Xbox Live family subscription plan available starting in November for $99
By Laura June 
posted June 22nd 2010 11:39AM
posted June 22nd 2010 11:39AM
Microsoft's just dropped details on its new Xbox Live family subscription plan. Starting in November, it will offer the Gold Family Pack, enabling up to four users to have Xbox Live Gold subscriptions, for $99.99 a year. It'll also debut the Family Center, a new menu accessible from the dashboard for customizing account settings. We've certainly wished for something like this in the past, and the pricing sounds like a pretty good deal to us -- we'll be able to afford a new cap for our avatar, afterall! Full press release is below.
New Xbox LIVE Gold Family Subscription Plan Delivers More Value and Family Fun
Xbox 360 makes family time, quality time. Only Xbox LIVE delivers a world of games, movies, social entertainment and starting this November, live sports, allowing you to share them with the people you care about, around the world.
This November, the new Xbox LIVE Gold Family Pack will offer up to four individual Xbox LIVE Gold memberships for only US$99.99 – the price of two regular Xbox LIVE Gold subscriptions. Now as you prepare for the launch of Kinect for Xbox 360, which makes YOU the controller, consider giving your family premium Gold experience and access to the biggest names in entertainment.
Perfect for families, the Xbox LIVE Gold Family Pack will also offer access to additional conveniences and services including the new Family Center, accessible on the Xbox dashboard and Xbox.com for easier family management, access to activity monitoring reports, and the ability to purchase and give Microsoft Points to other Xbox LIVE Gold Family Pack members.
An Xbox LIVE Gold Family Pack includes:
* Up to four individual Xbox LIVE Gold memberships for the price of two – (US) $99.99.
* Family Center – a single, easy to use, destination for Family Settings and account management, accessible on the Xbox dashboard and on Xbox.com.
* The primary account member has the ability to purchase and dispense Microsoft Points to other Xbox LIVE Gold Family Pack members.
* Activity monitoring reports viewable on Xbox.com to help encourage discussions about safer more balanced gaming and entertainment habits.
* Simplified billing that applies all purchase charges to the primary account holder's billing account and the ability to authorize purchases, helping to manage the family's entertainment budget.
* Exclusive family content and discounts.
The industry-leading, built-in Xbox 360 Family Settings are also being taken to the next level this November. It's Microsoft's goal to provide parents and caregivers with tools and resources to manage their children's gaming and entertainment experiences, and these features are available to all Xbox LIVE members:
* Family Programming that removes all mature games, movies, and content from the dashboard, based on ESRB, Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) ratings and the TV Parental Guidelines system . Family Programming is password protected, and easy to turn on and off for each member. (Compatible with international ratings systems.)
* Title exceptions – the ability to allow your family members to play specific games above the console's designated ESRB rating if you deem appropriate. (Compatible with international ratings systems.)
* Intelligent default settings for child, teen, and adult profiles. Xbox will automatically assign default privacy and activity settings for each member that can later be individually customized.
* Family Settings are displayed prominently in the MyXbox channel. Current tools include the Family Timer, which allows you to control the amount of time - either daily or weekly - your children may use the console.
Whether you want to play your favorite games, stream movies and music from Zune, or watch the latest sporting event together via ESPN on Xbox LIVE1, Xbox 360 brings the best family-friendly entertainment straight to your living room.
Xbox 360 makes family time, quality time. Only Xbox LIVE delivers a world of games, movies, social entertainment and starting this November, live sports, allowing you to share them with the people you care about, around the world.
This November, the new Xbox LIVE Gold Family Pack will offer up to four individual Xbox LIVE Gold memberships for only US$99.99 – the price of two regular Xbox LIVE Gold subscriptions. Now as you prepare for the launch of Kinect for Xbox 360, which makes YOU the controller, consider giving your family premium Gold experience and access to the biggest names in entertainment.
Perfect for families, the Xbox LIVE Gold Family Pack will also offer access to additional conveniences and services including the new Family Center, accessible on the Xbox dashboard and Xbox.com for easier family management, access to activity monitoring reports, and the ability to purchase and give Microsoft Points to other Xbox LIVE Gold Family Pack members.
An Xbox LIVE Gold Family Pack includes:
* Up to four individual Xbox LIVE Gold memberships for the price of two – (US) $99.99.
* Family Center – a single, easy to use, destination for Family Settings and account management, accessible on the Xbox dashboard and on Xbox.com.
* The primary account member has the ability to purchase and dispense Microsoft Points to other Xbox LIVE Gold Family Pack members.
* Activity monitoring reports viewable on Xbox.com to help encourage discussions about safer more balanced gaming and entertainment habits.
