Xbox Live will be $100 per year, Pachter believes |
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| BY Rain Anderson Oct. 18th, 2009 | More on: |
Wedbush analyst Michael Pachter expects Microsoft to raise the price of Xbox Live Gold membership from the current $50 to $100 per year in the next few years.
“You can’t hook a guy into Xbox Live Gold if he’s playing on a PC,” Pachter said in a GTTV discussion talking about how Microsoft has seemingly given up on the PC gamer market. “… 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 bucks a year so that, in a couple years, it’s a 100 bucks a year.”
“And that’s going up, we all know that … it’s a profit deal,” he concluded.
Thoughts?
October 18th, 2009
at 5:38 pm
I don’t think that’ll happen. They’d have to have like 90% of of the market to even think of pulling something like this off. Even with $50 a year, LIVE is the better choice for now. But PSN is catching up and doing things better. I don’t think they’ll ever reach a point where they’d be better than LIVE but I do think some people will choose a somewhat lesser service in order to save that $100.
October 18th, 2009
at 6:48 pm
Yes, if this were to actually happen, I would not renew. I’d just stick to PSN at that point.
October 18th, 2009
at 7:00 pm
He has been wrong in the past guys.
With PSN still free I cannot see this happening.
But hey not uncommon for M$ to partake in a bit of consumer anal raping.
October 18th, 2009
at 7:25 pm
its hard to justify $50 a year for what they offer as is, not gonna happen.
October 18th, 2009
at 10:32 pm
Yeah, I think this prediction of his is way off. If anything they’ll lower the price a bit as PSN starts to catch up.
October 18th, 2009
at 10:33 pm
They will lose me as a customer if the raise the price even a penny. It is overpriced as it is and when SONY and NINTENDO get there act together and make there online service as good then MS will have to make it free as well. This isn’t the first time analysts like Michael Pachter have been WAY off the mark and I am quite certain he is here as well.
October 18th, 2009
at 10:42 pm
I this happends I will forget about xbox and strictly stick with my playstation 3 and Wii. They will lose me as a customer most definately.
October 19th, 2009
at 1:12 am
that guys a moron… the xbox360 is already struggling since the ps3 started selling for 299.99 .. WITH WIFI AND FREE ONLINE PLAY. Hell, i’m having a hard time convincing my friends to pick up an xbox OVER a ps3 when they’d have to spend an additional 100-150 bucks just to play with me. . i own both, but prefer the 360 but for 100 bucks a year for XBL, i’ll pass.
anyway, it’s not going to happen, some dumbass said something, and dumbasses panic
October 19th, 2009
at 1:55 am
It’s easy for anyone, especially an analyst, to make any claim without any substantiated basis. Mr. Pachter’s charge of Microsoft raising the price for Live services is not based on anything Microsoft has stated. The last quote explains Mr. Pachter’s stance very clearly: he sees such a raise in price as a profit move.
There has been no indication by Microsoft Corp. that prices for Xbox Live services will go up in the immediate future. Trying to determine the pricing standards for the future is futile, since we don’t know what the circumstances will be in several years.
Don’t take Mr. Pachter’s opinion too seriously, as it is not based on factual information. Only Microsoft is capable of announcing any possible changes to Live pricing standards.
October 19th, 2009
at 2:57 am
I don’t think the market would support it. Speaking as a 360 owner I don’t like paying for the service now. However, you get what you pay for and the ease of use is worth $50 US to me. If you double that when you considering PCs and PS3 multiplayer is free it isn’t going to happen in the current market.
October 19th, 2009
at 3:18 am
I can’t see this happening, Here in the UK they are doing deals like £34.99 for 12 months or 2.89 per month get 14 months. Sony is close, sure it still has some catching up to do, but the end of the day as long as I can play online and have some form of communication with my friends it doesn’t bother me. Party Chat spoils team based games, in the sense that the lobbys are empty and quiet if your playing alone, 1 side could be split in to many parties.
I can only see them increasing the value of it, because its harder and harder to justify it. The PSN is catch up but Nintendo are way off. Can’t believe super mario wii is not online co op!!!
