Xbox Live Director of Programming Major Nelson has announced that Microsoft will increase the cost of several Xbox Live subscriptions packages in the US, Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. Starting on November 1st, the price of a one-year subscription to Xbox Live in the US will be adjusted to $60 a year, up from its current price of $50.
 
Here's the full breakdown of the price changes Microsoft will make to subscriptions in each of the four regions.
 

Xbox Live Director of Programming Major Nelson has announced that Microsoft will increase the cost of several Xbox Live subscriptions packages in the US, Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. Starting on November 1st, the price of a one-year subscription to Xbox Live in the US will be adjusted to $60 a year, up from its current price of $50.
 
Here's the full breakdown of the price changes Microsoft will make to subscriptions in each of the four regions.
 

Now US will pay almost as much as Sweden always has done.
 
Aah, sweet justice.

Doesn't really effect me.

Ridiculous. Does Microsoft have any idea of the economic climate in which they are raising prices :|

So I was actually paying less than I originally thought I was? 
 
Oh well.

Well, I guess I'm a PS3 fanboy now. Didn't see that coming. :P

Fuck You Microsoft
 
That's all

Well that has to be a kick in the nuts...

Does not bother me but really curious to see if the raise in subscription price will mean any new features.

This is stupid.

Fuck, that is ridiculous.

From a logistical standpoint, how do you up the price from your competition right after they some out with their paid online subscription?

Bleh. Though will suck when I inevitably go GOLD for Gears 3.

What a bad idea, especially before you want everyone to either double down on their Xbox Kinect or for new purchasers of the console.  
 
This should have been coupled with an announcement similar to the ESPN announcement so that consumers don't feel like we all do right now, like we're getting gypped. 

Oh Kotick, you so sly.

I don't get it. Has a reason been given explaining why they are raising the price? 
 
Seems like an awful lot of money to pay if you just want the ability to play your games online without all the additional stuff Xbox Live provides.

doesnt affect me but thats kinda weak.

Major Jimbo recommends you take the opportunity to cancel your XBL subscription.

Pay more for the same thing! Brilliant!

Ugh, an extra $10 a year really isn't all that much in the grand scheme of things, but it will make me rethink whether I need a gold account.  I just don't play as much multiplayer as I used to, and the other gold benefits are not worth it.

What happens is I switch my account from gold to silver?

Or you can just find a cheap 12 month card online or in the stores.  They go on sale all of the time; do a search on cheapassgamer.

My XBL is paid up until fall of 2012 anyway,  so i'm good.

Come my children! Join me playing video games online for free on the PC!

Even though one year has always been $60 in Canada (except on the rare occasion when places have a sale for $40) just the fact alone they're raising prices in general is really putting me off renewing my subscription.
 
Granted it is roughly $5 a month but personally other than playing the occasional music game online or needing help in Borderlands (damn you Crawmerex!) I don't really see how it's worth it to me personally. 
 
Maybe when there's more features that make it worthwhile, I'll just keep that $60 and put it toward another game or something.

*happily continues to play on his PS3 with a grin.

I couldn't care less. 60 bucks a year for playing every game I buy for the Xbox on LIVE with my friends is worth the price of admission. The extras like the new ESPN 3 stuff and Netflix are also worth the cash.

Haha, serves you right for paying less than us EU people.

"

Wait Canada was already paying 10$ more.

27/08 30/08
1 USD (noon) = 1.0546 1.0562 CAD

wtf.

"

You gotta be fuckin' kidding me..

I dont get it. Do they believe ESPN and the "new" kinect features justify the 10$ increase.  Because I'll tell them right now, they dont. 
 
And if u want more customers the best way is to lower the price. Dirty M$

It's still a price hike nonetheless, and it doesn't seem like it's in good faith.

I haven't payed for Xbox Live for nearly two years. I got a number of Live Gold cards that will last me until January 2011. So when I have to pay again like a regular mortal, it will be more? Lame.
 
EDIT: Hopefully, they didn't lump Ireland in with the UK, don't seen any Euro prices on the list.

Maybe I'll just go buy 3 years worth of it now. Worse case I sell it off the friends for 50$ if I don;t want to subscribe anymore, best case I save 30$. But really, 30$ over three years makes the point seem moot.

Hahaha.
Right.
 
I can buy a game for 25 bucks here in Poland.
3 months of online play, or a new game? Hmm.. 
 
Yeah, I'm going to go silver.

" Now US will pay almost as much as Sweden always has done.  Aah, sweet justice. "

Don't pay full price, Amazon and other retailers have regular deals where you can get 12 month cards for under 30 dollars. 

" @Hockeymask27 said:

"

Wait Canada was already paying 10$ more.

27/08 30/08
1 USD (noon) = 1.0546 1.0562 CAD

wtf.

"

fucking eh. i demand justice for canada. so now its 69.99 plus HST? come on. "

Bullfuckingshit. There almost aren't enough things keeping me from paying for this fucking service already, I mean, I CAN PLAY PC GAMES ONLINE FOR FUCKING FREE - and Microsoft fucking cancels their FREE CONTENT so, WHERE THE FUCK DOES MY MONEY GO?  

I'm curious if only the one month price is changing for Canada and the UK since there's no mention of 3 or 12 month prices. I still don't entirely understand why Live costs as much as it does already(let alone going up) when the online gaming connections still suck. I thought the point of paying to play online should be to ensure good connections but alas every game has less then ideal connections.
 
Even if the price increase doesn't affect me, it's still pretty lame to charge people more even if they don't use the extended features like LastFM, NetFlix, and ESPN(especially when people already pay for those services in some other capacity. Also Facebook and twitter are both just lame features which I assume get a relatively small amount of usage by most people.
 
All the services really needs to do is provide strong stable  connections for online games, and I'm still waiting on that,

If they do this, then they better get rid of all those damn ads!!

And this price increase comes with a host a new features and improvements to live that more than justify the cost . . . .right?

I don't even pay full price for my sub half the time anyway, with all the amazon price cuts and retail sales on the cards. Big deal.

I'd really love to know what the thought process behind this was because i can't think of any way that makes raising your prices without giving you something for it in return is a good move. 
  
Although this is the same company that's charging $150 for kinnect so i guess it's not really that surprising. Glad i own a ps3.

the price isn't increasing for Canada for the yearly service, at least not according to that chart. "

Unless listed above, there is no change in any other subscription packages. 
Though The Major should have made that text a whole lot bigger, and possibly blinking.  SPECULASHUNZ!!!!
 
But yeah, 12 month cards on sale at Amazon.ca as of yesterday.  Backordered but that shouldn't matter if the SKUs aren't changing.

Are they adding new content and features that makes this price increase justified?

I was thinking about bringing my 360 into my dorm so I could play some XBL with friends, but I guess this is just another reason to stick with the laptop I am currently using. GG Microsoft.