XBL Pricing Revealed

[zurich]

Microsoft Announces New Pricing Options for Xbox Live

May 8, 2003

Xbox Live gamers around the globe will be excited to hear about a host of new pricing options to debut this fall in North America. With renewal rates remaining the same as the Xbox Live launch last fall, Microsoft today announced the following pricing details:
Xbox Live one year renewal/subscription - $49.99
Xbox Live monthly rate - $5.99
Xbox Live Voice Communicator - $29.99
Xbox Live Starter Kit - $69.99

Linkage:

http://www.gamespydaily.com/news/fullstory.asp?id=5085

Another good job by Microsoft.. not too expensive per month, and on top of that, free online trials would do the service very well. I'm pleased to see that the renewal rate remains the same price of the initial starter kit. Not too sure how I feel about the new $69 starter kit though Thats a pretty high cost to swallow..

 

[Ozymandis]

That's pretty nice pricing. But I'm more concerned about the selection of games that are going to be offered in the future for Live, as the current lineup just isn't that impressive IMO

 

[zurich]

Yeah, I have my eyes on RTCW and MotoGP 2 though.

 

[Paul]

70 dollars for a Live kit? That's a joke.

Looks like I won't be getting Live in the future.

 

[zurich]

70 dollars for a Live kit? That's a joke.

Looks like I won't be getting Live in the future.

So buy one now and sit on it till you get broadband or whatever. The year is good from the day you pop the DVD in your Xbox, not from when you buy it.

edit: did you read the article? You dont have to shell out $70 for the starter kit, you can pay $6 for a month of service w/o the headset. If you like it, you can buy the year for $49 (or whatever). And on top of that, you can go out and get the headset if you want it too. The starter kit is not the ONLY WAY to get XBL... Amped 2 is supposed to come with 2 free months of the service too.

 

[Goldni]

ummm...I just dont know. I agree that the current XBL lineup is not so great. I'll wait and see what the future holds for it. Btw, I heard XBL kits are down in sales and that only 10% of XB owners have purchased a kit. Is that true? Is that a good business model for Nintendo to be impressed with so that they will be influenced to go online with the GCN?

 

[Paul]

I have broadband. Still, I think that the damn kit shouldnt be 70 bucks.

Let's say you do get the 1 year for 50 bucks, and buy the heaset seperate, the headset is 30 bucks so your total is 80.

Buying the kit to kill 2 birds with one stone is 70 bucks, still alot.

And let's say you want to pay per month, and then buy the headset. 6X12 =72 +30 which is 102 bucks for a year.

Playing without the headset IMO is a huge waste, that's one of Lives main features.

With all the money they have and all the billions they are throwing at Xbox, it kinda makes you wonder whey they don't make it cheaper, or close to free.

At this pricing, I would rather stick to a PC for online games.

 

[Qroach]

gimme a break, some people will try to find anyway to put it down.

This pricing is reasonable.

 

[chaphack]

Let see where Sony/Nintendo online is heading before putting down XBL.

 

[MfA]

I think their online division is getting the shaft, being forced to make a profit when they should just be driving the X-Box and the real cashcows (MMPOGs) forward ... sure development has cost them a bundle, although I assume the upgrades for games are paid for by the developers themselves, but actual upkeep costs should not require these kinds of fees since it is just a glorified matchmaking service.

I fail to see the reasoning behind putting up such a big hurdle for customers.

 

[zurich]

I have broadband. Still, I think that the damn kit shouldnt be 70 bucks.

Let's say you do get the 1 year for 50 bucks, and buy the heaset seperate, the headset is 30 bucks so your total is 80.

Buying the kit to kill 2 birds with one stone is 70 bucks, still alot.

And let's say you want to pay per month, and then buy the headset. 6X12 =72 +30 which is 102 bucks for a year.

Playing without the headset IMO is a huge waste, that's one of Lives main features.

With all the money they have and all the billions they are throwing at Xbox, it kinda makes you wonder whey they don't make it cheaper, or close to free.

At this pricing, I would rather stick to a PC for online games.

Heh, or like I said, buy the kit (& headset) now for $49 and install it whenever

Goldni,

I think XBL has been fairly successful for MS. There's atleast 500k users in North America, probably ~50-75k in Europe, and ~30k in Japan (it sold 30k in one week then disappeared from the charts heh). Those are very, VERY nice numbers for a subscription service, and it adds immense incentive to purchase XBL enabled titles.

Hey, Verant makes boatloads per month off EQ's 400-500k userbase at $9/month. I think these numbers are very respectable, and like others said, the lineup until today has been very ho-hum. Halo 2 will, without a doubt, be the killer app for the service, and thats some time away. Until then, MotoGP 2 is looking very very nice.. and you can't get games like that on a PC (RTCW looks nice, but its still something that can be had for free on PC).

edit:

Look at the competition, Nintendo (which requires additional hardware) has PSO.. and, well, PSO. Sony (which requires additional hardware) has SOCOM (which everyone only seems to play), Auto Modelista, FreQ2, EQoA, and the sports games. And before you bring up the starter kit as 'additional hardware', as you see above, its no longer required.

MS is certainly leading the pack in terms of online gaming, I really don't think there's any doubt. You can compare XBL to PC online gaming all you want, but save for an FPS or two, the games offered are totally different (thus a waste of time..).

Anyhow, I think XBL can only get better. More (custom) racers, DoA Online (which was just announced), big robot games (TEKKI WARS!!), and ofcourse creme de la creme FPSs like Halo 2

I do admit that if Syphon Filter Online (and maybe GT4) live up to the hype, I could be forced to pick up a PS2 NA.

oh, and anyone who brings up Mario Kart with GSpy tunnel deserves a smack in the face! That prog is crap.

