My Gaming news and reviews about XBox 360, PS3, PC, Games, Graphics Cards and Hardware: Opinion: Why Xbox Live bans were a masterstroke

Opinion: Why Xbox Live bans were a masterstroke
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Tom Manners  on 18/11/2009 15:58:00
 
It’s no secret that the Xbox 360 is currently suffering at the hands of
Sony’s PS3 Slim. September and October were some of the worst months for the
console in terms of sales numbers and Microsoft’s recent spate of Xbox Live
bans for selected users have left a bad taste in the mouths of consumers at
large.
Or have they? Last week it was widely published that Microsoft had banned up to
one million Xbox 360 owners from Xbox Live for possessing modified or chipped
consoles. As a result thousands of multiplayer disabled consoles have hit
classifieds listings worldwide as perpetrators attempt to recuperate the cash
they lost after having their machines ‘struck off the roll’.
It seems unlikely that these users will simply drop off the face of the gaming
world. Sure, some will defect to Sony and some will simply give up but many are
likely to head out into the retail jungle once again to purchase a new console.
With this in perspective it appears that Microsoft’s banning exercise has
been more of a sales boosting masterstroke than an action against piracy. Had
the company banned users in September or October the sudden increased sales
curve would have seemed suspicious. To carry this out now, in the run up to the
festive season, is likely to result in nothing more than healthy Christmas
sales.
The sharp increase in console sales on the back of recent Xbox Live bans has
already been felt. According to VGchartz Microsoft averaged roughly 150 000
consoles sold each week for October. In the first week of November however
(which coincidentally marked the start of Microsoft’s ‘anti piracy’
campaign) the company sold 250 000 consoles – that’s 100 000 consoles more
than average.
Now that Microsoft has struck the fear of God into the hearts of its primary
swashbucklers by permanently removing them from their beloved Xbox Live platform
(a service which they paid a membership fee to access) the company can also
depend on healthy game sales in November and December.
The truth is plain to see - Microsoft has been sitting on this bombshell for a
while now. To assume that that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was informed one
morning that piracy was taking place within the gaming division would be naive.
The reality is that the company has simply been waiting for the right time, when
its chips were down and the Xbox 360 seemed to lack its usual lustre, to
effectively push ‘restart’ on one million (or more) consumers and benefit
from a very merry festive season.
We can only assume that those executives at Microsoft’s Gaming division will
be taking home fat bonuses this year. Well played gentlemen...
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