Hang onto your hats…and your wallets…Microsoft is raising the price of an Xbox LIVE subscription by $10/year in North America beginning November 1. 2010. Other regions will see a price increase as well.
As posted by Major Nelson, the price hike will affect Xbox LIVE members in Canada, Mexico, the UK and the US, with various yearly, monthly, and 3 month subscriptions seeing an increase. In the U.S. the one month Gold subscription will increase from $7.99 to $9.99 while the three month will raise from $19.99 to $24.99. After the change takes place, the 12 month will set you back $59.99 as opposed to the current $49.99.
It’s worth noting that renewing your 12 month subscription via a special promotion being offered right here, right now, will allow U.S. customers to save $20 off the new price and renew for $39.99.
As for the regions outside the U.S., Canadian gamers can expect to pay $1 more for the monthly subscription, Mexico’s 12 month plan increases from 499 Pesos to 599 Pesos, and those of you in the United Kingdom will be charged 5.99 GBP for the monthly subscription instead of 4.99 GBP.
“Since launching Xbox LIVE in 2002 we have continually added more content and entertainment experiences for our members, while keeping the price the same. We’re confident that when the new pricing takes effect, an Xbox LIVE Gold membership will continue to offer the best value in the industry.”
So, do you think Microsoft has added enough new features and content to XBL to justify a price increase? Do you think the new rates are fair or unfair? Let us know your thoughts below.
Well, guess I am not going back to XBL.
Saw it coming…
Problem is you have to take it. You can’t go with your friends to another console which has the same quality on online gaming because there is none. I have a PS3 and I tried to play online with it so don’t bother me with fanboyblabla.
I felt the price of gold was justified and it still is but not because of any new added content. The experience on gold hasn’t changed for me in any way. I play online and I save money once in a while on some DLC.
I think I will buy one or two years in advance out of protest. ^^
Prices go up. I don’t see the big deal of less than $1/month extra for a yearly subscription. It’s been $50/month ever since I signed up for it years ago. No biggie.
Well lookin at the picture as whole then yes the price is justefied. Because now we can rent movies in the highest qualety, dowload entire games and even go on twitter and face book. And soon thay will add the kinect. Witch will give us that sports thingy that i forgot the name of. ESPN if im not misaken. But thay could have uped the price more then 10 bux so if we look at it that way then its better with just 10 bux then 50 bux. Besids look at the bright side. This might eliminate some of the anoying kids and all the other campers lol. =P
But there is nothin about the price increse for countries other then US Canada and the UK. So do the other countries get a pass in the price increse?
You can do all that on PSN without paying a dolar. There is no excuse for a price increase. In fact, I hoped they would cut the price off.
I’m sure alot of people will complain and sign pettitions but in the end people will pay for it like they did with mw2.
And those extra serverses , you have to pay for downloading games and renting movies anyway. I highly doubt microsoft doesnt get any share of that.
i hope they dont increase the cost for outside the US ( where i live ) Note that i feel for you US gamers but we in europe dont get alot of those extra things like :
ESPN
Last FM
Netfix
Can’t enter competitions
Indie Games
And im wondering are people really using twitter and facebook on xbox all that much ? ( also don’t you need gold for those wtf is up with that)
Glad I jumped the Xbox ship. Total BS. If they just give the online play for free, then I would probably give it another chance. Or at least make it a low-quality setup. Honestly, do less than what they are paid for over at Microsoft.
Congratulation MS, you’ve actually made me consider not getting Live again.
I only use XBL for Netflix and occasionally playing co-op games with friends. But this just gives me more of a reason to hurry and buy a PS3, instead of wasting $50 (now soon to be $60) a year on something I have no need of fully utilizing.
Using Facebook and Twitter on my Xbox?! Using both anywhere at all?!
Bah, I say! BAH!
Why on earth does a company increase subscription fees when nothing is changing in the service? Other than the fact that they just can.
As I imagine, an average person is more likely to accept change when immediate benefits are presented, but I see none.
