Microsoft hikes Xbox Live Gold rates on November 1
updated 01:05 pm EDT, Mon August 30, 2010
Xbox Live prices going up to cover costs
Microsoft today warned that it was raising prices for Xbox Live Gold subscriptions as of November 1. Most of the changes apply to the US and will see a yearly subscription jump from $50 to $60; three months will go up from $20 to $25, and one month will move from $8 to $9. Other regions have limited changes: one-month subscriptions will now cost $10 in Canada and 6 pounds in the UK, and a year's service in Mexico now costs 599 pesos.
Current customers can renew early if they want to lock in the current prices.
Xbox Live Programming Director Larry Hryb justified the hike by noting that Microsoft has kept adding content and new features, such as Netflix streaming and the Zune Video Marketplace, without changing the price in the nearly five years since launch. The timing is nonetheless convenient as it comes just three days before the Kinect launch and will see many new Xbox 360 buyers pay the higher rates from the start.
Sony continues to trail Microsoft in console sales, according to NPD data, but has routinely had an advantage in offering multiplayer play and other core services for free.
