Xbox Live prices are going up in the UK.
Xbox 360 gamers in the United Kingdom may be encountering a shock when they try to download the latest DLC for Injustice: Gods Among Us , BioShock Infinite , or whatever game they’re looking to add to. With the transition away from MS Points, Microsoft is converting all prices to actual currency, and as a result, the sliding value scale of Xbox Live points is going away.
Apparently this is a beta update of Xbox Live being tested in the United Kingdom, but what used to cost 13.60 pounds (previously 1600 Microsoft Points) is now 14.99 pounds. This may be a good time to use the Microsoft Points while you still can on that side of the pond, before the update comes out of beta.
Xbox Live prices are more in line with those of the PlayStation Store as a result of the rise in price, and this could spell even further bad news for Microsoft’s camp with the next generation console war. The Xbox One is already $100 more in the US than the PlayStation 4 mere months before release, and now the price of games online is going up across the Atlantic.
Microsoft is already losing their consumer base over the Xbox One and their refusal to listen to what gamers actually want. The DRM policy reversal may have been a step in the right direction, but Microsoft still has a long way to go before they earn back the gamers’ trust. The rise in Xbox Live prices in the UK doesn’t bode well for them, even if it does make them on par with those of Sony.
Xbox One is poised to lose this war even in competition with the already failing Wii U if Microsoft won’t try harder to compete with the PlayStation 4. As it is, GameStop has already halted pre-orders of Sony’s console due to the overwhelming demand and GameStop’s inability to request more. The PlayStation 4 is now listed as ‘not available’ on the company’s website . Xbox One doesn’t seem to have that problem, and most likely never will, with a dwindling number of gamers wanting it.
What do you think of Xbox Live prices going up in the UK? Will it only kill the Xbox One before it even has a chance?