Ok, I’ll pay for your service, but at least don’t make ME thank YOU for doing so.
There are some great multiplayer games coming soon, like Halo Reach, that I really look forward to playing with some friends. I think Xbox Live is still relatively cheap, considering how much we get for it.
More money for something without fair incentive will never get good press, but I think this may be Microsoft gearing up for its new content, and maybe some new announcements. But, I’m an optimist, and they may just be screwing us.
I can’t even describe how hilarious this is as someone that’s had both a 360 and a PS3 for a good length of time. Let me get this straight, the PS3 slim – 250GB HDD, Wi-Fi, $299, you’re good to go. No surprise BS.
Then the 360 ‘slim’ comes out – 250GB HDD, Wi-Fi, $299.
the only difference is that you have to pay $60 for online, $25 for a controller charge kit, potentially $50 if you want to split audio and dont know the screwdriver trick, and you even have to buy a f*king cable to transfer your data from your OLD 360 to the new one.
Whats going to happen when the contracts for Bungie and Epic end and theres no more Halo and Gears, and people can get Mass Effect (which is one of my favorite games) on PS3 anyway. Whats going to be left ? . . . Kinect ? The 360 actually costs more in the long run than the competition already, why was this necessary ? God miscrosoft, this is why people started putting an $ in your name.
Yeah, you know, the response to this can be easily predicted. People who have or consider the subscription will have to start paying more, so that’s bad. And for people who don’t use the service (like me) it’s kinda easy to say it’s justified if you’re not affected by it.
Yes, having to pay more sucks. Whether it’s justified or not… well, we’ll see. That completely depends on what gamers think. If you think it isn’t worth it, cancel your subscription.
Companies are fighting for every single penny in those wallets of yours, but in the end it’s YOU deciding who gets what. If you want your voice to be heard, make sure you hit ‘m where it hurts. No, I’m not talking about swingin’ an axe at a random Microsoft CEO. If you feel that you are the hand that feeds them and they’re biting you, stop feeding.
It might feel like the power rests with a big company like that. If you’re used to having this subscription then having to live without it might be hard… but power lies with the gamer in this matter. Live subscribers have more power over Microsoft than they know. Also more than MS is willing to admit.
My prediction is that there will be no significant drop in subscriptions, considering gamers inherent willingness to take in everything shoved towards them. How can we expect games to be taken seriously if we’re not even willing to take ourself seriously. Seriously!
the thing i find most irritating is that im paying for stuff im not getting because i live in europe, and now im supposed to pay more for getting less than people in america
This is so backwards, you would think Microsoft would use Xbox Live as a way to entice gamers to invest in their product and to make current customers even happier.
Instead of a way to hook gamers up by reducing the cost of Live for people who have been members say 2-3 years to “reward” loyalty, they jack the price up, and what do they offer in return?
Nothing, no new features, the features they have are already available for free on the PC, Wii and PSN.
This whole thing reeks of “We lost billions on Xbox and 360, enough is enough, no more signing exclusive deals (explains the lack of exclusives), jack the price up and go and try make a few dollars by copying what Nintendo did, recoup our money as best possible and lets get the F out of this bussiness!”
People who are saying “oh its just 10 dollars a year who cares” are totally missing the point. Not only will you be paying extra for the service, you will be paying for that incomming DLC for Reach and Black Ops, you might be paying a fee to play Modern Warfare 3 by the sounds of what Activision is doing.
So when that news breaks out you will all say “oh well 8$ a month to play Modern Warfare 3, so what, thats totally worth it!” then the money starts mounting up and before you know it, you have paid a excess of 150 dollars for a few pieces of DLC, Live, the game, extra fee in just a few months, suddenly that dosent sound so great does it?
So the question remains…
Do you take the upgrade price which is $39.99 for 12 months now even if you current subscriptions isn’t until beginning of next year? Does it just tack on an extra 12 months? Is my current time left pro-rated or something?
