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Xbox Live pricing is doubling essentially. We talked about this months ago (July 18, Episode 33, Philosophical Differences) and predicted that Microsoft would do two things to create value for Game Pass for Xbox Live subscribers that had not made the jump. http://virtualeconcast.com/podcast/episode-33-philosophical-differences-news-show/
1. Microsoft would continue to add to Game Pass (without moving the price, at least for now). This increases the selling proposition for Game Pass and makes it more attractive with each new offering.
2. With XBL bundled with Ultimate, XBL becomes a less valuable service on its own. It doesn't make sense when Game Pass offers so much... BUT... there are people who still JUST want XBL for some reason.
So.........
So.........
Microsoft needed to increase the gap between XBL value and Game Pass value even further. How do you do that, especially when you've got fewer and fewer XBL-only subs?
You increase the perceived cost (phase out 12-mo membership) as they did in July.
You increase the perceived cost (phase out 12-mo membership) as they did in July.
Today, Microsoft is increasing the direct cost of XBL by 2x. This is a clear move to get people off of XBL and onto Game Pass so XBL can be more easily phased out as a standalone service (esp since pay gating for online play on PC isn't a thing).
This may seem like a head-scratcher, but tactically, upping the price of XBL and further aligning the value conversation with Game Pass makes a lot of sense. The service continues to exist for the intransigent while pushing more people to Game Pass (aka The Best Value in Gaming).
