A report by The Verge suggests that soon, Microsoft will bring gaming into the subscription space with a $99 Xbox 360 and Kinect bundle with a monthly payment plan.
The bundle is said to come with a 4GB Xbox and cost $15 a month, which includes Xbox Live Gold and potential access to some video streaming content, according to The Verge.
Like a cellphone plan, the Xbox subscription plan comes as a 2-year contract, complete with penalties for early cancelation. Considering that the hardware that comes with the proposed deal typically goes for $300, a cancellation fee makes sense. On the plus side, the contract is said to come with a warranty that’ll cover the full 2 years.
If you were to go out and buy an Xbox and Kinect pack with the cheapest 2-year Xbox Live Gold subscription you can get your hands on right now, it would cost you around $420, whereas the subscription plan, all said and done, will cost around $460. It's a little more expensive, but considering it's not an upfront cost and there may be more content than just vanilla Xbox Live Gold, the cost-proposition may be worth it for many would-be gamers. The plan seems to be part of Microsoft's move to make the Xbox 360 not only a player in the game space, but also the home entertainment arena, directly competing with devices such as Apple TV and Roku.