I guess if I can get it now for $39.99 and save the potential $20 when it goes up that is worth considering.
I dont want to see increases but I also want to keep playing my games…I guess I could go outside but the sun is so bright and my skin so pale.
I live in hungary so xbox live will launch in a month or so in our own currency(HUF) so i won’t be able to realyl compare but I hope it’s not oo much preferably the equivalent of 8 bucks a month.
I’ve been considering selling my 360 for some time now and this just takes the cake. I’m definitely selling it now, it’s not too terrible of a price increase but seriously we are getting NOTHING extra. We still have to pay for movies, games, and add-ons so whats the point? I’m just gonna sign up for psplus now at least you get F&$king deals like free games and cheaper stuff. MS has lost all respect from me.
Here’s my axepert opinion:
I’m getting boned. Hard. All I use is the goddamn party chat and Netflix, and I pay extra for that. I’m not using Twitter, Facebook, LastFM, Zune, and especially not ESPN. Did I ask for this shit? No.
Will they make the price bump for optional features such as these instead of charging everyone? Fuck no they won’t. But its $10. So I don’t give a shit.
It’s only $10 more per year so that’s not a big deal in and of itself, but I see a problem if game publishers also start charging extra for the multiplayer in their games.
The only two features I really get out of my Gold membership are Netflix streaming (which I already pay for) and online play (which I don’t do that much of because of the random jerks online). Maybe I should be using more of the other consoles for these things then.
There is one good thing to come out of this. And that is we get to listen to the Axe crew reassure us that we are getting f-ed up the azz again on next weeks skirmish.
Fanboys wont care and that’s what Microsoft is counting on. They have to make up for all the people that have bought Ps3′s since the slim version came out and realize that ‘OMG! I dont have to pay to play with my friends’.
I have 360 but havent subscribed to gold for 2yrs now, since then many of my 360 have bought Ps3′s and also stopped subscribing to 360 gold membership.
For me, and most of my friends its just not worth it.
Well I think I’m done with my console, I haven’t played it in over a month anyway.
It was bad enough I had to pay 10 dollars more for over the pc release that sometimes wouldn’t show up till 6 months later or never (as the case is for 1943 Battlefield: it still hasn’t been released for the PC yet)
It was bad enough I had to pay $50 a year to game with my friends who chose to play on consoles, but it was an acceptable expense because my friends IRL don’t have computers that can run video games.
It was bad enough that EA and THX are adding $10 dollars to online play for their used games…and in some cases one can end up paying more then the cost of a new title at gamestop when they take this additional fee into account. I don’t buy EA sports titles anymore now, and THX, has only one title I play and that’s DOW.
Now the price goes up on the live service and some folks say the cost of the games are going to increase as well…the PS3 for me is not an alternative when the only time I play a console is when my friends who live out of town are on xbox live.
It won’t be much longer before I can’t justify gaming from a financial standpoint. I have car payments (just got a new one), insurance, computer upgrades, and a gun hobby (and the ammo isn’t cheap for that either). I refuse to give these up, I have put large investments into these. To simply “stop” one would be a waste.
This market is going to bleed itself dry.
This was going to happen sooner or later I guess. Even Pach-attack has been saying it for a while now so no surprise there. Sucks for you xbox owners though!
I agree with the person who said that instead of jacking up the price on loyal live users; they should be rewarded. I have had my live account since my Halo 2 days…I do not use any other features that are offered, only really play BFBC2 (which is also offered on PS3). I have been a loyal Xbox user for years but I think its time to make the switch to PS3. And it really isn’t about the money, but the principle. I guess Microsoft would rather raise the price to 60$ then collect my 100$ since I have two accounts that will be canceled.
I don’t even have a 360 and I’m pissed.
I haven’t subscribed to playstation plus because I don’t care about all of the extra stuff, I care about better online gaming experience. That’s why I am willing to pay the extra for xbox live because when it comes to gaming, PSN just doesn’t compare.
