You spend $1.2bn annually on Xbox Live

By Robert Purchese Published 7 July, 2010

MS comments reveal service earnings.

Xbox chief operating officer Dennis Durkin has revealed that more than half of Xbox Live's revenue comes from downloadable content, GamesIndustry.biz reports.

Microsoft has previously said that around half the 25 million people on Xbox Live are Gold subscribers, which amounts to around $600m in fees a year.

Therefore, if downloadable content - avatar clothing, game content, films, Live Arcade games, etc. - exceeds that figure then total revenue for Xbox Live must be $1.2bn or higher.

Given that, it's no wonder Sony's now offering a premium subscription service on PlayStation Network.

Microsoft reports its 2010 fiscal results later this month.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

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Comments (52) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • MiniAmin #1 2 years ago

    Lies! 60% of us only have Xbox Live because of Call of Duty remember?

  • Physically_Insane #2 2 years ago

    ....ok

  • mushroomyakuza #3 2 years ago

    Fuck damn. Talk about milking it.

  • TopKatt #4 2 years ago

    Bobby Kotick says:

    That's my money you thieving cunts! Hand it over, all of it! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

  • Peter_LIAR_Molyneux #5 2 years ago

    So it seems safe to say that no matter what Sony does, Microsoft will never ever remove their subscription to let people simply play online. Not with that kind of easily obtained income.

  • BabyJesus #6 2 years ago

    So thats where my 1.2 bn is.

    I thought it was under the couch. Silly me.

  • Hobo #7 2 years ago

    "You spend $1.2bn annually on Xbox Live Comments News"

    Well, not me personally.

  • CrispyXUK64 #8 2 years ago

    mugs

  • coolbritannia #9 2 years ago

    Sony must be kicking themselves.

  • MeBrains #10 2 years ago

    oh yeah... Sony's console was overpriced indeed... :rolleyes:

  • jellyhead #11 2 years ago

    Wow, i've yet to spend anything.
    I bought a Live card a month or so ago but haven't redeemed it yet. I've never bought any points and I'd like to see what the average spend per user is.

  • LHH #12 2 years ago

    So how about MS reinvest some of that cash into better servers that support more than 6 on fucking 6 and doesn't lag like a dialup connection

  • iHAZaCHEEZ3burger #13 2 years ago

    And thats why XBL will never be free.

  • speedjack #14 2 years ago

    Would love to know the profit - i.e. once development, bandwith, maintenance cost etc are factored out.

    According to my bank statement I spent £120.00 last year on XBLA of which £40.00 was the subscription. The rest was DLC I assume of which MS would only get a % of ?

  • t8yman #15 2 years ago

    The core service is well worth it, the addons like avatar clothing are IMHO ridiculous, but if someone wants to pay it - who am I to complain?

    I still think xbl pisses all over psn frankly, but its only a simple case of making "join friends" a lot quicker and simpler and more succesful that is holding it back so much. and the fact that there isnt a standard headset bundled with the damn thing.

    £45 a year (obviously cheaper if you know what you are doing) is nothing in the big scheme of things.

  • Razzajazz #16 2 years ago

    @CrispyXUK64

    This does include Arcade games, y'know. So basically, you're calling me a mug for having bought Trials HD, Shadow Complex and Geometry Wars? Jog on, mate.

  • Centrifugal #17 2 years ago

    I wonder how long it will take for Bobby Kotick to issue a statement saying:

    "I'm expecting $500 million of that to turn up any day now."

  • MiniAmin #18 2 years ago

    The only thing I have bought is Trials and The Lost And The Damned. Value for money.

    To those who buy avatar clothing and ME2 weapons - you are morons.

    A bit condescending and harsh? Don't you think? We're all entitled to our dodgy little purchasing choices and we shouldn't be labeled as morons for buying little harmless digital items we may enjoy.
    Edited by MiniAmin at 07/07/10 @ 13:59

  • X3Entente #19 2 years ago

    @MiniAmin
    "A bit condescending and harsh? Don't you think? We're all entitled to our dodgy little purchasing choices and we shouldn't be labeled as morons for buying little harmless digital items we may enjoy."
    haha, if you said that on a mw2 map pack story youd get negged hard dude

  • Skooch #20 2 years ago

    "So how about MS reinvest some of that cash into better servers that support more than 6 on fucking 6 and doesn't lag like a dialup connection"

    No, that lag will be your poor connection. The rest of us don't have a problem.

