It’s a move that’s been much awaited over the years, and it’s finally happening this fall. Microsoft will be moving away from its much maligned Microsoft Points currency system for the Xbox Live Arcade, and will instead begin to use real currency for all transactions involving digital content sale.
Unfortunately, it seems that the move is a two sided blade. As Eurogamer reports, the move to real money seems to have raised the prices of games, at least if the beta users for the new Dashboard update are to be believed. According to Eurogamer:
- 1600MSP games are now £14.99 where they previously cost £13.60
- 1200 MSP games are now £11.99, up from £10.20
- 800 MSP games are now £8.99, up from£6.80
- 400 MSP games are now £4.49, up from £3.20
These prices are admittedly more in line with the prices that Sony charges on the PSN Store, but they won’t win any more goodwill for Microsoft, who’ve been in the fire lately following the furore over Xbox One.
We don’t know yet if this increase in prices is worldwide, or just limited to European territories, or even if this will be the case in the final update, but we’ll keep you posted.