Hm, not surprised its getting more expensive. While i dont see the price increases to be too drastic, I could tell they waited as long as they possibly could to delay this announcement.
I saw the ms press conference and knew in the back of my mind this was coming because of all the crap they want to add to XBL. I still dont understand why I pay for XBL and still cant get the damn ads off of the dashboard. They really need to go with a tiered pricing system because i dont care about ESPN 3 or hulu or any of that other crap. I might have used netflix for a month but that got annoying because of the stupid interface and spent most of the time putting movies on the queue on my pc because it was so much quicker and easier.
I only hope that they are taking this money and really putting it towards improving the basic things that xbox live does (i.e. improving the quality of the sounds over the mic which they are doing)
Shit like this is why I say Micro$oft not Microsoft
AWESOME I LOVE IT BEST DECISION EVER MADE !!!
I have been watching EBA for a while now, and being a XBL member for about 6 years now, I have to say i am pretty pissed off. I have to say this is the first topic that made me get an account and let my voice be heard. Like really Microsoft, really!?! After becoming a loyal member to the Xbox community, this is how you treat me. Yeah it may be 10 bucks, but its my 10 bucks. Its not like they are adding any thing new…
For example, ESPN, Twitter, Facebook, and Netflix was all during or before this years E3, right?? So for me, I don’t know about anyone else, to believe that these added features would still be for the price I’ve been paying for the last 6 years.
And another point, do you even hear PSN or the Wii thing(lol) raising prices?? Or even having a price?? I say this, I think that some, if not a lot, will move to different platforms. Cause if you take a game like COD that may move to a subscription mode, you are now paying for XBL and whatever COD’s price is. No I’m not doing that. I’m not doing it. At all. I will play Facebook games before that happens…
Honestly, is it such a big deal? It’s 2 dollars a month or 10 dollars a year extra. This is the first time they’ve raised the cost of Xbox Live in EIGHT YEARS. Minimum wage was raised more in the eight years than what they’re raising the price for Xbox Live by(Minimum wage was raised $2.10 from 2002-2010). If this was part of a routine price hike that they’ve been doing yearly, I’d be bitching too, but it’s not so I won’t. Fact of the matter is it’s been eight years, inflation happens, and they’ve added tons of new stuff since they’ve started 8 years ago. Do I like paying extra money? No, but it’s not that much in the grand scheme of things and I like the service so I’m gonna pay it. Let the thumbs down commence!
I literally laughed out loud when I read this.
@BrotherFluffy: $2 at a time is how they get you. Next year it will be another $2, and $2 the next, and each time people like you will say “it’s only $2, it’s no problem.” Personally I think I’d rather spend $50/year on 1-2 more games than pay for something I get for free on my PS3.
All I have to say is I was not surprised at this at all, secondly I really hope they DON’T increase the price for people not in north america/ UK because they will NOT be receiving any of these extra services that come with Gold. That said I really hope Microsoft doesn’t rip off all those people who don’t live in the western hemisphere.
Lets hope that Microsoft steps up their game with some more free content.. maybe they will finally make those stupid ass avatar clothing free or something…I really doubt it though because thats probably the biggest Rip off/cash cow they have on the marketplace profit-wise ahahaha.. think about it xD you are paying anywhere from 2$-10$ for some pixels to put on more pixels…come on microsoft lol
Also to all the ps3 owners that are laughing at us.. it really depends on what you prefer, if you prefer getting most DLC day one.. xbox, if you want a constant great connection online, xbox.. but if you want decent gaming & don’t mind waiting a couple months for certain dlc’s and free online
then Ps3 all the way! Personally I could really care less about the dlc crap & such.. I just bought a xbox day 1 because of the game selection.. & to this date I still prefer the 360s library for the most part 
but we all know exclusives will all be in the past pretty damn soon. Publishers are just missing out on waaaaaaaaaaaay too much profit to keep that BS goin
(oh and I am not a 360 fanboy xD I have & still love my ps1 & ps2 ahaha but honestly.. I am still a snes fanboy at heart)
this is super lame…there is no feature on XBL which justifies a price increase when most of it is free on PSN or the PC…more over a lot of countries can’t even use these special feature coz we’re region blocked!!! ex. i cant even use Zune, Last.FM or even get some DLC like that of Gears…I love XBL but now their pushing it….i would rather have it cheaper but just be able to play online…maybe a different subscription service???