So yeah I don’t see a price reduction I only see added values, unless they bundle your netflix and live subscription and something else together, just like here they might choose to bundle the upcoming Sky with Live and some other stuff.
October 19th, 2009
at 4:56 am
my xbl service is amazing. 100 times better than my psn experience. its not much more than buying a game. and if ur freting over such little money then dont be bitching about video games.
i for one think the xbl service is fantastic. true skill and matchmaking are #1 and i love all the early and exclusive content. people need to stop being cheap. cuz its kids upset about it. i understand the value of a dollar and all they do they need their due.
plus tihnk of what it being $100 would do. how more advanced the service will get
October 19th, 2009
at 6:37 am
i own 360 but i hate it sooooo much . i wish psn get better.
October 19th, 2009
at 6:39 am
pachter is way of base with this one and he is getting worse every week. he also said gta4 stories would sell two to three million copies or more. why do they keep having him back on the bonus round. its like getting gaming advise from my grandmother.
October 19th, 2009
at 7:42 am
I AGREE… BUT THEN AGAIN PSN IS FREE AND THOUGH IT IS FREE LOOK AT THE DIFFERENCE…. I THINK ITS WORTH IT BUT IT BETTER HAVE MORE SHT… FOR A $100 BUCKS….
October 19th, 2009
at 8:22 am
hahah if that happens in the next few years, then the price of xbox live will be worth more than the consoles lololol
its not gonna happen, and if it does then everyone will sell their xbox’s.
i know i will
if i remember correctly xbox live was gonna have ads on it..
if thats the case shouldnt the price of live go down>
October 19th, 2009
at 8:46 am
“its hard to justify $50 a year for what they offer as is, not gonna happen.”
Yes, especially when you log on and can actually connect to games without your console requiring ANOTHER firmware or game-specific stability update that takes 40 minutes to download. It really is too much to pay when compared to the PS3 which…oh, hang on….does exactly that, seemingly every single time I want to sit down and play a game for an hour or two.
Bought PAIN on PSN two weeks back. Have to download a 300mb update to be able to play anything other than the first level. Can’t. Why? Because every time I try to, the server disconnects me at around the 30% mark. Yet, I can download 1.5Gb demos over XBL without any problems at all - and in good time. Both consoles are wired into my LAN and I have no other connectivity issues with anything on my network.
I love the folks who play for HUNDREDS of hours a year on Xbox Live, who are now up in arms because $100 is too much to pay and $50 was “pushing it.” Say you play online for 200 hours in a year. What can you get at Blockbuster that gives you an hour of entertainment for $0.50 or, as it stands now, $0.25? How many 1 and a half hour movies do you get to see at the cinema where the ticket costs $0.75?
I’d pay $100 because its worth that much. I’d pay for PSN too, if it was any good.
October 19th, 2009
at 8:46 am
I like Pachter, but he’s also just a human - his predictions are as good as mine: 50% at best.
What I like a lot is that with his “guestimates” companies are “forced” to provide more information even if it’s just a “no comment on speculation”.
October 19th, 2009
at 9:21 am
dont forget xbox for most is an auto subscription so you will reciveve a new terms and conditions and as most companys take it as accepted if you dont choose within a certin period your subcription will auto take out the desired money. You have to actualy ring to cancle a subsciption. Which i did last year never looked back. Ps3 is much better for online and community features than it used to be and as a free service will jump ahead. Much like the consol sales have in recent months.
Still doesnt cut it for me rather have pc and options to upgrade individual parts. better online support gaming community . pity warfare 2 on pc has no dedictaed and stripped down for console this means a lot of unhappy pc gamers will not be getting the game. already a petition out with 57,000 signitures and Growing. http://www.fmj-squad.com/index.php?page=MW2Petition
please sign chekc it out.
October 19th, 2009
at 9:23 am
If this happens (Big if) Microsoft will be handing yet another advantage to Sony in the online battle. As it stands $50 per year is absolute highway robbery, especially when PSN (Which is a much better service) is completely free. $100 per year would be insanity - i doubt even Microsoft would do something this stupid.
