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Xbox Live Gold will no longer be obligatory for Free To Play titles, price hike cancelled

Edward

Edward

▲ Legend ▲
Avenger
Oct 30, 2017
5,114
texhnolyze said:
Do people seriously think this is not deliberately done?

There's no way they changed their mind just like that.
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I don't think it was deliberately done. they shipped out the cards and everything before they even announced it why would they bother if that was the plan? I don't think they thought it was going to blow up as bad as it did.

-EDIT. Even Grubb talked about this. This 100% wasn't planned at all.
 
Tagyhag

Tagyhag

Member
Oct 27, 2017
12,507
Glad enough people riled them up, and it somehow finally got them to sacrifice gold for F2P.

I don't think they'll try increasing it again, especially with Gamepass around and the fact that we have a precedence of them killing a service once people finally push back (GFWL).

I could totally see Gold exclusively combining with Gamepass this gen.
 
Plasma

Plasma

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,640
Good that they've reveresed it but I still don't know how on earth they thought doubling the price for a service that hasn't really gotten any better was ever going to go down well.
 
Knight613

Knight613

Member
Oct 25, 2017
20,787
San Francisco
Tagyhag said:
Glad enough people riled them up, and it somehow finally got them to sacrifice gold for F2P.

I don't think they'll try increasing it again, especially with Gamepass around and the fact that we have a precedence of them killing a service once people finally push back (GFWL).

I could totally see Gold exclusively combining with Gamepass this gen.
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That would be a mistake. People who only want to play COD or FIFA would be pissed if they had to pay GPU prices just to play online.
 
E.T.

E.T.

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,035
I really thought GamePass was making so much cash that they did not need to pull a stunt like this in the first place.
 
Yaqza

Yaqza

Member
Oct 27, 2017
1,745
How to become a hero:

1) Bring a goat into your house.
2) People yell: "what the hell?!"
3) Lead the goat out of the house.
4) "You're our hero!".
5) Success.

That wasn't even a 180; more like 540 with a spin.
 
texhnolyze

texhnolyze

Member
Oct 25, 2017
23,175
Indonesia
How many shipped cards? That sounds like just a another form of advertisement cost to me. They didn't only retraced the price hike, but also pull down the live requirement for f2p titles. It's a perfect PR stunt.

I dunno, it's probably because I work in marketing.
 
Izzard

Izzard

Banned
Sep 21, 2018
4,606
Gosh. Last night I was pissed off and cancelled Live, then read existing subscribers wouldn't pay more, so was even more pissed off cos of that, and this morning I'm waking up to them spinning so quick even I'm dizzy.

Have to wonder why they'd think this would be fine, AND why they thought new subs paying twice that of existing subs is acceptable. And, if they want Xbox to be on PC too, why those players pay nothing.

I have a feeling this will be forgotten soon, but it's a timely reminder that you should never trust a large company like this, regardless of smiley front men.
 

Dis

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,953
I wonder how many xbox live subscribers found out because of this shit they were paying for gold just for warzone or fortnite and it backfired on ms so bad that not only were they raising prices but that people realised they were paying for a service other consoles don't require for the same games......either way I'm glad it blew up in their faces and f2p games won't require gold now.
 
jelly

jelly

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
33,841
Wow, that was a quick and an oh shit we have to give them something Free to Play move.

I still can't believe they tried it, how stupid can you be. I'm guessing next time, they just remove Gold leaving only one option but hopefully online is free by then but given the move they tried, seems very unlikely. Microsoft want 120 bucks from people now, no less.

Sony probably thinking we could have raised the price if it worked, now, lol.
 
Shirkelton

Shirkelton

Member
Aug 20, 2020
5,996
modiz said:
Probably something along the lines of "just join gamepass ultimate everyone, its the better deal"
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Yeah, I think what they were hoping for or anticipating was a swell of people going, 'well, time to switch over to GPU' and what they probably got was a lot of people going, 'well, I'm done with this platform entirely', I'm not really sure what other target they'd be hoping for and what else could make them change course that quickly.
 
Super Barrier

Super Barrier

Member
Nov 20, 2017
1,336
I agree that this feels like a stunt. Companies are always finding ways to get more money out of you, and it looks like team Xbox saw this coming and probably planned for the outcome.
 

