Microsoft's Unangst On The PC, Xbox 360 Multiplayer Cost Divide

August 8th, 2008, 16:02 Posted By: wraggster

But despite the similarity, Xbox 360 users still pay subscription fees for the Xbox Live Gold multiplayer matching service, while PC gamers will not. Does Microsoft see a dichotomy here?

"What we've got is two different groups who are trying to do what's best and offering value for their customers," Unangst (Microsoft's Games for Windows head) said. "The Games for Windows team and the Games for Windows Live team looked at this and said, 'What do we need to do to make sure this adopted broadly and has value?'"
"And that's all those changes -- the UI, the Marketplace, the fact that we're not going to have the same content. On Xbox Live, I think they've done everything to continue to add value to the Gold subscription."

With same friends lists, Gamertag and a shared currency in Microsoft Points, Unangst points to what he calls a "common underpinning." On the Xbox 360, however, Unangst says the focus is more largely on "things that make sense for the console."
"So those services will evolve in different directions. You'll have different types of content that we offer."

http://www.gamasutra.com/php-bin/new...hp?story=19623

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