210°

Xbox Live Price Hike Breakdown

Games4Guys writes: As you may or may not know, Microsoft recently announced a price increase effective November 1, 2010, for Xbox Live Gold subscriptions from $49.99 to $59.99 a year, a whopping 20%! When you break it down per month, it comes to about 83 cents. That doesn’t sound like much, but imagine if every company in the world decided, rather arbitrarily, to increase prices by that same amount. Suddenly, you would require 20% more income to support the exact same existence.

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games4guys.com
bgrundman4972d ago

Gotta love the Microsoft Logo with the $.

Hank Hill4972d ago

That extra $10 a year times 23 million LIVE subscribers is $230,000,000 a year. Take it easy on your fans M$.

drewboy7044972d ago

The contract with ESPN might be that if you think about it.

drewboy7044972d ago

Just cost wise It has to be expensive and Micro$oft needs their profit

deadreckoning6664972d ago (Edited 4972d ago )

$60 bux is TOO much just to play online IMO. Especially considering I have other options that are free. Man, if XBL Gold was free..the 360 would be the better option than the PS3...for me personally. But since M$ is so greedy, I'm sticking with PSN till the end of this generation.

coldfoot4972d ago

So about 11-12 Million paying subscribers

kasasensei4972d ago (Edited 4972d ago )

There are no 23M gold accounts. It's 23M for silver, gold and pc only accounts.

For me, i still don't want to pay to use my internet connexion. I want free online, ONLY free online. I have a 360 since 2007, but i only played online with free live coupons and free weekend since. :D

+ Show (2) more repliesLast reply 4972d ago
Longrod_Von_Hugendon4972d ago (Edited 4972d ago )

the breakdown is your wallet.

ELite_Ghost4972d ago

and the holder of the wallet (mental)

Longrod_Von_Hugendon4972d ago

I wouldn't go that far. It's a good service from what I can see but $60?

drewboy7044972d ago

I think there should be tier plans. Maybe Gold should stay the same and they make a Platinum service with ESPN, Twitter, Facebook and what ever else they add. It keeps gold members happy to an extent and people that like all the new features only see it as a $10 fee. Also if you have almost any major carrier you get ESPN. I checked the list cablevision has it, verizon and a hundred or so companies I'm not familiar with. I'm sure 90% of americans are covered at least. for those who don't believe me. http://espn.go.com/espn3/af...

Jimmy the Greek4972d ago

i figured with all the ads theyve been running on xbox live since the release of the 60 they wouldve more than subsidized the cost of any new features.

darthv724972d ago

i am actually second guessing my renewal in november. I like the service but was mostly using it for the netflix. I would play a few games online but nothing to the point of it being a needed thing.

I just got an LG bluray BD570 and it has netflix and youtube and pandora in it. I has the same interface as the ps3 and wii as far as netflix goes. I have both the wii and ps3 versions of netflix and could have used them instead but something about that slick 360 interface I really liked.

I may actually cancel my renewal this time around. 6 years of gold membership is a tough thing to walk away from.

kingjoker344972d ago

damn, that is what like $350 . lot of money to be laying online for

Why o why4972d ago (Edited 4972d ago )

personally i think they should offer a bare bones version of xbl WITH online play for less (i wont say free because ill get debubbled;). Eff all the extras that people dont want/need. I think MS knows they would lose out on a lot of revenue. Basically its gunna take more people not to renew for MS to rethink. Coming from psn to xbl wasnt some major upgrade like many have suggested....sorry i really cant see why i should continue to pay MS just to play the online component of a game ive already paid for. Thats the fundamental part of online gaming. Personally i think the advertising standards should force devs/ms to put a notice on the front of games that have multiplayer that a fee has to be paid to MS for it to be utilised. That may make ms think a little more.

ukilnme4972d ago

I let mine run out about a year ago and have not looked back ever since. Live is nice but I could no longer justify paying for a service that I hardly used. $60 a year is still nothing to me but I can see why some would have a problem with paying it considering there are other options that allow you to play for free on PC and the other consoles. On the other hand I can see why some will be fine with paying the $60 because the service is great. For now, PSN delivers all I need for free.

Gam3s4lif34972d ago

IS it really tht hard to pay 60$ a year? u guys ought to spend more than 60$ a year and u guys hav no prob of tht.

anyway...i reckon MS should let ppl choose what they want and what they want to pay more...but tht prob be hard...

