"Xbox 360 game prices jump with add-ons"

"Story Highlights

$10 Xbox 360 add-ons are driving up the price of games
More than 3 million Xbox Live subscribers pay a $50 fee
Downloadable game content market valued at $200 million
Xbox Live is a key feature distinguishing Xbox 360 from rivals

LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- New charges for online extras are sharply raising the price serious video gamers pay for Xbox 360 games, a profitable move by Microsoft Corp. , but one that could alienate some fans.

With more than 6 million users, Microsoft's Xbox Live online network has become the key feature distinguishing the Xbox 360 from rival Sony Corp.'s PlayStation 3 and Nintendo Co. Ltd.'s Wii.

More than 3 million Xbox Live subscribers pay a $50 annual fee that allows them to play games online against one another. About 3 million more use the service without an annual subscription, taking the total to more than half Xbox users.

Through Xbox Live, players can buy maps for fighting terrains and other add-ons that are indispensable to serious gamers, usually at a cost of $10 each. Such add-ons used to be free most of the time and the additions can raise a game's cost to $80 or even $100 over its life span .

"The (downloadable maps) are very profitable for us," said Tony Key, vice president of marketing for UbiSoft Entertainment SA, whose Tom Clancy-themed shooters such as "Rainbow Six" and "GRAW 2" are among the most popular games on Xbox Live.

"If you're a 'Rainbow' guy and you don't have the maps, then you can't play a match," said Key, referring to online competitions. "I doubt there will ever be a Clancy game without the Xbox Live component any more. It's now a key part of the game's DNA."

Games such as UbiSoft's "Rainbow Six Vegas" and Activision Inc.'s "Call of Duty 3" can cost as much as $25 million to make, but extra game levels and maps are extremely cheap to produce, by comparison. Key said they required only about 10 percent of a game's development staff.

Maps and other content are also profitable for Microsoft.

Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter estimates Microsoft charges a royalty rate of 30 percent for most downloads. That means that, for a $10 download, Microsoft gets $3, while the publisher pockets $7.

Pachter estimates the entire downloadable game content market is currently valued at $200 million, compared with $19 billion for overall game software sales last year, but he points out the additional sales have much higher profit margins.

"It's like building an extra room in a house," Pachter said. "It's nowhere near the cost of building the house."

But pricing the downloads is a tricky science that many game publishers, including Microsoft, are still figuring out as they try to balance profit with the risk of alienating gamers who might feel they are being taken advantage of.

Microsoft was criticized by many gamers after the May 3 release of a map download to its popular alien-blasting game, "Gears of War," which has sold more than 3.7 million copies worldwide since its November release.

The first map pack was released for free months earlier and generated more than 1.5 million downloads. The new download included several new battlegrounds online users could fight on during multiplayer matches, but this time they cost $10.

Mark Rein, vice president of "Gears" developer Epic Games, said in an interview on video game Web site 1up.com that the studio would have preferred to give away the maps, but Microsoft, which published the game, decided to charge for it.

This set off angry complaints from fans who felt Microsoft was taking advantage of them. Epic declined to comment for this article.

Microsoft Xbox Live group product manager Aaron Greenberg said few gamers complained about the add-on features and that the charge helped Microsoft recoup the cost of developing games and running the expensive online service.

"We are like the complaint department. We hear from the small minority that are not happy," he said.

Third-quarter revenue at the entertainment and devices division dropped 18.7 percent to $947 million, with an operating loss of $330 million, compared with a loss of $438 million a year earlier. Microsoft shipped 500,000 Xbox 360 consoles during the quarter."

http://www.cnn.com/2007/TECH/fun.games/05/24/xbox.360.price.reut/index.html

Same thing, coming to a Playstation 3 near you.

Moral of the story is. The PC wins.  

Same thing, coming to a Playstation 3 near you.

 

Moral of the story is. The PC wins.

TekkenMaster606

Downloadable content...Your game not finished? Put it out and charge more later 

Same thing, coming to a Playstation 3 near you.

 

Moral of the story is. The PC wins.