* Simplified billing that applies all purchase charges to the primary account holder's billing account and the ability to authorize purchases, helping to manage the family's entertainment budget.
* Exclusive family content and discounts.
The industry-leading, built-in Xbox 360 Family Settings are also being taken to the next level this November. It's Microsoft's goal to provide parents and caregivers with tools and resources to manage their children's gaming and entertainment experiences, and these features are available to all Xbox LIVE members:
* Family Programming that removes all mature games, movies, and content from the dashboard, based on ESRB, Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) ratings and the TV Parental Guidelines system . Family Programming is password protected, and easy to turn on and off for each member. (Compatible with international ratings systems.)
* Title exceptions – the ability to allow your family members to play specific games above the console's designated ESRB rating if you deem appropriate. (Compatible with international ratings systems.)
* Intelligent default settings for child, teen, and adult profiles. Xbox will automatically assign default privacy and activity settings for each member that can later be individually customized.
* Family Settings are displayed prominently in the MyXbox channel. Current tools include the Family Timer, which allows you to control the amount of time - either daily or weekly - your children may use the console.
Whether you want to play your favorite games, stream movies and music from Zune, or watch the latest sporting event together via ESPN on Xbox LIVE1, Xbox 360 brings the best family-friendly entertainment straight to your living room.
Is it just me or is the font in this post strange?
@Colours
yeah, goes odd at 'enabling up to four users'
bit o' copy and paste going on here? :S
@Colours:
You're all gonna hate on me, but that $99 more a year then I pay for my PS3 Network access.
@SLINC Well all the free stuff on PS3 is going to be going the paid route also besides online play, I read in the local German gameinformers that FB, Twitter, pretty much everything you get with Xbox Gold will be a premium service on PS3
@SLINC alright i have a ps3 too but dont go there. live still has way more features that if they were added into psn plus i would pay for. theres a good reason the psn is free.
@SLINC yes but... then you would be on PSN.
I guess I shouldn't talk, I have both. As far as I can tell, you get what you pay for.
@Blizaine I have both but MS actually have dedicated servers on each continent to make sure everything stays right with the most minimum amount of lag.
@TheOne:
There is a Premium Service that Sony is going to offering which is Similar to XBOX Live and I have no probem with them offering it, but they are not making it a Requirement as Microsoft does for XBOX.
I am not saying that the PSN Network is better or has more content, XBOX has that right now. It's like your Cable Provider, I have FIOS and love it, but there are parts / aspects of Comcast I miss (Mainly better VOD Choices).
It's all in what you are a fan of, I personally am an Sony PS(1,2,3) guy. I like XBOX360. It's no differen then PC or MAC.
@A25i :
I saw on G4 / E3 that EA is now maing it a Requirment to join the EA Network (Not just XBL or PSN, THIER NETWORK) to play any games made from here on out...
Yes, it's a total Cluster Phuuuuuck!
@Colours This is a joke $100/year for a family to be on Xbox when it would be completely free on PSN. I'll stick with PS3, especially for family gaming when it has games like LittleBigPlanet and Modnation Racers, stuff kids actually like.
PSN+ is a joke as is, Sony doesn't have a single useful thing on that crap service, no cross game voice chat or espn. I'll stick with the completely FREE PSN. And save my family $100/yr when I have one.
@SLINC
Having Xbox LIVE Gold isn't a requirement, you just can't play online or join a 3+ way party without it. Also, some game content isn't available (demos and whatnot)
My console descision came down to what my friends had, and they all had an Xbox.
@SLINC I am jelous and hateful to you. I live in the boonies and have dishNetwork and only 1.5 mbs max for my internet. I am wishing I had FIOS.
@SLINC EA sucks and I have no issue with not playing any of their games
@Seb6554 :
So with what alot of the content and options the games offer now, your XBOX is more or less useless / less fun without it, corrent?
- "Can't play online"
- "Can't join a 3+ way party without it"
- "Some game content isn't available (demos and whatnot)"
My consolse decision came from my current library of games and what would not only let me play new games, Movies (In this case, BluRay), but continue the life of my old ones and all that without Cost of a RROD.
@Feist77 :
Sorry to hear bro... They rolled FIOS out on my area overall about 3 years ago. I remember the day I came home and there was this HUGE Reel of Cable going into my Backyard, I go back and ask the guy if I can help him and what's he doing. He told me installing the FIOS lines and my Sarcastic questions went from that to: "Can I get you a beer".
I currently get 20Mpbs Download and 5Mbps Upload. Also run a PS3 Media Server on my Desktop and it stream all to my PS3 Wirelessly and in HD. Add that on Buidling a Movie Library (Thanks Netflix) and I am a Media Center MECA!
