Microsoft withdraws Xbox Live Gold price increase following backlash

A plan by Microsoft to charge customers more for an ongoing subscription lasted less than 24 hours.

Microsoft has admitted it “messed up” when it tried to up the price of the Xbox Live Gold subscription service you need to pay to play games online, and walked back the move as gamers threatened to jump to Sony’s rival PS5.

The company threatened to raise the price of Xbox Live by $US1 a month or $US5 for three months, prices that would have been reflected in other markets.

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Some games require an additional Xbox Live Gold subscription to play online.

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In Australia, Live Gold costs $80 a year, $50 for six months, $30 for three months and $11 a month.

The similar PlayStation Plus subscription costs the same for one year, $34 for three months or $12 a month.

Gamers reacted furiously while some speculated the price hike was part of a more devious plot to push people onto the Xbox Live Game Pass, which costs more but includes a library of games.

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Every few months, Xbox needs to do something to remind people it's not actually that in touch with gamers or reality. $120 for a year of Xbox Live Gold (to bully people onto Game Pass) is the latest example.

— Jeff Grubb (@JeffGrubb) January 22, 2021

Cant wait to go into debt and sell all my organs just to afford Xbox live gold,
Thank you so much Bill Gates for being such a honest and upfront guy

— Joe Bidens Mentor (@madlyalt) January 22, 2021

12 months of Xbox Live Gold: $120
12 months of PlayStation Plus: $60

Not sure what Xbox Live Gold does so much better than PlayStation Network to justify that price gap.

— Jez (@JezCorden) January 22, 2021

Xbox quickly caved to the backlash and announced it would not be proceeding with the changes as planned.

Today was not great. We always try to do our best for you and today we missed the mark.

We hear you, and we’re reversing our Xbox Live Gold pricing updates.

— Xbox (@Xbox) January 23, 2021

“We messed up today and you were right to let us know,” the company said in a conciliatory update to a blog post announcing the price hike 14 hours after it went live.

“Connecting and playing with friends is a vital part of gaming and we failed to meet the expectations of players who count on it every day.

“As a result, we have decided not to change Xbox Live Gold pricing,” Xbox said.

Originally published as Microsoft withdraws Xbox Live Gold price increase following backlash