TekkenMaster606

I am also sure that sooner or later it will come to a Wii near you to...This may become common place 

*shrugs* I don't really care, I don't own a 360, but if a 10 dollar addon makes you fall in love with a game all over again, and gives you more enjoyable hours in return, I can't really see it as something bad. Sure if it was free it would be nice. Quite frankly I think the... pay first, free later is the best strategy of all really.

 *leaves the thread before cows, sheep and hermits come in turning it into trash*

x_x Really sickens me how greedy Microsoft is.The rake in 5 billion dollars in 3 months,but wont make Live free,and is telling devs to make,what would be free content,cost.Now aint that a :o.Eh,but I love live and my 360.:(I feel terrible about my addiction.

u have the choice to buy the stuff or not. its our own fault companies are taking advantage of are stupidty to buy things that should be free, xbox360isgr8t

x_x Really sickens me how greedy Microsoft is.The rake in 5 billion dollars in 3 months,but wont make Live free,and is telling devs to make,what would be free content,cost.Now aint that a :o.Eh,but I love live and my 360.:(I feel terrible about my addiction.

killab2oo5

[QUOTE="killab2oo5"]

x_x Really sickens me how greedy Microsoft is.The rake in 5 billion dollars in 3 months,but wont make Live free,and is telling devs to make,what would be free content,cost.Now aint that a :o.Eh,but I love live and my 360.:(I feel terrible about my addiction.

Oemenia

Same thing, coming to a Playstation 3 near you.

 

Moral of the story is. The PC wins.

TekkenMaster606

PC wins, yes. More downloadable content and totally free. 

Three million gold users... that's pretty small isn't it?nnavidson

Thats's only a fraction of the people. With 10 million units sold, that's not a great number. Plus the fact that MS is splintering the community is another. MS should offer the service for free. Especially since they are raking in the dough through DL content. I recieved a full year free of live gold, but I won't be re-purchasing it for next year.   

yes that's very true, good facts right there. My question is: are you trying to make some sort of point?chaos-SD

MS should offer Gold for free. It's clearly not working, with only 33% of users paying for Gold. How people can support one of the richest corporations in the world, all the while they are taking people to the cleaners, is beyond most people. Heck, even the majority of 360 owners. MS needs to take a page out of Valve's book, and fast. 

[QUOTE="Oemenia"][QUOTE="killab2oo5"]

x_x Really sickens me how greedy Microsoft is.The rake in 5 billion dollars in 3 months,but wont make Live free,and is telling devs to make,what would be free content,cost.Now aint that a :o.Eh,but I love live and my 360.:(I feel terrible about my addiction.

killab2oo5

MS consoles arent selling, and as much as we love it, at this rate there will be NO XBOX 3 

[QUOTE="chaos-SD"]yes that's very true, good facts right there. My question is: are you trying to make some sort of point?mismajor99

MS should offer Gold for free. It's clearly not working, with only 33% of users paying for Gold. How people can support one of the richest corporations in the world, all the while they are taking people to the cleaners, is beyond most people. Heck, even the majority of 360 owners. MS needs to take a page out of Valve's book, and fast.

More than 3 million Xbox Live subscribers pay a $50 annual fee that allows them to play games online against one another. About 3 million more use the service without an annual subscription, taking the total to more than half Xbox users.

I mean jeez thats only making microsoft on the average 25 million a month not including download content.. its a failed service all right.

I really don't know if Sony is going to follow suite. I just downloaded a new single campaign chapter for Killzone Liberation for my PSP which includes some new maps for multiplayer...and it was free.

Three million gold users... that's pretty small isn't it?nnavidson

No. Not considering it costs money, it's actually impressive.

[QUOTE="mismajor99"]

[QUOTE="chaos-SD"]yes that's very true, good facts right there. My question is: are you trying to make some sort of point?bloodyclot

MS should offer Gold for free. It's clearly not working, with only 33% of users paying for Gold. How people can support one of the richest corporations in the world, all the while they are taking people to the cleaners, is beyond most people. Heck, even the majority of 360 owners. MS needs to take a page out of Valve's book, and fast.

I really don't know if Sony is going to follow suite. I just downloaded a new single campaign chapter for Killzone Liberation for my PSP which includes some new maps for multiplayer...and it was free.