October 19th, 2009
at 9:36 am
I don’t see this happening. PSN is getting better and better and while it is not up to Xbox live yet is is free. Plus hardcore gamers are generally smart enough to figure out how to setup virtual lans for using system link over the internet if they did raise the price I would expect to see a lot more of that.
October 19th, 2009
at 9:45 am
This time Pachter is right ,microsoft want your money.prepare to pay 100 bucks per year because project natal will be much expensive for microsoft.
October 19th, 2009
at 10:15 am
“plus tihnk of what it being $100 would do. how more advanced the service will get”
You’re assuming the service will get better at all. I love it as it is and it’s worth the $50, but I doubt we’ll see much improvement at all if they double the price. That seems to be a rare occurrence. My cable company has slowly been raising prices and all I’ve gotten out of it is fewer channels. Hell, my Blockbuster Online service was $14.99 a month, they raised it to $16.99 and out of that, I lost my unlimited in-store rentals and gained absolutely nothing. They also made it so in-store rentals count as a “movie out” and they won’t mail you new ones until you return the in-store rental. I canceled and went to Netflix.
October 19th, 2009
at 11:06 am
Pachter is such a blooming imbecile.
Consumers will not put up with a gaming service that costs 99.99 a year. If microsoft would take such an action there would be a mass migration of online gaming to the PS3 and PC. Microsoft has already pushed the limit by charging the 49.99 currently for the Live service.
October 19th, 2009
at 11:12 am
Microsoft would lose more than gain by raising the price. Plus it takes money for it’s other services so if they made those free and then raise it yearly I wouldn’t mind. Like free netflix…
October 19th, 2009
at 11:44 am
If this is true this will be the downfall of Microsoft xbox and xbox live. Sony’s PSN will be dominant online experience when this happens.
October 19th, 2009
at 12:09 pm
i think your queer oh wow no one plays computer games anymore so why put money into whats not instead of what it….it isnt gonna happen anyway live is what is hold xbox together and any of the two companies systems together cause psn is a piece of crap and ps3 is horrid all together theres only 1 game on it and thats it
October 19th, 2009
at 12:55 pm
Jeremy - are your parents brother and sister???
PS3 has had more and BETTER exclusives in this year alone then the Xbox 360 has had throughout it’s entire lifecycle…..you must be retarded.
Also, any self - respecting gamer knows that PSN is 20x the service XBL will ever be, there’s nothing Microsoft offer that can come close to HOME. PSN being given away for free is just a kick in the face to anyone stupid enough to buy a 360 - a console that hasn’t had a SINGLE exclusive game for the past 12 months.
October 19th, 2009
at 2:29 pm
this is stupid. microsoft isnt going to raise fee for live ever. they already get enough hate for charging a meesly $50 a year (if you get upset over that tiny of a price, then you are either a poorfag or stupidfag, make your choice), only an idiot would raise the price by 100%.
October 19th, 2009
at 2:40 pm
David then kill everyone that love XBOX. In the name of SONyYif you feel that way. And they not retared. They have there personal taest just like you. In the end you are retarded for saying that. uh when you do kill all XBOX fans. SONY will make game in your honnor.
October 19th, 2009
at 2:53 pm
But Sony and Nintendo aren’t going to make it as good as XBox Live. I’m sorry, but it costs way too much money to create a solid gaming network and then offer it for free. That’s why XBox Live will always be better and more reliable than PSN.
October 19th, 2009
at 2:53 pm
That is not Microsoft’s way. They would rather nickel and dime us on individual services rather than upping the price by $50. For example, $50 would be the initial subscription fee. If you want the face book connection, add $10 a year. You want HD streaming video, add $10 a year. Listen to Last.fm? Add $10 a year, ect. They already do it with all their hardware accessories anyway.
October 19th, 2009
at 3:19 pm
Keep the Xbox, lose the gold, buy a PS3 and never look back. Oh and hate them forever, as opposed to my current disdain.
October 19th, 2009
at 3:22 pm
To the people, who still thinks that PSN is entirely free: time to wake up and study business basics.