  • AphoticCosmos #21 2 years ago

    I never thought Live would bring in that much money.

    But I still prefer it to PSN, I'm paying for a service and I get a good one.

  • LHH #22 2 years ago

    No, that lag will be your poor connection.

    I don't think so, p2p sucks, you know it, I know it everybody knows it. Of course I could always play bfbc2 and have no lag on some of EAs dedicated servers...

  • The-Bodybuilder #23 2 years ago

    All that money and you're still tight-arses for not allowing iPlayer, 4OD, or ITV Player (though will be useless once the world cup ends) to be free to silver users.

    Corporate Suits. Tossers, the lot of them.

  • Vyggo #24 2 years ago

    I spend quite a lot on XBLA games, it is a delicious and malicious service at the same time.

  • Distributor #25 2 years ago

    Hah....sony? home? rooms? spaces? give us your numbers sony!!! I want em.

  • NimbusTLD #26 2 years ago

    Wait, Gold subs make more money monthly than WoW???

  • metalangel #27 2 years ago

    I am interested to know just how many people spent several real pounds on a pretend cat for their avatar that just lies there for 15 seconds and then disappears. Probably while their real cat yowls from outside as it's cold, wet, hungry and has worms. And a broken leg.

  • Vice.Destroyer #28 2 years ago

    My cat doesn't have worms.

  • aphexstwin #29 2 years ago

    to be fair, its 1.2bn that they dont actually need. its not like any of it comes back to us, it should be like nectar, get rewards, free ones not a reduction in price for some games on xblah, for spending a certain amount each month. unless mr gate$ is going to be philanthropic with our money....? either way, my live sub is up soon, i wont be renewing as i dont play live except for bfmc2 and that'll be canned soon, dont see why i should pay when the gaming service on the black side is equal to live

  • TopKatt #30 2 years ago

    @vicedestroyer

    I play Noby Noby Boy. My worm has cats.
    Edited by TopKatt at 07/07/10 @ 16:13

  • Spydy #31 2 years ago

    "Would love to know the profit - i.e. once development, bandwith, maintenance cost etc are factored out. "

    Bandwidth costs would be minimal as you are essentially paying MS to connect your xbox to other live users, something that Sony / PC / Wii offer for free. Your Gold account does pay for other peripheral services are well, but the chunk of your £40 is to play other people on-line. All the 360 games I've played on-line do not use a host server, so that keeps costs for MS down but your host advantage and lag / drop outs up.

  • t8yman #32 2 years ago

    @bodybuilder - its my understanding that the reason iplayer isnt on the xbox is because the bbc wouldnt allow ms to customise the interface? am I wrong?

  • Metalartin #33 2 years ago

    bfbc2 and have no lag on some of EAs dedicated servers...

    After playing a bit of online Fifa10, the amount of times Ive experienced lag(including some weird input lag where you have to think 3 seconds ahead when shooting or tackling), weird glitches where Im controlling someone elses player on Pro online matches, "EA servers currently unavailable" meaning I cant even get into a game sometimes...

    Its actually worse than my experience of Pro Evo 4 on the OLD xbox live, so yeah I'd say most of the people trying to claim Live isnt any good simply haven't played much of it... because they had already proclaimed it was shit and not worth it before their free trial(gamers are a stubborn bunch).

  • Ceelion #34 2 years ago

    So that why they removed the 'auto renewal off' button.

  • braydee89 #35 2 years ago

    @t8yman
    I heard it was because MS wanted to make it Gold exclusive, which the BBC can't allow.

  • darleysam #36 2 years ago

    Is this where we come to demand clarity? I want to see a complete breakdown of where my £30 has gone, in case it's being used to fund the salaries of some fat-cat presenters I don't even like.

  • Dogzilla #37 2 years ago

    "You spend $1.2bn annually on Xbox Live Comments"

    Erm, no I don't.

    I don't even have dollars!

  • patchbox360 #38 2 years ago

    i'd never pay to play online, but i do use that money to buy 2 psn games a year though.

  • Fab4 #39 2 years ago

    "No, that lag will be your poor connection. The rest of us don't have a problem."

    For the majority of online games, XBL is nothing more than a cog in the matchmaking service, with the actual games being hosted on a person's 360. That being the case, your connection speed wont make a fucking difference if you are matched to a host with a shit connection or in a distant land. That is unless your connection somehow is able to bypass the laws of physics.

