebook - who actually uses it from their Xbox - twitter - same - so on and so forth. Fine, if people really want all those things, charge THEM $10 extra a month and let the rest of us just play our games in peace with our friends (preferably for free).
Hamburger
August 31, 2010 at 4:19am
Apparently Microsoft hopes I'm an idiot with my money and will be willing to PAY for something I can get for free elsewhere.
FAIL
lunchbox73
August 31, 2010 at 4:17am
They are giving you a chance to renew a one year subscription for $39.99. This expires on Oct 31st.
http://www.xbox.com/en-US/live/pricelock/default.htm
Caboose
August 31, 2010 at 6:41am
For US customers only. How does that help the rest of us in the world? It should be all or nothing IMO
Jesterace
August 31, 2010 at 4:07am
My Xbox Live Gold account expired back in Feb 2010, and I decided then not to renew it. I bought a years worth of Live and I ended up playing online 3 times that entire span. Definitely not worth it for me, though I originally got the year subscription with the chatpad and a game combo which at the time was the same price as a years subscription.
dswanick
August 31, 2010 at 1:54am
So let me get this straight. For just $60/year you can do the following on XBox Live :
1. Play blockbuster games - assuming your game of choice is on the XBox, and not on your PC or another console where you can play multiplayer for free.
2. stream movies from Netflix - I've been doing this for most of the last year, for free.
3. connect with friends through Facebook and Twitter - been doing this for the last year on my PS3, also for free.
4. exclusive discounts and early access - do the discounts total $60 in savings, how about $10?
5. Coming soon Hulu Plus - costs extra, can get it for free on the PS3, Video Kinest - Haven't tried it, ESPN - same.
Wow 5 very compelling reasons to want XBox Live - not!
Caboose
August 31, 2010 at 6:40am
Last time I checked, Hulu was only available in the USA, and the same with Netflix, so what good is that for me?
And I agree w/you on the rest of your points (I use my Android handset and PC for twitter and Facebook). I was planning on picking up Ace Combat 7 when it's released to play with a couple friends of mine, but I dunno now... I'll still get it for single player, but I was looking forward do some co-op play!
Fecal Face
August 30, 2010 at 11:29pm
I think paying to play games online with your friends is stupid. If I bought the game, why do I have to buy a subscription just to play it with my friends online?
Xbox is also the only platform that does this - PS3 and PC don't require you to pay-to-play, so why does Xbox?
It would be better IMO if you could play online with just a silver Xbox live account, rather than having to pay for a gold subscription. Kind of like what Sony is doing, with their free online service for PS3, but a "plus" (in Xbox's case, gold) service, which costs money and includes more features.
jlh304
August 31, 2010 at 3:16am
I don't like seeing the price going up. But you can't say the PC is free to play. Most of it's games are free, but it also has MMOs that you pay every month for to play with your friends. But I agree if you buy a game that is free to play on all the other systems (like call of duty games) why do you really have to pay for xbox live?
ShadowDragoonFTW
August 31, 2010 at 5:21am
Yeah, but you're not buying an MMO. You're buying a single-player game with multiplayer support. Which the PC does. FOR FREE. Look at some of the same games. You get Call of Duty for the 360, and wanna play with your friends online? On PC, that's completely freakin' free. On the 360? You gotta shell out cash for a subscription. And even if you did get an MMO on the 360, I can guarantee you they won't give you free online play, because they can't. That's how companies that make MMOs get most of their cash. You'd pay $60 for a year of Live Gold, then have to turn around and pay anywhere from $10 to $30 extra a month just for your MMO.
Frankly, this is the main reason I never went near a 360, and barely used my XBOX when it was still in hey-day. The subscription just to do anything online pissed me off too much. I'm perfectly happy with my PC and PS3, and Microsoft is just digging themselves even further into a hole. I'll honestly be surprised if the XBOX branch doesn't go bankrupt before the next gen of consoles, as much as they keep pissing off their customers.
dracx619
August 31, 2010 at 1:55am
totally agree. in any event, thank goodness for the internet and the slammin deals you can find on almost anything in cluding live.
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