Develop sources: Microsoft is preparing microtransaction system
Microsoft is fostering new relationships with developers in a bid to bring free-to-play gaming to Xbox, Develop understands.
Several sources connected to the matter say Microsoft is, behind the scenes, calling on developers to discuss possible free-to-play game deals. This will be games that can either be monetised by in-game items or premium upgrade costs.
The Xbox manufacturer did not comment on the matter when approached by Develop.
Microsoft’s 360 operating system will incorporate a microtransactions service, Develop has heard, where in-game items will be exchanged for Microsoft Points on the fly.
The new drive for free-to-play comes as Microsoft positions its Live service at the centre of PC, mobile and console entertainment.
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It also comes at a drastic state of transition for the games business.
Social games groups such as Zynga have turned industry heads with soaring valuations and multimillion dollar acquisitions – all of which is being fuelled by free-to-play gaming.
Yesterday, Valve revealed it was making the cult hit Team Fortress 2 a free-to-play title.
Should put free online not need pay $60 a year. just leave Mircosoft points alone, they still paying games and add ons and etcs. if you guys do that it'll be booming up more people would want play Xbox 360 more than ps3.
People saying they should make Xbox Live free instead clearly haven't seen the recent hacking issues, and how the money spend on XBL has stopped the service from going down for a month unlike PSN... a free service, therefore less money to keep secure.
I think it's refreshing to see the gaming business move to free to play. Don't forget that some people purchase 6 months game subscriptions with the pay to play model and a lot of people move on to other things before 6 months. For example when I tried the eve trial I thought I was gonna love this but only played for 3 weeks. This is one problem many gamers face with the pay to play model. I'm glad it's going free to play though I converted to ps3 long ago.
I don't the ps3 hacking has anything to do with a free to play/pay to play model. If hackers are gonna hack then they will hack regardless. It's a security issue not something else.
Microsoft is on the right track, but they need to make the online gaming portion of Xbox-Live part of the Silver membership.
That way they would make more money on the Xbox-360 and people would consider trying out the Gold membership for the extra features.
Forcing the players to have a Gold membership to be able to play games like Left 4 Dead 1 and 2 online is not exactly making people willing to buy a Xbox-360.
Why? Becuase it sucks when people get overpowered becuase they have more money. And if we pay 60 euro for a game? we still need to pay more to get interesting stuff to do? lamee....
I like the 360 set up. Keeps people from downloading games, Maybe the New Maps should be Downloaded for free durig an update so everyone has the maps. It sucks when half the people drop off because they have not purchased the new map pack.
I never bought gold, I dont see the point since I just play online on my wii. €7 a month is too expensive to me. And I'm sure there are more like me, also not to forget people not allowed to pay while they want to, it's not fair especially for them.
However I'm sure paying people still likes to have more permission than others, so they should keep the special discounts and exclusive stuff for them. Also a higher priority at online games would be fair.
micro transactions a gold service apparently. microsoft double dipping at its best
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Big deal I've always related to Gamerscore as Microsoft points all knowing they were completely different.
If you want to play free games online you should visit this site http://minigamesdb.com
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