Deleted member 54073

User requested account closure
Banned
Feb 22, 2019
3,983
All one big PR move. Get caught shitting on customers then act like the good guys saving the day to get praise.
 
Sems4arsenal

Sems4arsenal

Member
Apr 7, 2019
3,627
Yeah, this was too fishy; the hell were they expecting.

Good on them for reversing that decision, but they really do love breaking the trust of consumers.

Who trusts these suits anymore?
 
Katana_Strikes

Katana_Strikes

Unshakable Resolve
Member
Oct 29, 2017
10,750
So the f2p thing wasn't on the cards when they were price hiking? But now all of a sudden it's a thing?

Just adds to the marketing stunt case.
 
kurahador

kurahador

Member
Oct 28, 2017
17,564
I bet they'll quietly implement the new pricing scheme later. This move is really just PR due to optics.
 
Doctor_Thomas

Doctor_Thomas

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,654
What a shit show.

Either they didn't forsee the backlash and did it without thinking anyone would care because the Game Pass money was there or they did forsee it and used it for a cheap PR point quick turn around.

It's good they changed it but that's wild.
 
crazillo

crazillo

Member
Apr 5, 2018
8,185
Good thing they reverted this terrible decision so quickly, but I'm not giving them any props for it given they were fucking up so badly in the first place.

I do wonder why they had no single solution for a 12 months Gold membership on offer anymore. They probably could have gotten away with a 10 or 20% price increase - but a 100% hike as a result of only offering 6 months just seems like they were smoking some bad stuff in their home offices to me.

Pretty happy that this was such an universal response from gamers everywhere. I don't think there was much console warring involved, and this is a good thing. We need to be more vocal about many things in this industry - numerous examples at hand.

Microsoft has lost a lot of its pro-consumer image and should be wary of using the "best deal in gaming" marketing slogan for Game Pass in the next months. If they ever are so out of touch with their consumers base (and frankly, their own claimed strategy) again then this will not end well. Given the speed of today's decision, I don't think this will cause all that much harm. But when you are a clear third in the hierarchy, this will also not help to improve your competitive stance at all.
 
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thecaseace

thecaseace

Member
May 1, 2018
3,219
texhnolyze said:
Do people seriously think this is not deliberately done?

There's no way they changed their mind just like that.
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You seriously think MS went to the trouble of printing the massive stock of higher price XBLG gold cards whilst taking two days of flak from influencers and enthusiasts just so they could look like the good guy when the reverse the decision?

That is one incredible game of 4D chess.
 
Crumrin

Crumrin

Banned
Feb 27, 2020
2,270
Imagine the backlash! Lmao! Too bad they will find different ways to get that money out of people's pockets.
 
Nolbertos

Nolbertos

Member
Dec 9, 2017
3,314
Phil remembered the DRM backlash and didn't want that scenario again, so he backtracked. Pathetic to be honest that he approved it and got egg on his face and killed it. MS is not your friend. They realized they could've handed Sony the PR crown again this gen after last gen's disaster. Still skeptical long term on this Xbox Gold. I'm sure Phil will hike it eventually when xbox fans will be indifferent
 
LordRuyn

LordRuyn

Member
Oct 29, 2017
3,909
Scallywag said:
All one big PR move. Get caught shitting on customers then act like the good guys saving the day to get praise.
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Nah, I don't think anyone is seeing them in a positive light here or giving them credit for something that should not have happened in the first place.

If anything, this was a stunt to see if the changes would fly under the radar. That's why there was no prior announcement before the cards were released into the wild. That came after the issue got some attention, which was promptly followed by the reversal.
 
Salient_Lion

Salient_Lion

Member
Dec 20, 2020
235
The fact that they did this in the first place is extremely concerning. Feels like they were just pushing boundaries to see what they can get away with.
 

Deleted member 11038

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,581
Super Barrier said:
I agree that this feels like a stunt. Companies are always finding ways to get more money out of you, and it looks like team Xbox saw this coming and probably planned for the outcome.
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I don't think so, it isn't a stunt. They probably thought they had enough goodwill to try this but they made a huge mistake. Again, remember that these companies will try to take every cent from you as soon as they feel confident they have your trust.
 
Doctor_Thomas

Doctor_Thomas

Member
Oct 27, 2017
9,654
Imagine if people had actually complained as much about paying to use their own internet to play games online in the first place as they did about XBox Live price hike...
 
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