No need to pay for XBL on Vista?

Microsoft‘s deployment of Xbox Live via Windows Vista obviously faces the problem that PC Gamers are used to, and are mostly expecting, that multiplayer online gaming is something that is free. Charging PC Gamers to play multiplayer games will be something of a step backwards for the company, and according to Shane Kim, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Game Studios, Microsoft is aware of this.

Speaking with 1UP at the DICE Summit, Kim addressed these possible XBL roadblocks by saying:

Not all customers have to pay for Xbox Live on Xbox 360 [Silver and Gold], in the same way you’re going to have a similar approach when we bring Live over to Windows. Those details are going to be announced pretty shortly. We have big value offering to customers because we can create an integrated Live experience across platforms

…We do recognize that, unlike the Xbox 360 environment, there’s existing competition in the PC online space. So we have to take that into account as we think about how we’re going to structure our services, what they’ll pay for and what they won’t.

Of course, the danger here is that if PC gamers will have altered payment schemes and that Silver member PC Gamers can get certain services for free, while console gamers on the Xbox 360 continue to pay, there might be some backlash. Especially now that Sony and Nintendo are promising that they’ll get their online network/community up to par with Microsoft’s.

Via 1UP

Microsoft‘s deployment of Xbox Live via Windows Vista obviously faces the problem that PC Gamers are used to, and are mostly expecting, that multiplayer online gaming is something that is free. Charging PC Gamers to play multiplayer games will be something of a step backwards for the company, and according to Shane Kim, Corporate Vice President of Microsoft Game Studios, Microsoft is aware of this.

Speaking with 1UP at the DICE Summit, Kim addressed these possible XBL roadblocks by saying:

Not all customers have to pay for Xbox Live on Xbox 360 [Silver and Gold], in the same way you’re going to have a similar approach when we bring Live over to Windows. Those details are going to be announced pretty shortly. We have big value offering to customers because we can create an integrated Live experience across platforms

…We do recognize that, unlike the Xbox 360 environment, there’s existing competition in the PC online space. So we have to take that into account as we think about how we’re going to structure our services, what they’ll pay for and what they won’t.

Of course, the danger here is that if PC gamers will have altered payment schemes and that Silver member PC Gamers can get certain services for free, while console gamers on the Xbox 360 continue to pay, there might be some backlash. Especially now that Sony and Nintendo are promising that they’ll get their online network/community up to par with Microsoft’s.

Via 1UP