news-record.com

NEWS

Xbox Live subscription fees to increase

Article
Comments (3)

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

(Updated 3:42 pm)

By
Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — Microsoft is raising subscription prices for its popular Xbox Live Gold online gaming service in the U.S. and three other countries.

Beginning Nov. 1, an annual Gold membership will cost $60, up from $50. A three-month subscription will cost $25, up from $20. And a one-month subscription will be $10, up from $8. Xbox owners mainly use the service to play multiplayer games such as "Call of Duty" online.

Prices are also going up for some membership tiers in Mexico, Canada and the U.K.

Larry Hryb, better known in gaming circles as Major Nelson and the director of programming at Xbox Live, announced the changes Monday. He said Microsoft Corp. has added more content and services to Xbox Live since its 2002 launch. Until now, the prices have been the same.

Advertisement | Advertise with Us

Comments

View Comments

This article has been closed to new comments. Comments are generally closed after 14 days. However, comments may be closed earlier at the discretion of the News & Record.

Inappropriate content? Please report abuse.

gatecitycanes

August 31, 2010 - 2:30 pm EDT

Looks like it may be time to switch to PS3. It's my understanding that they don't charge anything for access to the Playstation Network.

Mike Fuchs

August 31, 2010 - 3:46 pm EDT

They don't. It's free. Same with Wii. I own an Xbox 360 and have subscribed to Xbox Live for years, so I'm curious what PS3 owners think of their online service.

It seems like a pretty bold move on Microsoft's part to raise the rate, knowing full well its chief rivals offer online gaming for free, which makes me wonder if it's a case of you get what you pay for when comparing these services.

Packfan4life

August 31, 2010 - 6:14 pm EDT

Xbox is a rip off anyway. I bought two of them, one for each kid last Christmas. I bought a PS3 for myself for gaming and watching movies. PS3 come with blue ray, rechargable controllers, wireless capability, the games aren't as prone to being destroyed if the console is accidentally bumped, and the online service is free. PS3 is $300.00 with all of this. It will cost you alot more to equip a Xbox with all of this. I have been trying to get my kids to sell theirs. Even the people at the video stores can't stand the xbox because of the recurring cost of replacing games. They do not see this as much with the more scratch resistant PS3 games.