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Alongside Microsoft's <a href="http://gamasutra.com/php-bin/news_index.php?story=24008">ongoing transition</a> of Xbox Live Community games into Xbox Live Indie Games, there's a new pricing structure for titles on the service that will see some games pric

Leigh Alexander, Contributor

July 24, 2009

1 Min Read

Alongside Microsoft's ongoing transition of Xbox Live Community games into Xbox Live Indie Games, there's a new pricing structure for titles on the service that will see some games priced as low as $1. The company's dropping the old pricing, which included choices for hobbyist developers to price their games at 800 Microsoft Points ($10), 400 MSP ($5), and 200 MSP ($2.50) for a tiered system that offers three different price points: 400 Microsoft Points ($5), 240 MSP ($3) and 80 MSP ($1; dollar values approximate). According to Microsoft, only games 50 MB in size and smaller can be sold for 80 MSP on the Xbox 360 via this method. Games currently priced at the current-lowest 200 MSP point will be moved to the 80 MSP point unless the developer selects another price, which they're free to do at will. Games priced at 800 MSP stay that way unless the developer updates the game -- at which point they'll be required to choose a new price from the tiered system, the company says. With the change, it is still not possible to release full games for free. The new price system rolls out alongside various other updates to the Creators' Club: developers in Japan and Germany can now submit indie games, and all developers can now submit their games to the Japanese, German, Singapore and Swedish Xbox Live Marketplaces. A new "reputation" system awards developers points and levels based on their activity in Creators' Club, and Premium creators can now give out tokens that act as vouchers for their games. Customers who have downloaded titles can now receive automatic prompts when updates are available.

About the Author(s)

Leigh Alexander

Contributor

Leigh Alexander is Editor At Large for Gamasutra and the site's former News Director. Her work has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Variety, Slate, Paste, Kill Screen, GamePro and numerous other publications. She also blogs regularly about gaming and internet culture at her Sexy Videogameland site. [NOTE: Edited 10/02/2014, this feature-linked bio was outdated.]

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