Bread_or_Decide

I don't know how long Sony can look at that 200 million dollar value for the downloadable content and let microsoft get all of that to themselves...  

I really don't know if Sony is going to follow suite. I just downloaded a new single campaign chapter for Killzone Liberation for my PSP which includes some new maps for multiplayer...and it was free.

Bread_or_Decide

It's actually quite suprising they aren't charging, especially considering they could make up for a significant amount of their annual losses through DLC.

That's probably why MS is doing this: To even out it's losses. With all this, I bet MS is making a little bit of money.

[QUOTE="chaos-SD"]yes that's very true, good facts right there. My question is: are you trying to make some sort of point?mismajor99

MS should offer Gold for free. It's clearly not working, with only 33% of users paying for Gold. How people can support one of the richest corporations in the world, all the while they are taking people to the cleaners, is beyond most people. Heck, even the majority of 360 owners. MS needs to take a page out of Valve's book, and fast. 

[QUOTE="bloodyclot"][QUOTE="mismajor99"]

[QUOTE="chaos-SD"]yes that's very true, good facts right there. My question is: are you trying to make some sort of point?Oemenia

MS should offer Gold for free. It's clearly not working, with only 33% of users paying for Gold. How people can support one of the richest corporations in the world, all the while they are taking people to the cleaners, is beyond most people. Heck, even the majority of 360 owners. MS needs to take a page out of Valve's book, and fast.

6 million is actually very impressive, considering they all have to pay in some form. Imagine just out of quick math how much of their losses they may cut through Live alone, not considering DLC and the games they publish. They're still probably taking hits, but how much?

[QUOTE="bloodyclot"][QUOTE="mismajor99"]

[QUOTE="chaos-SD"]yes that's very true, good facts right there. My question is: are you trying to make some sort of point?Oemenia

MS should offer Gold for free. It's clearly not working, with only 33% of users paying for Gold. How people can support one of the richest corporations in the world, all the while they are taking people to the cleaners, is beyond most people. Heck, even the majority of 360 owners. MS needs to take a page out of Valve's book, and fast.

 you have to set up a silver when you create an xbox. They were just going with annual number for the live and not the people that played gears for 3 months then shut it off only to activate it again when another game comes out, they also have 3 set ups for live month, quarterly, and yearly.

[QUOTE="mismajor99"]

[QUOTE="chaos-SD"]yes that's very true, good facts right there. My question is: are you trying to make some sort of point?chaos-SD

MS should offer Gold for free. It's clearly not working, with only 33% of users paying for Gold. How people can support one of the richest corporations in the world, all the while they are taking people to the cleaners, is beyond most people. Heck, even the majority of 360 owners. MS needs to take a page out of Valve's book, and fast.

or...they could take a slight hit in their billions a month revenue. 

[QUOTE="Bread_or_Decide"]

I really don't know if Sony is going to follow suite. I just downloaded a new single campaign chapter for Killzone Liberation for my PSP which includes some new maps for multiplayer...and it was free.

bloodyclot

I don't know how long Sony can look at that 200 million dollar value for the downloadable content and let microsoft get all of that to themselves...  

[QUOTE="mismajor99"]

[QUOTE="chaos-SD"]yes that's very true, good facts right there. My question is: are you trying to make some sort of point?chaos-SD

MS should offer Gold for free. It's clearly not working, with only 33% of users paying for Gold. How people can support one of the richest corporations in the world, all the while they are taking people to the cleaners, is beyond most people. Heck, even the majority of 360 owners. MS needs to take a page out of Valve's book, and fast. 

You couldn't have said it any better. It's not like Gamespot where an add pops up if you are not a paid subscriber.

Three million gold users... that's pretty small isn't it?nnavidson

With a 10 million user base, yes that is a small amount...  