Tony P4972d ago

Price has never really been the issue. At least for me. It's holding the online MP hostage.

Rumbanana4972d ago

I didn't even see your comment before I posted...

princejb1344972d ago

yes is very hard to pay $60 a year
hmm with $60 i could have bought a new game that month
or pay my car insurance or go clothes shopping or pay my internet bill which i need to play xbox live so yea $60 is alot

Adrela4972d ago

@princejb134;
"hmm with $60 i could have bought a new game that month"
It's $60 a year and if you have the money to pay for a game that is $60...How is that so hard?

princejb1344972d ago

its alot dude to just play online

Show all comments (45)
200°

More Job Losses At Xbox, “There’s More To Come”: Paul Thurrott

Paul Thurrott in a recent episode commented on the on-going Microsoft fiasco hinting at more job losses and that "there's more to come".

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spieltimes.com
Sonic18816h ago(Edited 6h ago)

There won't be no more acquiring game publishers from Microsoft in the future . Xbox has to pay Microsoft back. It might take two decades to do that.

sagapo3h ago(Edited 3h ago)

I don’t understand what you’re saying. Xbox IS microsoft so there’s no “paying back “.
And MS gross profit in 2023 was over 140 billion dollars so forget your 2 decades.

Unless you mean the money MS invested in Xbox (acquisitions included) and the time it will take for xbox as a brand to gain that money back on it’s own, then yeah, that could take a while.

SonyStyled2h ago

“There won't be no more acquiring game publishers from Microsoft in the future”

No bro, there do be is for Microsoft not acquiring for what is now if not what it be is 😂

Ms3tjt36m ago

“ Xbox has to pay Microsoft back. ”

Aka

“I don’t know how business works”

jwillj2k46h ago

There really needs to be a class action lawsuit here. You buy these companies just to put people out of jobs. And it’s not like something happened to derail their plans this WAS the plan. Microsoft has no business in this space at all.

franwex5h ago(Edited 5h ago)

Microsoft has been doing this for years. They simply want the IPs. Look at Nokia. Look at Skype. This time it simply expanded to games. Gaming is not as important to Microsoft’s executives as it was to the founders too. Bill Gates was willing to sell the og Xbox at a loss. Steve Balmer approved the red ring of death fiasco. This CEO isn’t really a gamer.

-Foxtrot5h ago

Maybe it's time though to put a stop to it and use a big giant like Microsoft as a huge example to the rest of these big companies.

There has to be a line drawn somewhere.

People like the FTC and the like went against Microsoft yet their Actvision deal was still allowed to go through yet look what's happened...it's not even Acitivisions studios aswell, it's Bethesdas.

RNTody5h ago

Ninja Theory, Perfect Dark, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro, Wolfenstein 3, Dishonored, Prey, Doom, Quake... something tells me that bad things are going to happen to these entities under Microsoft.

anast4h ago

Good thing the bosses of all those small studios made their money.

glenn19794h ago

they cant do it right now they will get burned

Show all comments (16)
90°

Microsoft Opening Xbox Mobile Game Store in July

The Xbox brand is expanding, as an Xbox mobile game store is opening this coming July where Microsoft will brings its "first-party portfolio."

Jin_Sakai1d 19h ago (Edited 1d 19h ago )

“Bond adds that they will start on the web”

This will go nowhere.

Nice knowing you Xbox. This is what happens when the house never gets cleaned.

MrDead1d 19h ago

The only this MS is expanding is the amount of feculence it sprays on everyone who just want to enjoy gaming and make games.

The best thing MS can do for the gaming industry is leave and never return.

XiNatsuDragnel1d 17h ago

Good luck with this even it might not succeed.

Show all comments (7)
210°

Microsoft once tried to nab LittleBigPlanet from Sony after a few drinks

It turns out that many moons ago, Microsoft once had its eye on the Sony published LittleBigPlanet series.

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eurogamer.net
XiNatsuDragnel2d ago

Microsoft had a good idea but fumbled it again.