Sony is actually charging developers (or titles’ right owners on that matter) for their content, published @ PSN, that’s where money for PSN growth and development are coming from. You put a demo/game/DLC at PSN - pay up for traffic. You have an ad at the PSN space - pay up for commercial. Easy as that. With cross-game chat feature (the long term whining argument from Xbox lovers) is on it’s way, Sony have left to figure out one issue really: strategic PSN datacenters’ location and optimal routing for deliverying content on blazing speed continent- and worldwide. I really struggle to realise Live!’s benefits over PSN after these steps will be done.
October 19th, 2009
at 3:52 pm
I have to sadly disagree. If Microsoft was smart they would lower the price instead of raise. Most of their products are already overpriced and just adding on won’t help. I like the Xbox, it does thing i can’t do with the PS3 like stream music, pictures, and videos off my computer. I am a Xbox user, just not a LIVE Gold Member. For anyone you have to respect that not everybody can afford $50 and that we are in this dying economy, with MS still making a lot of money. Raising it will be a great downfall for them and future products they might come out with.
October 19th, 2009
at 4:15 pm
This statement is completely wrong in several ways and here is why. First gold membership is FINALLY priced accordingly. Considering you have netflix, premium gold content, (for me) a stable connection ALL THE TIME, twitter, facebook, marketplace content, live video through your camera to friends, streaming music and video from your pc through your system. I can say yeah my $50 is spoken for with xbox live service. Where it would not be is by charging someone lets say $100 for gold membership and they are casual or less then casual players but still want there gold content/access. That isn’t fair, plain and simple. It doesn’t make any sense on how you may crunch the numbers paying more just isn’t the way. I can see Microsoft dropping some apps or companies if $50 doesn’t cover the cost before raising it.
October 19th, 2009
at 4:28 pm
Once again the brainwashed xbots think they they have something over sony. Live has nothing worth paying 50 dollars for. I will give u crossover game chatting. The psn can hold its own. Oh and don’t even bring up netflix. That is a joke on there a majority of the movies nobody has ever even heard of and secondly the rest they have were big movies 20 years ago. By the time they make the library more current it will be on the psn. The only thing ms is successful at is sucking more money out of you xbots. Wake up people !!!!!!!!!
October 19th, 2009
at 5:15 pm
Not ever ‘xbot’ pays for live :/ i dont, and i still find ways to enojoy it.
October 19th, 2009
at 5:26 pm
yeah, here is my thought on this article:: you’re an idiot for even suggesting that Microsoft would double the price of Live Gold, when Sony offers something very similar (soon with cross game voice chat) for free…
October 19th, 2009
at 5:49 pm
Okay guess ill add my two cents in the matter.
1. xbox 360 has a large client base of kids to adults of all ages. they spend $50 bucks roughtly a year on live. you add 50 more a year and to roughly $100 as starting price you will end up having people go to PS3 for only a little more the first year and free everything from then on out.
2. Only way i would continue to play on live with it being $100 is if all DLC was free for games. Arcade prices were dropped. Otherwise im playing offline from then on out.
3. You announce today that in 1 month all Xbox live monthly fees are $100. Ill go out and buy 4+ years gold membership cards for $50 a piece and save $200 out of your pocket because after inputting them into my account thats 4 years service i got as gold. Any additions added free for gold are also mine. And if they void the codes because my price was not $100. M$ will be refunding my accound for what i spent on the gold membership programs. so im still in the win.
4. Dude. wheres your proof that they would do that? how long have they had live up and running and not upped the price on it? all im seeing on Live is cheaper deals.
5. Get your head out your ass and stop pissing people off. and please dont have a degree in anything other then Bull$h!t because you’re full of it.
October 19th, 2009
at 5:51 pm
u think all the advertisements u have to look at on live would be more than enough to pay for everyone’s gold membership, and i’m sure it is but they want every penny they can get, and netflix doesn’t have any movies from sony pictures so that’s a good amount of good movies missing right there.
October 19th, 2009
at 6:23 pm
my thought is that it disgusting that this is even being talked about. I love the fact that even though PS3 is free microsoft wants to charge for online play ( i have both consoles so I’m not in the mood for fan boy flip outs) and not only that they wanna continue to crap on their fans by increasing the price? Yeah thanks microsoft that really makes me feel a warm and fuzzy inside when I support your company now.
