The
Seattle Post Intelligencer reports that just over half of Xbox Live subscribers have paid Gold accounts as of February 2008. The information comes directly from an Excel workbook from within Microsoft. According to the document, 56 percent of worldwide Xbox Live subscribers paid for Gold accounts, while a full 60 percent of American subscribers did so. As the
Post Intelligencer notes, these numbers existed well before the launch of the
New Xbox Experience, which ushered in a
surge of Xbox Live activity and presumably new members.
Though it would not confirm exact numbers, Microsoft did state that the majority of its
17 million current Xbox Live members do have Gold accounts. Assuming last year's percentage has held steady, that's $50 a year from 9.5 million users. No matter how you slice it, that's a lot of
teabagging.
{ Feb 23rd 2009 at 6:30PM } 
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
No Kills @ Feb 23rd 2009 6:37PM
Guilty as charged.
shane86 @ Feb 23rd 2009 6:38PM
They got $475 million just for letting people play online?
Markez @ Feb 23rd 2009 6:58PM
Har.
Lieutenant @ Feb 23rd 2009 7:52PM
Microsoft could sell Eskimos ice and make a fortune off it. =/
Strategy_Panda @ Feb 23rd 2009 8:12PM
you better to buy this ice if you want to interact with other Eskimos
eNrique @ Feb 23rd 2009 9:28PM
I dont really think that 9.5 million users pay for gold suscriptions.
http://www.mygamercard.net/leaderboard.php
This site updates itself with the microsoft DB and only lists 2736767 worldwide users.
About 1532589 people pay for gold accounts.
So it's more like 76 Millions per year to let people play online.
Just saying.
R @ Feb 23rd 2009 9:47PM
Cant be accurate. During high profile launches I have personally seen over 1.2 million people on XBL at one time. This site seems to only add some cards if they are searched for. I just searched for mine and it said it was "just added", and I have had my XBL gold account for 3 years.
More for less @ Feb 23rd 2009 6:43PM
Gold Membership should entitle DLC discounts, people who stay on silver can pay full price for DLC but if your a gold member, u get some sort of percentage off. I bet that would jack up the turn over ratio
BxGT @ Feb 23rd 2009 6:46PM
It does, i payed 10 dollars for braid today.
Biggie @ Feb 23rd 2009 6:48PM
They just started weekly deals for gold members this week. Braid is up first at 800 points.
I really like to see the price of live halved or the inclusion of one month cards in all new games. I'm sure a policy like that would produce an increase in new game sales.
Al2x @ Feb 23rd 2009 8:22PM
They really should up the simple 48-hour trial to maybe a week's worth. Though I can see people buying and returning games just to extract the 7 day trial, it gives you much more of a feel for Live if you are a Silver member.
Mr Khan @ Feb 23rd 2009 6:43PM
I always wanted to know how that broke down between Gold and Silver accounts
%50 seems a bit low, but that's how these things go i suppose. PvP is the point of online play, but people are cheapskates
Scooter @ Feb 23rd 2009 7:04PM
My brother-in-law has a silver so he can recover his account between Xboxs.
sony boy @ Feb 23rd 2009 6:45PM
if they get this much money, why are they asking the employees who lost their jobs for money?!?!?!?!?!/ M$, you greedy bastards!!!
BxGT @ Feb 23rd 2009 6:47PM
Just because your a fanboy doesn't mean you have to lose touch with reality.Do you understand why jobs are being cut?
Gun Barrier @ Feb 23rd 2009 7:33PM
it was an error, some people got under compensated and some got over compensated. I'm pretty sure you would ask for your money back if u got charged $15 for a whopper junior.
Lieutenant @ Feb 23rd 2009 7:55PM
Because Microsoft at it's core is essentially just a bunch of meta business'. Each have their own budget, income, concerns. As far as I know, that had nothing to do with the Xbox division.
why not the LS2LS7? @ Feb 23rd 2009 6:52PM
I guess this is why they are running constant $30 deals on Gold right now.
If their number of players drops below a critical mass, it'll be difficult to charge people to play money with their friends anymore.
I let my Gold lapse after 3 years. I just don't play enough Xbox games online right now to make it worth it. It made sense when 360 was the only game in town, but I've played mostly Resistance 2 and Burnout (on PS3) for the last 3 months (and another month earlier in the year) and it's tough to justify re-upping right now.
EndCat @ Feb 23rd 2009 7:23PM
I like to play money with my friends. :-P
Killiam XXIII @ Feb 23rd 2009 7:32PM
"It made sense when 360 was the only game in town"
Is this "360" game you talk about for the Xbox360 or for the PS3? Is it a new game that just came out? where can I get it?
why not the LS2LS7? @ Feb 23rd 2009 8:58PM
I mean when there was no other choice for where I could play GRAW on my big TV, I played it on 360. Now, I can play Burnout or GTA IV online with my friends on PS3.
I'm not saying this is viable for everyone. But for me, it's cheaper and easier to buy Burnout:Paradise on PS3 and play it with all my friends on PS3. And that's what I did, especially since for big parts of the year my 360 wasn't even working. And once I have enough games that I can play for free, it doesn't make sense to pay for a service I wouldn't be using anyway.
If there are future games I can only play against my friends on 360, I'll re-up Gold, at least for a while. I have several Gold cars stacked up (from my 360 breaking), so when games come out, I'll be able to play them against friends on 360. If there comes a day when I'm out of stacked up cards and there's a 360 game I have to play against friends, I'll pay MS again, I'm not going to deny myself over a few bucks.
