Should Xbox LIVE become free? If you look at its features set, it doesn't really warrant being a paid service. PC users have traditionally gotten these features for free but Microsoft marketed the features under the Xbox LIVE brand and with a strong marketing push got the public to buy into it and accept it as a premium service.
Are we really getting anything substantial for our subscription fees? We get Inside Xbox videos and Community and Developer playdates, which are just marketing tools if you get down to it. Yeah sure, $50 isn't a lot of money but aren't we already contributing with ad views and purchases on the marketplace.
PC users are savvy people and they know that the Xbox LIVE model is whack. That is why Microsoft couldn't get Games for Windows LIVE to work because it was modelled after its console counterpart and charged PC users a yearly fee. PC users knew better than to be fooled and didn't support the Microsoft's PC LIVE platform.
Xbox LIVE succeeded with the general public because the public didn't know better and had no alternatives like Steam. They let Microsoft dictate to them that LIVE service is something you have to pay for. But check this out --- Games for Windows LIVE failed and is now free for the public, just like Steam has been all along.
So should Xbox LIVE be free? Yes, but it's too late. People are happily paying for the illusion that they are receiving a premium service. It's too late for this generation and maybe the next. Unless Sony can step up and offer something that is as rich and rewarding as Steam is for the PC and continue to keep it free, then maybe M$ will be pressured into finally making their service free too.
Microsoft announced its financial results for Q3 of fiscal year 2026, including an update on its gaming Xbox business and more.
Not looking good. Hopefully Asha Sharma is able to turn Phil’s disaster around.
To me it's still quite remarkable how they can cash-in 5.3bn in revenue in a single quarter, since their hardware is basically dead.
The stock mark is what makes Microsoft remarkable, They have convinced every institutional and retail investor to just keep piling money into them. Like many big tech giants they are just a big growing pyramid scheme. As long as people keep dropping money into ETF's that cover the market Microsoft will always be liquid. At the same time it is completely stifling innovation and competition. People need to start being more discreet in how they invest their money as it's killing the system.
Riiiiight because people will just flock back to them for one or two games per year.
15+ years of bad performance is what they call irreparable in business. It is time for them to sell off the assets and get out of entertainment.
These declines are on the back of extra revenue received from releasing games like Forza horizon 5 on PlayStation. So I’m being sarcastic here when I said they should go back to exclusives. Killing off a revenue stream from Ps5 sales will only make things worse
The charity event will be streamed live from Gamescom in August.
Thanks to the slip-up of an artist working on the title, we now have more evidence that a new Injustice game is in the works.
Yes a great point.
By even calling it "Gold" they're giving everybody the illusion that what they're paying for is worth it.
Supporters will claim that it's worth it due to certain features such as cross-game chat and invites; but one must remember that these features are nothing more than features of the 360's OPERATING SYSTEM and are not down to the network service. For instance, I can connect to the Steam network on my PC, and if I have an APPLICATION installed called x-fire I can chat to any number of my online friends whilst I play.
Other people say things like "it feels more like a community" - well maybe part of this is because of bundled headsets, but I think the main reason is that because you pay more for something, you think it is worth more. It's a common psychological phenomenon. Many, many people have been duped into this - I mean they don't really have a choice. It was a very clever move to be able to charge for something that's free, and get people to accept it. Now they've set a precident and people EXPECT to have to pay to play online - so other companies will start charging too.
It's like bottled water. You can even buy bottled tap water at supermarkets nowadays...
Hell yes it should be free but $50 a year is nothing to me.
Seeing that from a console point of view it's still the premier service I'll pay for it. PC gamers trump everything consoles offer... all the consoles. So that's not a very fair comparison to be honest.
no please ! ! ! i want to pay ! ! ! please ! ! ! . please ! ! ! dont punish us as ps fans and please take our money ! ! ! please ! !
Of course free would be better but if it's going to turn it into something like PSN or whatever the hell the Wii online is then no thanks.
When I turn on my Xbox 360 every day it's different. All the content, all the spotlight stuff all the Inside Xbox stuff is being updated on a daily basis. Not to mention the daily gamer events that take place every day of the week coordinated by MS/Xbox which can be accessed from the community calendar.
I compare the 360 online service to a TV station with new content/programming every day. Not once a week or once a month. The amount of content XBL gets compared to the other consoles is night and day.
The one prob I have with it is that Silver get access to all that programming content as well so I kinda feel like they are the welfare collectors of XBL.
However, if MS didn't have the Gold subsription I don't know how motivated they would be to continually update the service as often as they do.
So excuse me when I call bullsh!t on your statement:
"People are happily paying for the illusion that they are receiving a premium service."
Are all the things I've listed above on Steam? No. Is everything I mentioned above an illusion? No. Do the free services you seem to be so wrapped up in offer the same daily content? No.
The cost I pay for Live is more than just playing a game with another person.