Microsoft may be phasing out its proprietary "Microsoft Points" currency used on its Xbox platform, according to online reports.
Sources speaking to Inside Mobile Apps say that Points will be phased out by the end of the year, giving all the company's virtual transactions their appropriate real-world values.
If the plan comes to fruition, it would mark a major change for all of Microsoft's virtual marketplaces, particularly Xbox Live, which has historically relied on Microsoft Points as its primary form of currency.
Inside Mobile Apps reports that some mobile developers have allegedly been told to plan their future game updates based on the impending change. In addition, the report states that all existing Microsoft Points will be converted to match their region's local currency.
At the moment, Microsoft Points are used on Xbox Live, the Zune Marketplace, and Windows Phone, though the latter two services also provide the option of paying for content with real-world currency. Some Xbox Live content, such as downloadable versions of retail Xbox 360 games, also use real-world monetary values.
Recently, Microsoft updated its pricing structure for Microsoft Point bundles, and now sells online packs in 400 point ($5) increments, which makes the bundles more accurately match the standard pricing structure for games on Xbox Live. (Prior to this change, online bundles were only available in 500 point increments.)
When contacted for clarification, Microsoft told Gamasutra that it does "not comment on rumors or speculation."
thank you MS, nothing more irritating then spending $20 when all I want to buy is a game on sale for $5 and this gives me the chance to purchase indie games on a whim. As of now all indie games purchases I made over XBL are the result of my XBL account having the equivalent to loose change...what else do I buy for 340 MS points?
I actually prefer the points to real money. With real money, you're always left with an odd amount which you can literally buy nothing with (like the 43 cents I have in my PSN wallet). At least with points, stuff is rounded enough that you can always get the full value of the card. Also, stuff actually costs what it says it costs, you don't get hit with taxes at the checkout and find out that you're two cents short and have to add another 10 bucks, which you will never fully use. Obviously this only applies if you don't use a CC.
This may be a step forward, but they have to accept paypal. That way you can pay exactly what you owe, nothing more and you never need to send your credit card info. Theres no way im giving either ms or sony my cc info to store on one of thier servers so i can get DLC or games.
With Microsoft points bought in store, no hackers will get their hands on my credit cards by hacking Microsoft. And I've heard enough stories about people who cancelled their gold membership by phone and after that... for months Microsoft was still taking their money.
So far, Microsoft Points have been somehow a good safety net for me.
I would assume that they would offer $20 and $50 cards at retailers, just as Sony does.
I wonder if this has anything to do with volatile currencies between different regions, I know the Canadian dollar has fluctuated between 0.77USD and 1.05 USD within the last 3 years, making some purchases a better value than others.
Actually, MS gets hacked all the time... I bought points through my X-Box recently, and 3 days later, 10 additional transactions were registered to my credit card for $250. I called MS and they tried to say it was MY fault, that I had somehow fallen for a phishing email, when the net was full of reports of identical frauds. My X-Box account had magically been re-registered in China, and my account emptied not only of the fraudulently purchased points, but also of all the points which I had actually bought. They STILL tried to blame me for the incident, and then took 25 days to investigate it... starting the week before Christmas. Sorry, kids, no MW3 online multiplayer for you, Microsoft can't be bothered to spend money on network security! When their BS investigation was finished, they emptied my account of ALL the points I already had sitting there, including the ones I had purchased myself, AND they made me fight them with my credit card company, instead of simply refunding my money. The worst customer service I have ever experienced.
Frankly, I really wonder why Microsoft are doing this (IF they even are--this IS a rumor, after all). Eliminating the points system is going to hurt their bottom line... Microsoft has forced millions of consumers to buy an intermediary currency for digital goods exchange, and through their 500pt for purchase/400pt for pricing structure, they have virtually guaranteed that everyone will have extra points sitting uselessly in their accounts. So Microsoft is essentially earning interest on tens of millions of dollars in free loans that they have forced their customers to give Microsoft.
Points systems were bullshit when you had to buy tokens at arcades in the 80's... they're just as much bullshit today in the digital world. More, really, because the sums are greater. I applaud Microsoft for making the first pro-consumer move I've seen from them in a long time.
It reminds me the story of my friend. He got a red ring and send his console back to Microsoft. They made a mistake and sent him a back a console without HDMI port behind. He called them back, they told him that it was the right console. He tried to solve the issue 5 times. I don't know all the details, but he is stuck with that console without HDMI port and it's ''his fault''.
Just be careful with Microsoft and make sure you have all the proofs you need on your side. My other friend got hacked recently. They've been nice to him, gave him back his Microsoft Pts and 2-3 months of gold membership in addition, because they closed his account for one month.
I didn't like them at first, but MS points have come to grow on me over the years for a number of the reasons people stated above: security, ease of use, sale prices on external websites. Why invest all the resources necessary to change a pillar of their architecture that is currently working just fine? I hope that, as MS suggests, this is just a rumor.
Though... it would be nice to have a digital distribution model more like Steam :) If this change would bring them closer to that, I'd support it.
This could be a good thing for the Indie games if they take away the abstraction. It will be especially dangerous if they store your credit card and charge direct instead of pools of MS points :).
I have mixed feelings. I bought Kinect Haunt the other day for 800 points ($10). I had to buy 1,600 points($20) so now I have an extra 800 points sitting in my account. I just wanted to by a $10 game and I end up spending $20.
@John they will likely close down that experiment or stop awarding points and just use it for random stuff like player stats and other useless bits of information :). As far as I know, the Rewards program has always been a form of Beta. I don't know if they've ever come out and said that it was a full feature of XBox service.