Cacabunga1d 7h ago (Edited 1d 7h ago )

Project Spark idea was decent but they quickly gave up ..
LBP was wonderful

ApocalypseShadow2d ago

Microsoft in a nutshell. Always tried to poach Sony employees, games, 3rd party games and devices like the depth camera that was turned into Kinect but was running on PS2 before Xbox 360. Wouldn't be surprised they wanted LBP. Just like they worked behind the scenes pushing the MLB to bring Sony's baseball game to Xbox instead of making their own.
https://www.playstationlife...

They didn't spend years trying to develop their own baseball game. They wanted Sony's game.

They're scum.

Zachmo1821d 6h ago

Microsoft didn't force MLB on Xbox. MLB gave Sony 2 options either go multiplat or risk losing the license.

Rynxie20h ago

And why do you think MLB said that? I believe Ms approached MLB.

ApocalypseShadow19h ago(Edited 19h ago)

Totally ridiculous comment.

The only exclusivity Sony had was to their own creation of The Show. Microsoft could have paid the MLB for the license just like Sony did and made their own baseball game.

Microsoft instead, groomed MLB for years in trying to poach Sony's game and bring it to Xbox. They're worth 3 TRILLION dollars. You think that's not enough money to make their own baseball game? Don't be delusional.

Microsoft spun it like they always do and told the media that they had to trust Sony with their hardware. After they put Sony in that position of not having a choice. Either go multiplatform or stop making one of their successful games. That's a no win scenario.

And what did Microsoft do? They didn't try to sell the game to the Xbox community. They put it on game pass to hurt Sony. Pushing the idea of why buy games that are $70 when you can play them in their cheap service for $10. It was a dirty tactic.

You fell for the Kool aid drink Microsoft served you instead of spitting it out. Hope it tasted good because you were fooled by Phil and the gang.

15h ago
Hereandthere11h ago

Xbox executive Sara Bond has told Axios that Microsoft spent a number of years trying to get MLB The Show onto Xbox consoles. And when it finally succeeded in breaking off PlayStation’s long-held exclusivity, the company had to “trust” Sony with pre-release Xbox Series X/S consoles.

Bond revealed that MLB The Show “always came up” in conversations between Microsoft and the Major League Baseball organization. “We always said, ‘We love this game. It would be a huge opportunity to bring it to Xbox.'” she recalled. However, when Microsoft’s efforts materialized, it put the company in an awkward situation where it had to send in pre-release consoles to a rival company.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 11h ago
Notellin16h ago

"Microsoft instead, groomed MLB for years in trying to poach Sony's game and bring it to Xbox."

Take a nap, conspiracies are rotting your brain.

15h ago
Hereandthere11h ago

Xbox executive Sara Bond has told Axios that Microsoft spent a number of years trying to get MLB The Show onto Xbox consoles. And when it finally succeeded in breaking off PlayStation’s long-held exclusivity, the company had to “trust” Sony with pre-release Xbox Series X/S consoles.

Hereandthere11h ago

They were too cheap/inept/lazy to develop their own mlb game, so they port begged for years and bribed the mlb to make the show multiplatform. Like i said many times, xbox brought nothing to the table their 24 years, ZERO.

OtterX1d 9h ago

"However, Healey said Media Molecule wouldn't have felt right doing that, adding it would have been "morally corrupt"."

Major kudos to Media Molecule for being an upright studio with principles.

RNTody1d 9h ago (Edited 1d 9h ago )

Great, more stories like this please. Show the last of the zombies holding the line what we've been saying for years: Microsoft is anti competition, anti industry and has no interest in making games at all.

But hey, at least there's an Xbox Games Showcase to look forward to, right?

Inverno1d 8h ago

Well considering SONY just killed the series, LBP would've been dead by now either way. Though MM probably wouldn't exist by now either, so I'm glad they stayed with SONY, hopefully they don't get shut down any time soon or ever honestly.

Sheppard7t31d 6h ago

How did Sony kill the series?

Inverno1d 6h ago

They shut down the servers, that's millions of user created levels gone. That and dead are pretty much the same, it's also been years since 3 and they cancelled HUB soooo.

15h ago
fsfsxii16h ago

They shutdown the servers because no one was playing, no one in the community cared about the user created levels so why keep them up? Wtf you guys would never succeed in running a business.

Inverno15h ago

Yea dood no one was playing so they shut off the servers. Cause people with enough common sense can't just Google why they were actually shut of, right?

Show all comments (26)