Updated: July 12, 2020 (May 19, 2003)

  Analyst Report

Xbox Expands Online Offerings

My Atlas / Analyst Reports

797 wordsTime to read: 4 min

Updates to Xbox Live, Microsoft’s online gaming service for the Xbox console, will offer the ability to issue challenges via the .NET Alerts service, use voice communications even when games are not being played, and post game results to Web sites. The company also announced new pricing for the service and a software title that converts Xbox into a viewing and playback machine for digital media. Through these measures, Microsoft hopes to extend Xbox’s shelf life, enabling the company to sell more games per console—necessary to turn Xbox into a profitable business.

Extending the console’s life becomes even more important as prices continue to fall: Microsoft has cut the price of its console in North America from US$200 to US$180 in a response to Sony, which offered an identical price reduction on PlayStation 2 (PS2).

Xbox Live Updates

At the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in May 2003, Microsoft announced that it would add the following features to Xbox Live over the next year:

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