[QUOTE="Oemenia"][QUOTE="bloodyclot"][QUOTE="mismajor99"]

[QUOTE="chaos-SD"]yes that's very true, good facts right there. My question is: are you trying to make some sort of point?bloodyclot

MS should offer Gold for free. It's clearly not working, with only 33% of users paying for Gold. How people can support one of the richest corporations in the world, all the while they are taking people to the cleaners, is beyond most people. Heck, even the majority of 360 owners. MS needs to take a page out of Valve's book, and fast.

you have to set up a silver when you create an xbox. They were just going with annual number for the live and not the people that played gears for 3 months then shut it off only to activate it again when another game comes out, they also have 3 set ups for live month, quarterly, and yearly.

[QUOTE="chaos-SD"][QUOTE="mismajor99"]

[QUOTE="chaos-SD"]yes that's very true, good facts right there. My question is: are you trying to make some sort of point?Hewkii

MS should offer Gold for free. It's clearly not working, with only 33% of users paying for Gold. How people can support one of the richest corporations in the world, all the while they are taking people to the cleaners, is beyond most people. Heck, even the majority of 360 owners. MS needs to take a page out of Valve's book, and fast.

or...they could take a slight hit in their billions a month revenue.

spoken like a gamer, not a buisness man :-)  

[QUOTE="mismajor99"]

[QUOTE="chaos-SD"]yes that's very true, good facts right there. My question is: are you trying to make some sort of point?bloodyclot

MS should offer Gold for free. It's clearly not working, with only 33% of users paying for Gold. How people can support one of the richest corporations in the world, all the while they are taking people to the cleaners, is beyond most people. Heck, even the majority of 360 owners. MS needs to take a page out of Valve's book, and fast.

You need to read more carefully and stop spinning:

"More than 3 million Xbox Live subscribers pay a $50 annual fee that allows them to play games online against one another. About 3 million more use the service without an annual subscription, taking the total to more than half Xbox users."

They never said that the other 3 million were paying monthly. Read on.  

No annual subscription sounds like Silver to me. MS has never admitted out of half the users what the percentage was of Gold vs. Silver. There are not 6 million GOLD subs. They admitted that in the recent GFW Magazine when they were talking about Live for Windows. Even if they are at 50% Gold, which they are not, it's still not good enough. Like people are saying, we can like the 360 all we want, but MS needs to change their pricing model to allow ALL 360 users an online experience. 

[QUOTE="nnavidson"]Three million gold users... that's pretty small isn't it?majadamus

With a 10 million user base, yes that is a small amount...  

Microsoft never released how many are gold and how much are silver so i would take those figures with a grain of salt. Also, live is not all about paid subscribers.

[QUOTE="mismajor99"]

[QUOTE="chaos-SD"]yes that's very true, good facts right there. My question is: are you trying to make some sort of point?chaos-SD

MS should offer Gold for free. It's clearly not working, with only 33% of users paying for Gold. How people can support one of the richest corporations in the world, all the while they are taking people to the cleaners, is beyond most people. Heck, even the majority of 360 owners. MS needs to take a page out of Valve's book, and fast.

They are advertising! Look at the marketplace blade!. Read the article, MS makes 30% on everyting that sells. Please, you can figure that one out. MS has a business model, they just aren't selling enough consoles.  

yes that's very true, good facts right there. My question is: are you trying to make some sort of point

people need to read better. 3 million are set to annual meaning they are set to pay $50 a year.. another 3 million pay monthly, with a card, or the every 3 month setting..... making it 6 million... and as the article says OVER HALF of the xbox360s out have a form of gold on it.. here is from the article. More than 3 million Xbox Live subscribers pay a $50 annual fee that allows them to play games online against one another. About 3 million more use the service without an annual subscription, taking the total to more than half Xbox users.

You need to read more carefully and stop spinning:

"More than 3 million Xbox Live subscribers pay a $50 annual fee that allows them to play games online against one another. About 3 million more use the service without an annual subscription, taking the total to more than half Xbox users."

They never said that the other 3 million were paying monthly. Read on.  

 

 

No annual subscription sounds like Silver to me. MS has never admitted out of half the users what the percentage was of Gold vs. Silver. There are not 6 million GOLD subs. They admitted that in the recent GFW Magazine when they were talking about Live for Windows. Even if they are at 50% Gold, which they are not, it's still not good enough. Like people are saying, we can like the 360 all we want, but MS needs to change their pricing model to allow ALL 360 users an online experience. 

mismajor99

So you are saying live is too expensive? wow....

