Technology - Google News

Microsoft backtracks on a price hike for Xbox Live Gold - USA TODAY

Posted: 22 Jan 2021 09:34 PM PST

Brett Molina | USA TODAY

Show Caption

That price hike for online service Xbox Live Gold won't happen after all.

Microsoft is pulling away from an increase in cost of the subscription service following online backlash to the proposed changes.

The tech giant had initially planned to increase the price of a 1-month subscription by $1 to $10.99, while a three-month membership would increase by $5 to $29.99. The plans also would've included a six-month membership option for $59.99, the same price as a current 12-month membership.

In a post late Friday, Microsoft confirmed it will not institute the changes. Instead, they will maintain the current prices for Xbox Live Gold: $9.99 for 1 month, $24.99 for 3 months, $39.99 for 6 months and $59.99 for 12 months.

Trying to find a PS5 or Xbox Series X?: Here's where to start looking

Big Tech: Want to get away from it? Here's how

"We messed up today and you were right to let us know," wrote Microsoft in its statement. "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. As a result, we have decided not to change Xbox Live Gold pricing."

Today was not great. We always try to do our best for you and today we missed the mark.
We hear you, and we're reversing our Xbox Live Gold pricing updates.
— Xbox (@Xbox) January 23, 2021

Microsoft also announced it will no longer require a Gold subscription to play free games such as "Fortnite" online. Gold membership is required to play most online video games on Xbox consoles such as "Call of Duty" or "Halo."

The announced changes lead to backlash on social media, with some users threatening to switch over to rival PlayStation made by Sony.

Follow Brett Molina on Twitter: @brettmolina23.

Let's block ads! (Why?)

Newegg PS5 and RTX 3080 out of stock - here's where to buy them now - TechRadar

Posted: 22 Jan 2021 05:00 PM PST

If you're searching where to buy PS5, Newegg had PS5 restock earlier on Friday, as well as Asus and MSI versions of the RTX 3080 and 3080 video cards and AMD Ryzen 5 and Ryzen 7 processors, but they're all out of stock now. It was notably the first test of the retailer's brand-new lottery system to deal with high demand.

How does their lottery system work? Simply go into checkout and buy any of the items (here's a list on Newegg) as normal, and you'll be entered into a lottery to get those items. At the end (in several hours), winners will be notified via email or Newegg's app and you'll have two hours to complete your purchase – or the items will go to the next in line.

It's an imperfect system, and we realize folks will likely be disappointed, but it's one way Newegg is hoping to combat the rampant bots scooping up PS5 stock before any actual humans can buy them.

Games deals Twitter account was the first to loop together the disparate products on Newegg:

Lottery chance to buy a PS5/RTX/Ryzen processor on Newegg Shuffle (selection window closes at 2 PM PT. Drawing at 3 PM PT) https://t.co/8FFb7NOgAl pic.twitter.com/JlwZkdZ8d1January 22, 2021

As the Wario64 tweet notes, there were other high-demand items that have been nearly impossible to buy lately, from the Asus TUF GeForce RTX 3070, MSI RTX 3070, and Asus ROG STRIX RTX 3080 video cards to the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X and AMD Ryzen 7 5800X processors. All have been difficult to buy since their releases over previous months.

If you missed the chance to buy a PS5, check the links below:

If you didn't make it through today at Newegg, check Best Buy tomorrow morning, as it got back in stock earlier today and could be back in the coming days.

Looking for RTX's latest graphics cards? Here are our roundups for where to buy them: