Microsoft would rather lose a little money than lose customers to PlayStation.
The tech titan walked back planned price hikes for its Xbox Live gaming service after outraged players threatened to abandon the flagship console.
“We messed up today and you were right to let us know,” Microsoft’s Xbox Live Gold team said in a blog post late Friday. “Connecting and playing with friends is a vital part of gaming and we failed to meet the expectations of players who count on it every day.”
Microsoft reversed course just about 15 hours after announcing plans to charge $59.99 for a six-month subscription to Xbox Live Gold, which currently buys a full year of the service.
The company also had said it would raise the price of a one-month membership by $1 and increase the three-month rate by $5.
Peeved players railed against the plans on Twitter, with some saying they were considering jumping ship to Sony’s PlayStation console.
Gamers also speculated that the price hike was meant to push people to sign up for Microsoft’s monthly Xbox Game Pass subscription service, which gives users access to a library of games for $10 per month.
But Microsoft said it will leave the current pricing structure for Xbox Live Gold in place, including the $59.99 one-year subscription. The company will also make free-to-play games available without an Xbox Live Gold subscription in the coming months, according to the blog post.
“We’re turning this moment into an opportunity to bring Xbox Live more in line with how we see the player at the center of their experience,” Microsoft said in the post.
