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Xbox Live Subscriptions Could Rise To $100, Says Analyst
The $49.99 standard for a one year Xbox Live subscription could double, according to Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter. During one of the industry analyst’s regular appearances on GameTrailer’s Bonus Round, he attributed Microsoft’s profit from the online service as the catalyst for an inevitable price hike.
"You can't hook a guy into Xbox Live Gold if he's playing on a PC," Pachter said, regarding Microsoft’s neglect for the PC gaming scene. "... that's the other problem -- you really want to hook every gamer who has a 360, you want them to buy all their games on 360, play everything multiplayer, pay you 50 bucks a year so that, in a couple years, it's a 100 bucks a year. And that's going up, we all know that ... it's a profit deal."
With Microsoft being the only manufacturer to directly charge for full online features, one can’t help but wonder if a move would help or hurt the company in the long run.
What do you think? Would you hesitate to resubscribe if the price jumped $50? Do you think Microsoft could get away with it?
[via CVG]
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