[QUOTE="majadamus"]

[QUOTE="nnavidson"]Three million gold users... that's pretty small isn't it?Deihmos

With a 10 million user base, yes that is a small amount...

Microsoft never released how many are gold and how much are silver so i would take those figures with a grain of salt. Also, live is not all about paid subscribers.

Can't play online without it. Period. They've got people by the nads with that one.

[QUOTE="mismajor99"]

yes that's very true, good facts right there. My question is: are you trying to make some sort of point

people need to read better. 3 million are set to annual meaning they are set to pay $50 a year.. another 3 million pay monthly, with a card, or the every 3 month setting..... making it 6 million... and as the article says OVER HALF of the xbox360s out have a form of gold on it.. here is from the article. More than 3 million Xbox Live subscribers pay a $50 annual fee that allows them to play games online against one another. About 3 million more use the service without an annual subscription, taking the total to more than half Xbox users.

You need to read more carefully and stop spinning:

"More than 3 million Xbox Live subscribers pay a $50 annual fee that allows them to play games online against one another. About 3 million more use the service without an annual subscription, taking the total to more than half Xbox users."

They never said that the other 3 million were paying monthly. Read on.

 

 

No annual subscription sounds like Silver to me. MS has never admitted out of half the users what the percentage was of Gold vs. Silver. There are not 6 million GOLD subs. They admitted that in the recent GFW Magazine when they were talking about Live for Windows. Even if they are at 50% Gold, which they are not, it's still not good enough. Like people are saying, we can like the 360 all we want, but MS needs to change their pricing model to allow ALL 360 users an online experience.

Deihmos

So you are saying live is too expensive? wow....

No, MS is splintering the Live community by charging for it, it doesn't matter if it's a dollar. Less than half of 360 owners have live, while the others are left out. If MS cared about gamers, they would offer the service to everyone, since it's so superior, thus making money through advertsing, like they are doing right now, DL content, and  Movies. 

[QUOTE="chaos-SD"][QUOTE="mismajor99"]

[QUOTE="chaos-SD"]yes that's very true, good facts right there. My question is: are you trying to make some sort of point?mismajor99

MS should offer Gold for free. It's clearly not working, with only 33% of users paying for Gold. How people can support one of the richest corporations in the world, all the while they are taking people to the cleaners, is beyond most people. Heck, even the majority of 360 owners. MS needs to take a page out of Valve's book, and fast.

They are advertising! Look at the marketplace blade!. Read the article, MS makes 30% on everyting that sells. Please, you can figure that one out. MS has a business model, they just aren't selling enough consoles.  

[QUOTE="Deihmos"][QUOTE="majadamus"]

[QUOTE="nnavidson"]Three million gold users... that's pretty small isn't it?mismajor99

With a 10 million user base, yes that is a small amount...

Microsoft never released how many are gold and how much are silver so i would take those figures with a grain of salt. Also, live is not all about paid subscribers.

Can't play online without it. Period. They've got people by the nads with that one.

Subscriptions are nothing new. Even this website has one...it's 39.99 for all acess but free for anyone for basic features and you get pop up ads etc. anyone interested in playing multiplayer on Live can and will pay the fee simple as that. If you don't have a good connection or not interested in multiplayer they will remain silver.

Even PC games are not free to operate. those guys are paying a lot more than $50 a year but they don't pass it on to you. They do ask for donations though.

[QUOTE="chaos-SD"][QUOTE="mismajor99"]

[QUOTE="chaos-SD"]yes that's very true, good facts right there. My question is: are you trying to make some sort of point?Deihmos

MS should offer Gold for free. It's clearly not working, with only 33% of users paying for Gold. How people can support one of the richest corporations in the world, all the while they are taking people to the cleaners, is beyond most people. Heck, even the majority of 360 owners. MS needs to take a page out of Valve's book, and fast.

You couldn't have said it any better. It's not like Gamespot where an add pops up if you are not a paid subscriber.

Go turn on your 360 and look at the Marketplace blade. 

