4 Reasons Why Discontinuing Microsoft Points Is A Good Idea

January 24, 2012 - Jason Dunning

It has been rumoured for about a day now that Microsoft is planning to completely remove Microsoft Points, opting for real money instead. Here are four reasons why that is a good idea.

Microsoft Is No Longer The Odd Man Out

Every company uses some form of digital currency, but Microsoft is the odd man out. Sony uses real money, selling points cards in $20 and $50 increments, Nintendo sells 2000 Points Cards (where 1 penny equals 1 point) for the Wii and $20 points cards for the DS, Apple uses anything from $5 prepaid cards to $50 prepaid cards. Then you have Microsoft where you get 1400 (1600 in the United States) points for $20.

No More Confusion

A big example of this happened a couple of weeks ago. I purchased a 1400 points card for $20 from the store to buy Resident Evil 4 HD which is $19.99. So when I went to buy it, the game was 1360 points. Very confusing and it seemed to me as if Microsoft didn’t even understand their own exchange rate when it came to these points.

It will also help parents at Christmas time when the kids tell them they want a points card and the parents don’t have to wonder if 1400 points is enough to buy that map pack for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 that their kid has been asking for.

Even Footing For International Gamers

As a Canadian, it really is a rip off when I see that $20 in the United States gets you 1600 points but in Canada, only 1400 points. By moving to real currency, this will put everyone on even footing, with no one being ripped off with prepaid cards. I’m not sure how much it will affect the rest of the world but if it has the same change as it does on Canada, it will mean that everyone is getting their moneys worth and overpaying will be a thing of the past.

Better For Xbox Live Indie Games

Since this rumour has popped up, a lot of Indie developers have started to talk about this quite positively. By removing the points system, it will be much easier to get (and track) sales because gamers will know that each game is simply $1, much like on the App Store. This could also mean that Microsoft might lower the price for Indie games from $1 to $.50, increasing sales and exposure for developers. While the latter isn’t very likely, it is still great to think about.

So, there are my 4 reasons why discontinuing microsoft points is a good idea. If there’s any you think I forgot, feel free to leave a comment. And if you’re wondering why we didn’t include no more leftover points as a reason, well, we’ll still have leftover money in our account because Microsoft is likely to sell $20 and $40 prepaid cards.

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  • MoldyClay87

    Not sure how this would provide equal footing. It’s no different from normal stuff.

    You realize you’re not getting less points right? It’s because of the money difference. It looks like less when you’re comparing the

    You said Resident Evil 4 HD was $20? And that cost just under 1400 points? In US it would cost just under 1600 points, but is still $20. So it seems 1400 MSP in Canada is the same monetary value as 1600 MSP in US. They look different, but they are the same.

    As for parental confusion, I think a kid old enough to give a crap about map packs would be knowledgeable enough to know exactly how much the maps are and how many points to ask for.

    For that matter, you can buy the DLC and Arcade games on their own at Gamestops (in US) without even buying the points, so there’d be no reason for this scenario to ever occur.

  • RogueWarrior869

    Double edged sword on this one. What about those who do not have credit cards or bank accounts to pay for the stuff? For a long time I had to buy the cards for my games/membership as I did not have a bank account at the time.

    This also makes it a huge a pain if they do remove the points service. A lot of people woudn’t be able to make it to the bank before they close to deposit money but with the cards, they’re bought and your done.

    Maybe rework the points system to be fair but I gotta say it should stick around.=/

    • MoldyClay87

      The article isn’t saying “get rid of points cards”.

      It’s saying to scrap the current Microsoft Point value and make it make more sense (as in, just be a dollar amount or something), as opposed to its own weird system where $1 = 80 MSP (in US).

      So, instead of buying a “1600 Point” card, you’d just be buying a “$20″ card for Xbox Live.

  • Xboxer

    I would rather them stick around.