all this extra cash will keep going to fuel that epic FAIL waiting to happen (Kinect) since that thing has been announced all their fking cash has been pushed towards shitty advertising for that casual gamers over priced piece of shit and coz of that less and less exclusives are remaining on the xbox…
ill be buying my online games on the PS3 from now on and cancelling my LIVE subscription…i loved XBL but we need to take a stand
Why?! the greedy f@#$! they made a billion dollars on subscriptions alone last year
all i want out of XBL is the party chat, and occasional online games… i dont use Zune, netflix, and i only ever bought 1 DLC. maybe if there was a reason for the price change it could be warranted but this just seems like they want to get as much cash as possible, i figure they are trying to make a cushion if Kinect fails, but of course all those moms out there who want their child to be more fit are totally going to buy that ridiculously overpriced piece of plastic, seriously just turn off the TV and take them to the park, its as simple as that,and it doesnt cost anything!
HAHAHAHAHAHA HA Ha he he ha ha hu hu…. HA!
But seriously… to be fair to Microsoft… this was going to happen ether way you look at it as DLC and online content become more and more dominant in the Gaming Industry and if you compare the quality of service on the PS3 or Wii, you can say that the paying for XBL could be justified, however my view on XBL still stands.
A number of years ago when I owned a 360 and in the 2 years in which I had it, not once did I have the desire to use any of the online/multi-player, because the cost of it just put me off.
The only thing that I wanna pay for is for the internet that comes to my house… THAT’S IT!… and I know that up keeping of all the servers and all the content cost money, but that’s fine… those things can be easily payed for with the money we pay for content whether its movies or DLC or Games… BUT PAYING FOR SIMPLE ONLINE PLAY???… FUCK YOU MICRO$OFT… not to mention that my fellow Europeans don’t even get half the services that the US gets… so all this price increase is even worse!
looking it from this point of view, give PSN another year or so and I bet you that PSN Plus is going be a far better offering since PSN Plus is all about exclusive content and discounts on specific content rather then paying for any basic functions of online.
and NO… I don’t give a shit about CrossGame Chat… people who cry about that can look at XBL… and then shove it up their ass… you should be grateful if anything!
Micro$oft should have changed its pricing model to suit their customers to what they what… perhaps customise for what you want to have on your account… dollar by dollar or something like that… but NO
This argument might have carried some weight if it wasn’t EVERY EIGHT YEARS. Like I said, if it was a yearly thing, yeah, I’d bitch about it and some point probably stop paying for it. But if they’re going to increase the service by two dollars every eight years, I’ll keep paying.
Wow I’m totally glad they did this before they sold all those new Xbox 360′s with the new onboard wifi….
Oh…wait.
Seriously, you Xbox users totally got it right in the eye. And on some level you deserve it. You are paying for something Sony gives out for free and for what? Day One Downloads? Isn’t take something that should be gotten rid of? Isn’t that stuff that developers were too lazy too add in? Sony gives games, movies, and hell I can get comics on my PSP which are totally rocking. Are you REALLY going to pay $60 for a few exclusive download titles? Perhaps a demo or two? Well it’s your money but I think it a waste. I’m glad I sold my junker off and got a PS3. Stories like this only improve the Sony stock. I even got a slogan for them:
Sony, because we don’t charge you like those other a$$holes
See the dollars, inventive right!?
It would be fine if all their new services were free. Sure, you can download movies now – if you pay extra. Sure, you can download DLC for games – if you pay extra.
