In an act that was clearly an attempt to test the waters to see how people would react to something without taking a single moment to consider the backlash, Microsoft made an attempt to raise prices for Xbox Live Gold memberships. Only this wasn’t just a price hike. This price increase doubled the minimum yearly cost of the membership ($60 -> $120).
Clearly. this decision didn’t do so well with the gaming community. Especially when consoles are so incredibly expensive now. Then you have game developers that try to milk gamers for everything they can on top of it all (in-game purchases, multiple expansion packs, deluxe and ultimate editions of games, etc).
This is also not the wisest idea when you still have a lot of people sitting at home right now waiting for the world to get back to normal so that they can return to work. A time where there have been more individuals dropping cable TV and embracing OTA TV and streaming than ever in order to reduce some of these bills.
So it was no surprise when Microsoft came rushing back with an apology, saying that they were going to reverse this decision. And yes, we know, the words used are just a marketing ploy to gain appreciation from the community. Even though they were simply cleaning up the mess they themselves created. However, it worked, as the world rejoiced and painted them the hero all over social media.
You can imagine how many people would have jumped ship with such an extreme price hike. Remember when you never had to pay anything to play online before Microsoft discovered they could charge you for it? Those days are long gone and it appears they plan to make you pay even more now.
Ultimately, this was all an attempt to convince gamers to convert over to an Xbox Game Pass UIltimate. Microsoft is trying to do away with Xbox Live Gold in favor of the more expensive subscription that includes both online access to the games you have, plus the ability to stream many more in their online catalog. If they continue down that route, that will be quite unfortunate for those who don’t care to subscribe to these streaming options. Nothing like being forced into packages you don’t want (just like Cable TV).