Sounds good, I wonder if it allows you to share the subscriptions out to anyone. Should make bulk-buying with friends a preferable option over paying individually.
@alexwilks88
$99 for, lets not forget, something that should be free... its backbone is the internet...
@bigsofty thank goodness the internet is completely free now. Guess I can cancel my broadband subscription, data plan, Spotify membership payment and website hosting costs.
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/336/62010rdod2clydt.jpg
@alexwilks88 I was thinking that too... until I saw that ALL the billing goes to the primary account member. Meaning DL content would have to be paid by that person, thats just not a good idea among friends (fine for families)
I was kinda pissed when I got my 360 Arcade last week and realized... both me AND my wife would have to buy seperate Gold subscriptions. I was expecting that one subscription would cover us both (shows how little I've been paying attention to the xbox world. I love my Wii, but I couldn't resist the 360 Arcade at Walmart for $100). I may still get this family pack though, at least the billing becomes simpler with both of us under one account.
For families using kinect this is a good idea on MS' part, but its still a little expensive even for four people. It needs to be more like $20 per person. Or at the least, give the option of adding more family members beyond the 4, like $20 per extra person. Otherwise, a 5 or 6 person family still has to pay 150$ to $200? thats too much for casual gaming. Only hardcore players are willing to pay out $50 a year.
Not bad, 50 bucks for 1 person...but I have no family that plays lol
@creezy8188
use your IRL friends... split the cost.. 25 bucks a head..
@creezy8188 u can use this with 4 friends. $25 dollars each and u save 25 for another year.
@(Unverified)
$25+$25+$25+$25=$50?
@ytilanigiroon
? Its $99 for 4 people. Its $50 for 1 person...
@(Unverified) unless all the accounts have to be on the same xbox.
even if they don't, only one of the accounts (primary account) can buy MS points, though i guess that may be worth it to some people.
@creezy8188 Except that the normal 12 month price is $35 per person if you spend even 10 minutes looking. Still pays off for 4 at $99, but not much reason for 3 unless you can sell the extra.
@YuriTenshi
iPad is a better gaming device. It can rotate you know. Fun.
Try it before? It's like seriously good. Thank you steve jobs for bringing this device to the world.
@YuriTenshi
No it isn't. It's always been $59.99. I've never seen it for any less.
@maattp
Amazon has it for $34.44, down from the $49.99 regular price.
@Hobsie
Cheers, I misread.
@ytilanigiroon
Cheers, you didn't read.
Is there some strange reason Xbox fans like to scale all costs out to four people? I see this a lot with the Kintich Eyetoy 1.5.
Anyway, there's only one service I want with a console: playing against other people over the internet. And I guess the ability to download games, of course.
All this twitter and facebook and messaging and home and commercials can be cool, but they are not worth a penny. In this respect, the PS3 is a strong value proposition against the 360.
Let's hope that as Sony follows the 360 in having paid additional services, the 360 follows the PSN in having free online multiplayer. I think that is something all Xbox players should have.
@DeFlanko
If that worked, somebody needs firing.
This is a pretty good deal..... and was a long time coming.
i'm definitely buying a 360
@kreatos Make sure you don't turn 360 degrees and walk away by accident.
@Pryomancer 360 degrees will keep you in the same direction. Wow.
@pishmish
Please don't feed the troll.
@pishmish It was a joke...
@pishmish
You just got trolled son. Is this your first time?
@Pryomancer And you failed at it.
@pishmish noob:
http://images.encyclopediadramatica.com/image/1/1d/360_moonwalk.gif
@maveric101 404
@pishmish If you have to explain it, they blew it.
@maveric101 damnit. here:
http://images.encyclopediadramatica.com/images/1/1d/360_moonwalk.gif
Thats actually pretty good, Thats like half the price of what it would be today...
This explains why they've been offering extra months free with renewals, this past month.
This is a good development; I lent my parents my 360 to watch Netflix on. My mom and sister both signed up for accounts on the box. However, the only one that can log in to the internet is me, so they always use my account to watch Netflix. It seems silly that they should be restricted when I've paid for Gold and can't use my account while they're on my box :) So this is a more realistic way to deal with this.
This isn't that bad of a deal. If I hadn't bought 4 years worth of Live when it was on sale for $22 on Amazon, I may have done something like this with my brother (2 accounts per Xbox isn't that bad. Would make it nice for when a friend is over and you can actually play rank games without recovering their account)
It would be more awesome if they offered it per person, rather than at a set number of people. Me and my brother are the only ones who use XBL, so what in the hell would we do with 2 extra gold accounts? >.>