October 19th, 2009
at 8:31 pm
thoughts? ppl will throw away their 360 and get ps3 cuz psn is free
October 20th, 2009
at 3:55 am
Didnt this dude say that Sony would have the biggest share of the market in 2010 and Nintendo would be in dead last in the console war? Nostradamus he aint. Ms could put up the price of live but they would lose alot of online users. I see its more likely that they would drop the price and stick an extra 50 mspoints on to everything on the market place.
October 20th, 2009
at 12:49 pm
Karl - i said Jeremy was retarded for the ignorant statements he made, not because he bought an Xbox 360, learn to read next time. Also, YOU’RE retarded for saying i was retarded after not even bothering to read my post properly.
October 20th, 2009
at 4:53 pm
Sorry David. SONY fans think all XBOX fans are retarded for geting a XBOX 360. And this what I get in GAMEPRO.
October 20th, 2009
at 5:55 pm
This really irks me. One, because Pachter is probably right. And two, because I find it hard to believe that we put up with this crap. I am as guilty as anyone else on XBL. First off, I have been a long time PC gamer and I would never put up with this on the PC. But I own a 360, I have my gold subscription on auto-renew, and I ignore the fact that I’m getting reamed each and every time I play a 360 game: first for the price and second for the pleasure of playing on a console that I’ve already purchased. The fact that I hook it up to the wall should not constitute and extra charge.
It’s clear Mircosoft doesn’t care about the PC anymore, since they’ve discovered that no one wants a structure like that found on the XBOX. The problem with that very few publishers are willing to take a stand and fore-go profits for customer satisfaction. And we get stuck with the bill…over and over again. The current situation with Modern Warfare 2 is a perfect example. The less they try to make PC gaming appealing, the less they’ll worry about developing for the platform in the future. And if all that’s left is the 360, Microsoft won’t have to justify anything any more. Either pay it, or go play with a stack of Dominos.
Games may be fun, but this corporate d*ckery is getting out of control.
October 21st, 2009
at 6:28 am
Haven’t had the xbl experience but i’ll stick with psn. Never heard of a 360 title that can support 250 players online [ie "Mag"]. From what i’ve read and heard; UC2 blows Gears 2 in mp and single player. MW2 has to be heaps better xbl than psn to justify the current price of $50. I just hope that once the ps3 becomes more popular it doesn’t start charging for psn. Only time will tell.
Ps: Fat princess is one heck of a game and its only on psn.
October 23rd, 2009
at 7:19 am
mcflann72. . . your logic is pretty f#ck#d up. “XBL service is fantastic. true skill and matchmaking are #1.”. . . your a liar. XBL service is not terrible but it is definately not FANTASTIC and the Matchmaking is way off . . I don’t know what games you are referring to. It’s gamers like you that create the price increases.
It’s not because gamers are cheap . . it’s because Microsoft F@CKS you out of money to make that extra profit on everything and we are tired of it. Microsoft/XBL does not give 2 sh@ts about the gamer . . it’s all about the profit. Microsoft ships the 360 with auto problems so that you have to replace it within a year. PS has always made quality consoles and handhelds vs Microsofts piece of crap RRoD and shitty wireless adapter.
I like playing both systems, but PS is the winner in the end with it’s HOME and FREE service.
November 10th, 2009
at 12:08 am
1. Add up all of the years of gold you have been subscribed to and multiply bu 50 for a rough USD ammount
2. Subscribe to the 7$ yearly XBox Live Diamond Savings Card
3. Buy a products you will use until you have met the total years worth of XBL.
4. Realize that all those years of XBL have been free.
5. ?????
6. PROFIT!
November 10th, 2009
at 2:01 pm
PSN fanboys please stay away… Anyway if that happens i might consider just playing PSN or no multiplayer at all…..
December 15th, 2009
at 10:55 pm
GOD if Microsoft does this to me sony can I guarantee a new costumer. $50 is almost too much $100 is way too much