By:Jim Sterling
Microsoft already makes tons of cash on Xbox Live Gold subscriptions. It also makes plenty of money from advertising on Xbox Live. Why not make some more? Despite being ad-driven itself, 1 vs. 100 could have its very own pay-to-play model, and Microsoft definitely won't rule out the thought.
We first had a clue that Microsoft may be demanding extra cash for 1 vs. 100 when news of a mysterious "season pass" surfaced. All we currently know is that the first "season" of the game will be free, but that Microsoft can't tell us anything more about its future.
"Our beta season is to see the interest in the game and the success of the game," says marketing manager Tania Chee. "In the beta season one it will be free for our Gold subscribers; moving forwards we have nothing to announce at this time. We ultimately hope it will be a resounding success so we can move forward into future seasons."
The basic jist of this seems to be that if 1 vs. 100 is popular, they'll hike up the price. You know, kind of like what they did with XBLA when they realized Braid and Castle Crashers could be used as leverage in MS Point extortion. I know I'm definitely excited about the prospect of paying to play something on an ad-supported service that I already pay for.
Oh wait, that would be a ludicrous thing to do.