Not many of the new features are free so it doesn’t “really” justify the price increase. Yeah, they have Facebook now, but that’s just them giving you access to a website which you’re already paying for by paying for internet access, Microsoft has nothing to do with it, they’re not hosting Facebook.
Ah.. crap. The problem with me personally is that XBL does not serve “all the new features, that were added,” for my country – Lithuania.
So.. Can I pay a regular price for a service, that does not work? Guess not, which is a real shame
There some people who do not want to take advantage of those features, like my self.
I wouldn’t mind paying $50 a year and not be allowed to use the twitter, facebook, ESPN, Netflix, etc.. features.
I just want to play my games, sometimes download arcade games, and play demos. If only this could be an optional thing.
I’ve never really cared about paying for xbox live since just love how gaming with friends on live just works with the features like party system. When they started adding all these features like facebook/twitter/last.fm and now ESPN. I thought well that’s kinda cool but I really don’t give a shit. I really wonder how many people would opt out of these features if given the chance.
MS should put in a “gaming” subscription for xbl which only lets you play games/download demos/full games ect. but they probably won’t.
So the future of online gaming on the 360 looks like pay for your internet to your house (that’s standard) pay for Live (edit: now pay even more for Live) and then pay monthly to play Call Of Duty.
Good job Microsoft, with the impending pay to play price models what’s your solution? up the price of Live, could you be anymore fucking greedy and obvious?
Nice that the powers that be consider peoples circumstances isn’t it? fuck, they’re trying to bleed everyone dry, they’ll start charging us to turn out fucking consoles soon, a penny/cent for every time hundred times you hit the right trigger.
The level of greed in the video game industry is completely out of control, and yes i know it’s a business and they are here to make money but never have i seen a company so blatantly ripping people off as Microsoft continually does.
This is why I just buy 12 month prepaid Xbox live subscription cards on Amazon for $36.99.
I recently lost my 360 to my ex. I had planned on eventually replacing it. This kinda pushed me over the edge though… I’ll just be sticking with my Ps3…
Xbox Live is nothing more than a stripped down INTERNET BROWSER. Does your internet service provider or browser on your computer charge you more every time a new website comes online?
This is true Microsoft fashion. Make claims without any need to justify them. For once, I would actually like to see the expense reports for all their costs. Remember when they told everybody at launch they were taking a $50 hit on every 360 sale? Uh, cool I guess you’re business model just goes against every law of finances known to man and you’re providing a gaming console out of the goodness of your heart without profit…yea right. So I’m once again supposed to take their word for it that they aren’t making enough money. BOO F***ING HOO.
So their excuse is they’ve been offering more content over the years on Xbox Live and that’s why they have to charge more…isn’t that why I already paid for that content? What content on Xbox Live do they offer that’s FREE? Little to nothing. DLC packs, Netflix, Zune…all things that I ALREADY PAID FOR TO USE. So why the increase in price? Is their excuse that me already paying for this content once isn’t enough because THEY didn’t get a piece of the pie off of providing Netflix? Just like when they FORCED Epic and Valve to charge for DLC that’s free on the PC because they weren’t getting their share for doing nothing but providing it. F*** Them. They aren’t taking a hit off of providing it either, if anything they’re profiting off it already.
Furthermore, PSN has offered nearly everything Xbox Live has for the low price of FREE rather than $50 over the years and somehow Microsoft are the ones who aren’t making enough….Ironic?
And for anyone saying “Oh, it’s only $10″ what happens when they ask for another $10…and another? I only renewed my XBL for this year to finish Gears and Halo’s stories. After this I’m done and hopping on my PS3.
You’ve been paying for XBL for eight years? Jesus Christ, that’s over $300 you could have spent on a PS3, and then you wouldn’t have to pay for online services ever again!
this really grind my gears, I barely play games online as it is, but i really like the option too, I play demos and occasionally buy DLC, other than that I dont use many of the shit on XBL as it is, let alone the 3 new fetures. why should I pay 10 extra bucks now?