But right now, I'm not paying them and I'm no worse off for it.
j.howlett @ Feb 23rd 2009 11:29PM
i chipped in with roommates when live first launched but when i moved and got my own xbox i didn't see the worth of paying when i could play pc and ps2 games for free. i almost dipped back in when halo 2 launched but didn't get into the game that much. i think the basics of the online capable game you pay for should be part of silver and they can charge for the extras like cross game chat with however many people. i'll use my phone to talk to people while we do completely different things
kcchiefsguru @ Feb 23rd 2009 11:52PM
I rarely game online so Live is not worth it for me. The fact that they restrict special sales to Gold members only is irritating as, to me, the only reason to have Live is if you play online. Why say my money is worth less to M$ than a Gold members money?
My biggest beef with M$ is the fact that they require you to purchase a Gold membership for each individual rather than allow the membership to be assigned to a single family machine. I shouldn't have to pay for Live 3 times just to get myself and my two oldest children online. We shared one account while we did have Live and all I heard from my kids was complaints because they couldn't get certain achievements. Too bad. Achievements are not worth an extra $100 per month.
Oh, yes, I know Live memberships can be found cheaper than $50. It just is not worth the money for me even at $30.
ImSooFlye @ Feb 23rd 2009 7:00PM
i won't re up till codmw2
ryan @ Feb 24th 2009 11:49AM
I came in here to say the same thing. CoD4 was probably my most played multiplayer of last year, kicked Halo 3 to the curb for sure (the sprint button and fluid controls alone).
I've been playing single player games the past few months since it ran out, but am itching to get back to the Modern Warfare universe!
And yeah, it sucks to pay for Live, but I just prefer shooters with the 360 pad than the PS3 pad (don't own a great PC for CoD).
faiz_seher @ Feb 23rd 2009 7:17PM
Geez, so much money off of the XBL subscription, imagine how much they make including all the arcade games, and game add-ons...
sony boy @ Feb 23rd 2009 7:17PM
@BxGT,
NO... read this article and then talk to me...http://news.cnet.com/8301-10805_3-10169119-75.html?subj=news&tag=2547-1_3-0-20&part=sphere
Markez @ Feb 23rd 2009 7:22PM
Could we read it if we feel like it, and just not talk to you?
BxGT @ Feb 23rd 2009 7:25PM
What the hell did that even remotely have to do with the conversation at hand?
nutman @ Feb 23rd 2009 7:32PM
Historians still do not know why the Sony fanboys constantly troll Xbox articles. Why they partake in this ritual each day fascinates scientists across the world.
Up next on the History Channel: Inside the Sony fanboy's "year of the PS3/year the 360 peaked ritual". Much like Native Americans dancing to make it rain, the Sony fanboys were vocal about every year being the "year of the PS3" and the "year the 360 peaked".
Unfortunately for them, their gods were obviously false and never granted their wishes.
Highimpact1 @ Feb 23rd 2009 7:45PM
@nutman
Best...comment......Ever.
yolarrydabomb @ Feb 23rd 2009 8:01PM
GTFO Sack Boy
i.c. weiner @ Feb 23rd 2009 10:40PM
You must feel like a douche right now
http://news.cnet.com/8301-13860_3-10170025-56.html?tag=TOCmoreStories.0
Duke @ Feb 24th 2009 11:22AM
"sony boy" don't be so desperate to crap on MS. If your job paid you extra money on accident, you can bet your ass they would ask for that money back. They made a normal attempt to correct an accounting error, which they have since decided to write off.
You jumping on this shows you are both out of touch with business and trolling hardcore.
BxGT @ Feb 23rd 2009 7:26PM
To add fuel to the fire if you had read wtf it said let me quote them
"The drop in Windows sales was partially offset by strength in the company's server and Xbox divisions."
BxGT @ Feb 23rd 2009 7:29PM
That was supposed to be replied to sony boy.
nutman @ Feb 23rd 2009 7:27PM
No matter what the percentage is fanboys will say that it "seems low".
pjsingh @ Feb 23rd 2009 7:51PM
lol, its like its 100%, and the fanboys still say its low :P
Extinction @ Feb 23rd 2009 9:10PM
It's low because PSN has twice the users that are able to play online though
Sora @ Feb 24th 2009 12:26AM
And the PSN has twice the (currently supported) systems. It seems like everyone forgets that the PSP has PSN support too...
WhatsMelee @ Feb 23rd 2009 7:45PM
E3 2009 Microsoft announces that online play becomes a part of XBL silver.
You heard it here first.
Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Feb 23rd 2009 7:52PM
riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight
Lieutenant @ Feb 23rd 2009 7:59PM
TGS 2009: Gold subscriptions have dropped 100%. Online play back to Gold only
HamalSharatan @ Feb 23rd 2009 7:44PM
I must say I got my Gold membership last December when I won a tournament, so I didn't give any money to MS.
Einhanderkiller @ Feb 23rd 2009 7:45PM
Does this count free Gold accounts?
Lieutenant @ Feb 23rd 2009 8:32PM
The 24-48 trials? no
why not the LS2LS7? @ Feb 23rd 2009 9:00PM
It says paid subscribers in the article. So I think it doesn't count these short-term and medium term (1 month) free subscriptions.
FireAnt360 @ Feb 23rd 2009 7:50PM
My free 3 month subscription ran out back in October and I haven't had the urge to renew it, $60-100 +TAX (my younger brother and myself) doesn't really seem worth it seeing that I rarely game online, except for maybe AC6 but my brother does with his friend routinely.
MS should offer a two for one deal on XBL Gold subscriptions for Co-op games and offer half price on all XBL content like the person above stated but WTF am I thinking it's Microsoft :(
Miles @ Feb 23rd 2009 8:36PM
Microsoft should just give you a free check in the mail for being "you".
Chris D.(PSN: Aggie_CEO | XBL:The Aggie CEO | Steam: Aggie_CEO @ Feb 23rd 2009 7:52PM
I got a Free month of Gold with my 360 purchase. after its up damn paying for the shit