Earlier this week, Microsoft announced that Games for Windows - LIVE, the PC counterpart to Xbox LIVE, has now been made completely free, and anyone with a Gold Membership would be receiving a refund.
This is great news for PC gamers that own any Games for Windows - LIVE games such as Halo 2 and Gears of War, as now they can take complete advantage of TrueSkill Matchmaking, Multiplayer Achievements, and cross platform multiplayer with Xbox 360 games and friends (where supported) for free, as it always should have been.
Unfortunately, Xbox LIVE still requires a Gold Membership for Multiplayer, and as such, Xbox and Xbox 360 gamers are still getting ripped off. The sad part is many of them seem quite content to let this happen.
In truth though, with added competition from the PlayStation Network, which includes free Multiplayer, I believe that Microsoft will need to re-examine it's Xbox LIVE Gold Membership soon and either make it much more attractive by adding a host of new and exciting features, or make Multiplayer free. 'Cause right now, it simply does not make sense to pay $59.99 plus tax a year to play Multiplayer, and what we've seen so far from the New Xbox Experience isn't much of a boost.
No comments:
Post a Comment