Exactly... Microsoft is forcing their customers to give them free loans, in essence. Microsoft banks your money and earns interest on it while those fractional points just sit there in your account, useless to you.
Additionally, their entire system was designed to hide and obfuscate the purchase price of their digital goods from the start. Selling points in 500 point increments and then pricing everything in base-400 point increments only serves to confuse the math for the consumer, thus hiding the actual prices of everything. Quick, how much is 360 MS points in real money? See, you have to THINK about it. You have to do TWO math problems to get to the answer, and MS knew most people wouldn't be bothered. If Microsoft had intended these points to be transparently priced, it would have been a 1000points = $10.00 system. 360 MS points on that system would be $3.60, and everyone would know that... but Microsoft doesn't WANT people to know what they're spending, which is stupid.
Can you imagine how few people would buy digital music if they didn't know how much it cost? "Hey guy, buy 760 Apple iTunes Points for $9.23 and then pick up songs for only 100 points each!" Note how that system would likewise result in points constantly being left in your account for Apple to profit off of? Why didn't Apple implement that kind of system? Because it's abusive of customers and engenders distrust and price confusion.
Forcing people to buy an intermediary currency in order to purchase goods went out when the US Congress got rid of the Articles of Confederation and settled on one currency for the land. Why are we still fighting this battle in the 20th Century in one of our most advanced technological fields?
I agree with Micah. While point systems do have some merit... it's also an obfuscation tactic.
Points & Rewards based systems like this have been designed & perfected by Businesses & Academia guru's as a means & tool to psychologically get consumers to spend more. (I call it a mental shell game). It's easier to spend points... than it is money... and mentally alleviates some buyer's remorse issues. There's more to it than that but I think you all get the point.
Time for speculation!!!! It was posited to me yesterday by a collegue that the Xbox Group's impetus behind this would be to help them get into other Geo's - namely China. That hadn't occurred to me but seems as good a theory as any for them to do this. They're definitely not doing it without an agenda behind it.
12,000 Microsoft points? Microsoft points don't come in those increments. I think you may have bought a Chinese hacked account. If you're ready use them it may be too late... Microsoft will ban you for using fraudulent Microsoft points. Just giving you the heads the head up.
So far, Microsoft Points have been somehow a good safety net for me.
I wonder if this has anything to do with volatile currencies between different regions, I know the Canadian dollar has fluctuated between 0.77USD and 1.05 USD within the last 3 years, making some purchases a better value than others.
Frankly, I really wonder why Microsoft are doing this (IF they even are--this IS a rumor, after all). Eliminating the points system is going to hurt their bottom line... Microsoft has forced millions of consumers to buy an intermediary currency for digital goods exchange, and through their 500pt for purchase/400pt for pricing structure, they have virtually guaranteed that everyone will have extra points sitting uselessly in their accounts. So Microsoft is essentially earning interest on tens of millions of dollars in free loans that they have forced their customers to give Microsoft.
Points systems were bullshit when you had to buy tokens at arcades in the 80's... they're just as much bullshit today in the digital world. More, really, because the sums are greater. I applaud Microsoft for making the first pro-consumer move I've seen from them in a long time.
It reminds me the story of my friend. He got a red ring and send his console back to Microsoft. They made a mistake and sent him a back a console without HDMI port behind. He called them back, they told him that it was the right console. He tried to solve the issue 5 times. I don't know all the details, but he is stuck with that console without HDMI port and it's ''his fault''.
Just be careful with Microsoft and make sure you have all the proofs you need on your side. My other friend got hacked recently. They've been nice to him, gave him back his Microsoft Pts and 2-3 months of gold membership in addition, because they closed his account for one month.
I guess it's not easy to be Microsoft.
Though... it would be nice to have a digital distribution model more like Steam :) If this change would bring them closer to that, I'd support it.
Additionally, their entire system was designed to hide and obfuscate the purchase price of their digital goods from the start. Selling points in 500 point increments and then pricing everything in base-400 point increments only serves to confuse the math for the consumer, thus hiding the actual prices of everything. Quick, how much is 360 MS points in real money? See, you have to THINK about it. You have to do TWO math problems to get to the answer, and MS knew most people wouldn't be bothered. If Microsoft had intended these points to be transparently priced, it would have been a 1000points = $10.00 system. 360 MS points on that system would be $3.60, and everyone would know that... but Microsoft doesn't WANT people to know what they're spending, which is stupid.
Can you imagine how few people would buy digital music if they didn't know how much it cost? "Hey guy, buy 760 Apple iTunes Points for $9.23 and then pick up songs for only 100 points each!" Note how that system would likewise result in points constantly being left in your account for Apple to profit off of? Why didn't Apple implement that kind of system? Because it's abusive of customers and engenders distrust and price confusion.
Forcing people to buy an intermediary currency in order to purchase goods went out when the US Congress got rid of the Articles of Confederation and settled on one currency for the land. Why are we still fighting this battle in the 20th Century in one of our most advanced technological fields?
Points & Rewards based systems like this have been designed & perfected by Businesses & Academia guru's as a means & tool to psychologically get consumers to spend more. (I call it a mental shell game). It's easier to spend points... than it is money... and mentally alleviates some buyer's remorse issues. There's more to it than that but I think you all get the point.
Time for speculation!!!! It was posited to me yesterday by a collegue that the Xbox Group's impetus behind this would be to help them get into other Geo's - namely China. That hadn't occurred to me but seems as good a theory as any for them to do this. They're definitely not doing it without an agenda behind it.
...okay, I guess I have a little spending spree now.