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Well, Xbox did a thing. Then Xbox undid that thing. The thing in question? Xbox Live Gold memberships were going to go up in price. A six month subscription would cost you $60, up from $40. The decision was seen from across the industry as somewhat baffling. People speculated that the move was directly influenced by Xbox wanting people not to buy the Gold membership anymore, and instead subscribing to Xbox Games Pass Ultimate. Game Pass Ultimate would become the clear choice from a price efficiency perspective if the move had gone through. Later the same day the original announcement was made, Xbox backpedaled and undid the price hike. The original announcement (along with the later change) can be found here.
GameStop has had a pretty interesting week. “But Matt, why would a retailer that relies on reselling pre-owned merchandise, is losing all of their business to digital sales, doesn’t take care of their employees and is clearly dying have an interesting weekend?” (Relax grammar hawks, that was a run-on on purpose. We’re setting some tone damn it). I’m glad you asked my good reader. GameStop stock (GME) was halted for trade last Friday after soaring more than 70% due to some Reddit day traders being a bit overenthusiastic. It’s a rollercoaster, and it’s already continuing today too. Kim Lyons at The Verge has the full story.