    While its not fully XBL's fault, they supposedly require games on XBL to pass certain tests before they become available through the service. Its a pity one of those tests doesnt include a check on the quality of the game's matchmaking.

    Edited by Fab4 at 07/07/10 @ 18:07

  • PoundHound #40 2 years ago

    It's all my fault. I can't get enough avatar items. :)

  • Skurmedel #41 2 years ago

    Running the server with the marketplace content on is quite a cost, and the matchmaking broker stuff probably eats a load of bandwidth. But they are probably making quite a lot of profit.

    (Care to explain why a minus?)
    Edited by Skurmedel at 07/07/10 @ 19:47

  • metalangel #42 2 years ago

    @darleysam: Fat cat presenters? You mean Emo 1 and Emo 2 on SentUAMessage? I'm more upset the token girl isn't on more often getting them out for the lads, with that girl who does the IGN tips. ....... Oh, and laughing quite hard at the irony of Ultimatum calling people "morans".

  • Xboxfanuk #43 2 years ago

    Avatar Town, we will spend even more...mohahaha

  • Spook #44 2 years ago

    Ok I hold my hands up, I brought an avatar Cat, I couldn't resist, and it’s oh so cute! Here kitten, kitten, kitten! (My real cat has just given me the most evilest look ever! Freaky!)

  • sarcasmoidosis #45 2 years ago

    I had some points left after buying Fahrenheit, so I bought a Bioshock 2 shirt. Do I regret it? Nope, not really.

  • RodHull #46 2 years ago

    I bought an avatar lightsabre and it makes me smile all the time, even when I'm sad after cleaning all my guns.

  • SilentNinja92 #47 2 years ago

    And yet for online gaming Sony offers more shooters with more dedicated servers and more people...

    xD Unlucky sony *goes to play socom, at further cost to playstation =S

  • SpaceMonkey77 #48 2 years ago

    That's a tidy sum of income. I'm sure it would be a lot less if everyone didn't buy some of the crap on Live, Avatar stuff namely. Each to their own, though.

    Am I happy with Live? Yes overall. Regardless of how it works, my problems with it have been very few. For £27, I get damn good value for money, free demos of all games at my finger tips, videos, tips, machinima, Last FM, with more stuff being added. Having a high standard for online play is good, that even Sony can't match it with a free service.

    I have to hand it to MS. Just by what's inside of the Xbox 360 box, they set the bar of what's expected from a console online (pay attention Nintendo and Sony). I'll continue to use Live, as that's where many of my friends are. PSN I'll check out when I get a PS3, but I doubt I'd use it much anyway. Live is that good, IMO.

  • MeBrains #49 2 years ago

    after reading through the positive, as well as quite a few negative comments...

    and _Sony's_ console was overpriced?!

    sorry... could ... not ... resist.

  • Machiavellian #50 2 years ago

    after reading through the positive, as well as quite a few negative comments...

    and _Sony's_ console was overpriced?!

    sorry... could ... not ... resist.

    Why yes, Sony console was over priced. People always look at the UP front money they have to pay no matter the cost of the innards. Upfront it takes well over 6 years at the price of the PS3 when it was introduce for Live to be the cost of the PS3. The buying public has shown time and again that they are not willing to pay over 300 bones for a console no matter what it has.

  • super_monty #51 2 years ago

    I have both PSN and live.

    The sub for playing games online on live is well worth it, the quality is far better and people actually use voice chat because of it's clarity.

    PSN simpley seems to miss a friendly talkative community online,the lobby systems etc are often terriblel as is the voice chat.
    I won't pay to play online wil PSN and never will as it was advertised as free and this was a major descion when paying £600 + on release.

    But I think the quality of origional downloadable content and games is far far superior on PNS to live with games such as Flower, Shatter, Wipout HD, Pixel Junk games, Trine etc etc. so prehaps they should concentrate making revenue here.

    But all said and done I am actually very unhappy with both platforms at present for taking two of the more hardcore/niche this gen games offline EOJ and Chromehounds. Very very poor show.

  • Fab4 #52 2 years ago

    "I don't think so, p2p sucks, you know it, I know it everybody knows it. Of course I could always play bfbc2 and have no lag on some of EAs dedicated servers..."

    Very few XBL games use P2P...CoD3 does and it benefits from it. However most use the client/server model, with the 'dedicated' server being one player's 360. Just because one of your peers is allocated server duties, doesnt make it P2P...I really wish people would learn the fucking difference.