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Xbox Live Price To Rise – Analyst
Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter expects Xbox Live Gold membership prices to rise significantly over the next couple of years.
Speaking in a video interview with GTTV, Pachter said that Microsoft would raise the cost of access to the Xbox 360 online service in a bid to drive profits.
"You can't hook a guy into Xbox Live Gold if he's playing on a PC," he said, according to CVG. “That's the other problem - you really want to hook every gamer who has a 360, you want them to buy all their games on 360, play everything multiplayer, pay you $50 a year so that, in a couple years, it's $100 bucks a year [£61]. And that's going up, we all know that ... it's a profit deal.”
A year's Xbox Live Gold subscription currently carries an RRP of £39.99 in the UK. A Gold subscription to the service - which had over 20 million active members across 26 countries as of May 2009 - is required to play multiplayer games online.
In addition to other existing features, upcoming service updates will introduce Twitter, Facebook, Last.fm and Sky TV functionality to Xbox Live.
Microsoft is currently the only one of the three platform holders to charge for online gaming.
Speaking on the same programme recently, Pachter also suggested that the “iPod touch is the most dangerous thing that ever happened” to game publishers.
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Of course, MS is not going to raise Live! prices.
I think people forget that Pachter has freely admitted that he likes making outlandish statements to maintain a high profile. This approach has made him the most recognizable financial analyst in the industry and is the reason you know see all these Pachter wannabe's making their own ridiculous statements each month now. Name recognition equates to an additional several hundred thousand dollars in his industry.
At the end of the day, Xbox Live membership fees are what put me off getting the origonal Xbox and its sequel. You pay far too much for games and to get the whole experience you have to pay even more? I'm just amazed so many people actually do it. I know the service you get from Xbox LIve is very good, but the PSN can only get better but yet is still free for things like online gaming. I doubt M$ will be putting the price up until the next Xbox comes around, but they will see Live as a revenue stream ripe for exploitation.
I don't think games are overpriced, and are roughly the same price on Xbox 360 and PS3.
I was put off the online aspect of the Xbox, but I have a gold membership now. I got mine for £27 for a year, so £2.25 a month, and it couldn't have been more worth it IMO. PSN may be GETTING better, but Xbox Live IS better, and for £2.25/month who cares about free online gaming that doesn't work properly?!
One thing I'm really starting to hate though is downloadable content. Gone are the days where you actually get the whole game you pay for in the first place. Now a lot of games cost £60 in total as you have to buy all the map packs for them which should have been included initially, or you can't join a lot of online games. It's disgusting!
COD: World at War for example, most of the multiplayer levels included are just single player levels re-used. Would it have been too much to include some original multiplayer levels too, instead of having to pay for them afterwards?!
As Edge has pointed out, comparing the 360's sales against PS3 sales of the same time frame (ie year one against year one), the PS3 is out performing the 360.
The only thing keeping MS where they are and not in 3rd place is their year lead.
If that's the best they can do then their position is quite fragile. I can see them easily having to spend more to stay competitive since no one outside of the UK or US really likes them.
If the US decides to go for the next PS over the next xbox they're pretty much done and it's not like their profits have been bad ass this generation anyway so yeah it's quite feasible that they'll have to up costs somewhere.
They've already raised game prices form $50 to $60. I doubt they'll get away with $70.
I find this doubtful. as PSN increases in quality one would hope M$ would try to compete better...though they may see its situation as a 'monopoly' on multiplayer 360 gaming, so maybe they'll charge whatever the hell they want. Charging $100 a year would certainly make it that much less likely I'll have the money to buy a PS3, haha.
Is Pachter just throwing out any old toss now? Because Microsoft isn't making any money off their cons- Oh wait. But they're not making any money off their already ridiculously priced peripher- Oh wait. Because they're not making any money off XBL memb- Oh wait. Even the quote doesn't make much sense. It's going up because Microsoft wants people to be playing on XBL? No dice, Pachter. Oh, and Natal will be $90US. Probably more.
That's the real question here: is Pachter ever right? Is someone keeping track?
I read that quote about 5 times trying to work out its relevance to the piece, your right it doesnt make sense, nor does it make sense for MS to charge more for Live.
Ohwell, as long as you get a bit more bang for your buck then there is no reason why they shouldn't raise the price. Having said that, if it's going to be the same old same old, that would be a shame.
The large majority of people will pay. They might not be happy about it though!
I'm sure a price rise is on the cards at some point, considering that the 360 is likely to have a considerable lifespan. Doubling the price within 24 months absolutely seems excessive and yet it wouldn't be altogether surprising if Microsoft thinks the userbase is so ensnared that they'll cough up the cash no matter what.
Personally, I'd like to see them concentrate more on optional paid services to make profit. The Sky TV service would have been a fine place to start. Alternately, maybe a Platinum service offering 'extras' for an increased fee would be a way to go.
With TWO competitors on the market not charging money for multiplayer features, I don't see why prices should rise. If anything, they should drop.
Another problem are 3rd party developers. Imagine Infinity Ward developing multiplayer for PC, PS3 and 360 only to see ANOTHER company earning money on their userbase via subscriptions.
I highly doubt that we'll be looking at over £60 for a gold membership, given that's where over 90% of the revenue is coming from. Microsoft will be looking at convincing more people to buy DLC and XBLA games, as there is definitely room for growth there
Gamers are just getting a raw deal on the 360 when it comes to online play.
Similarly on the PS3, if we're going to make sweeping generalizations.