[QUOTE="Deihmos"]

[QUOTE="mismajor99"]

yes that's very true, good facts right there. My question is: are you trying to make some sort of point

people need to read better. 3 million are set to annual meaning they are set to pay $50 a year.. another 3 million pay monthly, with a card, or the every 3 month setting..... making it 6 million... and as the article says OVER HALF of the xbox360s out have a form of gold on it.. here is from the article. More than 3 million Xbox Live subscribers pay a $50 annual fee that allows them to play games online against one another. About 3 million more use the service without an annual subscription, taking the total to more than half Xbox users.

You need to read more carefully and stop spinning:

"More than 3 million Xbox Live subscribers pay a $50 annual fee that allows them to play games online against one another. About 3 million more use the service without an annual subscription, taking the total to more than half Xbox users."

They never said that the other 3 million were paying monthly. Read on.

 

 

No annual subscription sounds like Silver to me. MS has never admitted out of half the users what the percentage was of Gold vs. Silver. There are not 6 million GOLD subs. They admitted that in the recent GFW Magazine when they were talking about Live for Windows. Even if they are at 50% Gold, which they are not, it's still not good enough. Like people are saying, we can like the 360 all we want, but MS needs to change their pricing model to allow ALL 360 users an online experience.

mismajor99

So you are saying live is too expensive? wow....

No, MS is splintering the Live community by charging for it, it doesn't matter if it's a dollar. Less than half of 360 owners have live, while the others are left out. If MS cared about gamers, they would offer the service to everyone, since it's so superior, thus making money through advertsing, like they are doing right now, DL content, and Movies.

do you even have a 360? Live Silver is free so they CAN get the DL content, and movies still.. basically all they can't do is play multiplayer. 

[QUOTE="Deihmos"][QUOTE="majadamus"]

[QUOTE="nnavidson"]Three million gold users... that's pretty small isn't it?mismajor99

With a 10 million user base, yes that is a small amount...

Microsoft never released how many are gold and how much are silver so i would take those figures with a grain of salt. Also, live is not all about paid subscribers.

Can't play online without it. Period. They've got people by the nads with that one.

not completely true.  There are sponsored times when silver members can play online for free.  It's just one of the several campaigns xbox live has. Like Game With Fame....

[QUOTE="Deihmos"][QUOTE="chaos-SD"][QUOTE="mismajor99"]

[QUOTE="chaos-SD"]yes that's very true, good facts right there. My question is: are you trying to make some sort of point?mismajor99

MS should offer Gold for free. It's clearly not working, with only 33% of users paying for Gold. How people can support one of the richest corporations in the world, all the while they are taking people to the cleaners, is beyond most people. Heck, even the majority of 360 owners. MS needs to take a page out of Valve's book, and fast.

You couldn't have said it any better. It's not like Gamespot where an add pops up if you are not a paid subscriber.

Go turn on your 360 and look at the Marketplace blade. 

What's on the blade? I never pay attention to it but i do understand that the service is not cheap to operate. Like i said Gs is not free for All Access either. You want more features you have to pay. is $50.00 for 13 months really that expensive?

There is also Ebay where you can get it for $20 - $30

[QUOTE="mismajor99"][QUOTE="Deihmos"][QUOTE="chaos-SD"][QUOTE="mismajor99"]

[QUOTE="chaos-SD"]yes that's very true, good facts right there. My question is: are you trying to make some sort of point?Deihmos

MS should offer Gold for free. It's clearly not working, with only 33% of users paying for Gold. How people can support one of the richest corporations in the world, all the while they are taking people to the cleaners, is beyond most people. Heck, even the majority of 360 owners. MS needs to take a page out of Valve's book, and fast.

You couldn't have said it any better. It's not like Gamespot where an add pops up if you are not a paid subscriber.

Go turn on your 360 and look at the Marketplace blade. 

What's on the blade? I never pay attention to it but i do understand that the service is not cheap to operate. Like i said Gs is not free for All Access either. You want more features you have to pay. is $50.00 for 13 months really that expensive?

There is also Ebay where you can get it for $20 - $30

Refers to previous statement:  Yes the blade is advertisement on XBL however it makes nowhere near what would be needed to run XBL for free...