 

[DeathKnight]

With all the money they have and all the billions they are throwing at Xbox, it kinda makes you wonder whey they don't make it cheaper, or close to free.

Sheesh... I guess it's a crime now to try and make just a tiny bit of money or try not to lose as much money. They're practically bending over backwards for their customers with these prices anyway, which are more than fair.

For returning customers and new subscribers who want to just pay for the service the price is $50....... $50....... for one whole year, 365 days. What an absolute nerve-wracking investment there I'm sorry, but you'd have to be a full-blown cheapskate to complain about $50 for an entire year's service. If you want the whole kit and kaboodle it's just $20 more. That'll really dent your wallet too.... *sarcasm*

 

[Vince]

I think their online division is getting the shaft, being forced to make a profit when they should just be driving the X-Box and the real cashcows (MMPOGs) forward

I can't agree more, what you stated was spot-on.

I fail to see the reasoning behind putting up such a big hurdle for customers.

Agreed, especially to anyone under the age of 18. [Parents] + [monthly fee for videogaming] + [credit-card] = [Trouble].

Gimme a break, some people will try to find anyway to put it down.

This pricing is reasonable.

Q, I'm trying hard to see this fairly and would be the first to say MS made a good choice, but they didn't. I can't seem to understand how the average kid is going to convince their parents to shell out $50 a year for videogaming ontop of the game price, ontop of broadband (although this is negligable do to other uses). Needless to say when there is competition that's basically free for the same thing - it makes me wonder if this will suceed large scale. Older gamers might not want to play online (more 'casual') and younger ones have the parent factor. Aswell as the parents who when they buy it will choose the one that's cheaper. How big is that middle again??

 

[zurich]

Q, I'm trying hard to see this fairly and would be the first to say MS made a good choice, but they didn't. I can't seem to understand how the average kid is going to convince their parents to shell out $50 a year for videogaming ontop of the game price, ontop of broadband (although this is negligable do to other uses). Needless to say when there is competition that's basically free for the same thing - it makes me wonder if this will suceed large scale. Older gamers might not want to play online (more 'casual') and younger ones have the parent factor.

I guess this just goes back to the old question of, 'what demographics own what console'?

As an early twenty something making not-very-much, I don't find XBL much of a hassle. Sony Online stuck by their guns for creditcard pricing on EQ, and it seems to work marvels for them.. I could see this being trouble for sub 18 year olds, but really, aren't they just the blockbuster rental crowd? People who can afford to buy games generally work full time, and thus find the XBL pricing trivial.

That said, are there any recentish NPD reports showing the userbase per age per console piechart?

Besides, early speculation pegged the service at anywhere from $9-11/month, so I'd say MS beat expectations on this one.. I think the real issue will be when the plethora of pay-to-play games come out in the coming years. I don't see the average joe willing to pay for more than 1 or 2 titles plus the service charges per month..

 

[mat]

interesting prices. i really expected 10 €/Month, maybe i'll get Live when its available in Austria (and the Pricing is similar)

 

[chaphack]

I fail to see the reasoning behind putting up such a big hurdle for customers.

How is it any bigger than having to buy a PS2 NA?

[Parents] + [monthly fee for videogaming] + [credit-card] = [Trouble].

-Those with XBL can renewal their 1 year subscription for 50 bucks.
-Those without XBL can buy the starter kit with 1 year subscription and headset for 70 bucks.
-Monthly fees, 6 bucks, are for those who wants to testplay XBL, without the need to commit 1 year to it. Stop paying when you feel like it!
-Headsets sold separately, 30 bucks. Headsets are no longer require to play XBL.

Pay to play will be the future for online games, MS is just having a headstart. The new XBL pricing is pretty fair. Haterz were expecting MS to charge exhorbitant fees in the second year, too bad MS didnt.

. I can't seem to understand how the average kid is going to convince their parents to shell out $50 a year for videogaming ontop of the game price, ontop of broadband

Same situation with PS2.

Needless to say when there is competition that's basically free for the same thing

We wouldnt know yet.
EA is considering to charge fees.
EA is not supporting 2k3 online games when 2k4 games are release.
FFXI needs a NA + HDD + monthly fees.
Capcom charges monthly fees for Automodelista in Japan.
RE: Online will have a monthly fee of around 4 bucks iirc.
Will Sony start to charge for their games, SOCOM2(will they support SOCOM1 anymore?), EQA2(will they support EQA1 anymore?), Syphon Filter3, GT4, Arc Online...nice list to rake up the dough...?

 

[chaphack]

Not to forget, Sony online golf game has a monthly fee in Japan too.

 

[ChryZ]

50$ for the Live service, but every publisher could charge additionally on top of that? PSO, right? So you'll get voice-over-ip and an instant message account and some p2p-gameplay for that 50$? And you have to give away your credit-card before you could play one minute online (even if you already paid 50$), for even further pricey downloads, like new tracks / new levels / new cars / game modes. Sure you don't have to buy the latest tracks, but hey all your friends only play the new ones ... happy new online gaming world

 

[London Geezer]

YEAH..... nice hey.... hope they come up with something less flashy next gen or i'll only plug my ps3 to the electricity.... it's gonna suck a lot of that anyway methinks.....

 

[chaphack]

but every publisher could charge additionally on top of that?

When that becomes prevalent, we talk(not including MMORPGs).

PSO, right?

Blame Sega.

for even further pricey downloads, like new tracks / new levels / new cars / game modes

When that becomes prevalent, we talk.

...happy new online gaming world

That is the future for you. Companies are not pushing online just because, ITS THE GAMES! But because there are monnies to be made.

Right now, XBL has to be the best online architecture out of the 3 consoles. Now waiting for Halo2 Lived!!!!