Only Half of Xbox Live Users Pay for Gold

You’d expect, with Xbox Live being such a great service, and in fact the cornerstone of the Xbox experience, that just about everybody hooked up to it would cough up the annual $60 fee to get its premium features…like online multiplayer.

But no, that’s not the case. Of the 25 million subscribers, only about half pay for the privilege of Xbox Live Gold.

"Of our 25 million members, about half of them are subscribers to the business and pay us about $60 a year for that," Microsoft’s Dennis Durkin said at Credit Suisse Annual Technology Conference in Phoenix. "So it’s a very large business for us and for our partners."

I’s honestly expect that number to be quite a bit higher. Microsoft has to be pretty disappointed that only every second person who hooks up to Live thinks it’s worth paying for. Well, not too disappointed, because subscriptions aren’t really where they make most of their Live revenue. No, it’s digital content; Downloadable games, avatar crap gear and media that makes them their dough.

"This is a great opportunity for our media partners to stay connected with their customers and to sell them goods that they care about in their home," he said. "Whether that’s game add-ons, movies, music, or clothing for their avatars, this is a very big business." 

I honestly don’t know why I renew my Live subscription every year. It’s a fantastic service, but it’s one that I’m using less and less. It’s not that I’ve started using the PSN more, it’s just that I’ve kinda stopped playing multiplayer, and have fallen in love with the single player experience again.

Source : IGN

Last Updated: December 2, 2010