Xbox LIVE Gold members will have to pay more for their subscriptions starting the first day of November for those who live in the United States, the UK, Canada, and Mexico. Microsoft announced today that they will be increasing prices across all tiers.
In the United States: monthly subscriptions will increase from $8 to $10, three months will go from $20 to $25, and yearly subscriptions will be raised from $50 to $60. The increases are about the same in all other respective countries listed above.
Larry Hyrb states that since the launch of LIVE services, in 2002, Microsoft has kept the prices the same while continually adding more content like Netflix streaming, Zune Video, and the inevitable Hulu Plus service coming early 2011 (even though a separate $10/month must be paid to Hulu). The price hikes come at quite the convenient time, just before Kinect, where new consumers will see the LIVE service fees for their first time.
Microsoft, however, is allowing current customers to lock in inexpensive prices now, with a $20 discount (from the new price) for a yearly subscription.
