A website that generated REAL Xbox Live redeem codes has cost Microsoft over a million dollars this week.
You'll have probably seen dozens of sites claiming to be giving away free MS Point codes, but yesterday one appeared that wasn't lying.
MS was quick to shut down the site, but not before crafty pirates were able to nab a reported $1.2 million worth of stuff from the Xbox console's online store.
MS is yet to comment on the matter, but we expect lawyers in helicopters as we speak.
Comments
27 comments so far...
pRM8 on 10 Mar '11 said:
Hopefully this might kick MS into ditching the stupid 'MS Points' for straight cash transactions.
anytime on 10 Mar '11 said:
Im sure MS can live with a paltry 1.2 mill, especially when you consider the amount of really moneythey make from MS points. No this wont stop them (or even make them think of stopping) using MS points.
metallicorphan on 10 Mar '11 said:
no thanks,the UK would probably get f**ked over for prices,at least this way you can shop around for 2100 points,sometimes £19.99 sometimes £17.99....I'm perfectly happy with the points system
pRM8 on 10 Mar '11 said:
Im glad you are fine with being shafted. We are all getting f**ked over anyway with having to buy more points than we actually need most of the time, at least with cash transactions I know exactly how much Im paying for each item and should only have to pay that amount.
Yeah I love the fact I have to pay £18-20 for 2100 points even though what I actually want is only 800 or 1200 points. Then the leftover points just sit there doing f**k all or end up being spent on absolute useless garbage, yep MS know exactly what they are doing with this system.
metallicorphan on 10 Mar '11 said:
and when you originally bought the points,were you planning on never buying another thing off the marketplace?,would those extra points not go good towards the next thing?
anyway...
the thing is here in the UK,whether you know this or not is that we pay VAT on everything,EVERYTHING..that's 20% more than everyone else around the world
and then you also have the £>>>€ or the £>>>$...the pound is currently in the s**tter than it used to be
your 1200 point game costs on average £10.28....for America it costs $15.00,which translates as £9.25,that is just the start
the 1200 point game that cost currently on average £10.28,if it was normal currency like you want,it would then add the 20% VAT...which would be an extra £2.06(so the 1200 point price game would cost £12.34 instead of £10.28)...and this is just one 1200 point game,imagine if you wanted to buy 1200 point arcade games,800 map packs etc..it would all add up
so we would get screwed over the VAT and get screwed over the weak Pound
so as said,when buying a 2100 point card the VAT has already been added from whether you buy the card from GAME or you buy the points online on your 360,and some shops have different prices so hopefully you could shop around and get it cheaper
Play.com=£14.99
http://www.play.com/Games/Xbox360/4-/860182/Xbox-Live-2100-Points-Card/Product.html?searchtype=allproducts&searchsource=0&searchstring=points+card&urlrefer=search
GAME=£17.50(out of stock though)
http://www.game.co.uk/Accessories/Xbox-360/Points-Cards/Halo-Reach-Xbox-Live-2100-Points-Card/~r352797/?s=points+card
HMV=£17.49..stupidly they have the 4200 points card for £39..99,which is dumb,you may as well save a fiver and buy two lots of 2100 points card
http://hmv.com/hmvweb/displayProductDetails.do?ctx=280;0;-1;-1;-1&sku=483553
so don't feel as though you are getting too ripped off at present...it could be a lot worse
shogunreaper on 10 Mar '11 said:
wonder if its still out there, i could use some free s**t.
socheeky on 10 Mar '11 said:
Why the heck do you buy more points than you want?
You can buy smaller denominations like 500 or 1000MPs directly from your dashboard or on xbox.com with a card. Credits immediately.
Jeffers15 on 10 Mar '11 said:
I think the point he's making is that arcade titles cost either 400, 800 or 1200 points, so why are the points you purchase totally different amounts? No combination of arcade titles will ever add up to the points you buy, so consequently MS end up with your money sat in their account until something else comes along that you want to buy.
El Mag on 10 Mar '11 said:
I know who i'd suspect getting most of the 1.2 million if i was Microsoft.
http://www.winrumors.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/chargesmumsonxbox.jpg
altitude2k on 10 Mar '11 said:
Well it's not their hairdresser.
I don't really know how that works. I just want to comment on the hair.
craiglackenby on 10 Mar '11 said:
It's very annoying not being able to buy what you need, on PSN it's minimum fiver but anything above that gets taken from your card to the penny. I've had 370msp for about 3 months but don't want anything else to buy another 500. I want Deniable Ops for SC Conviction for 400msp but I can't justify buying 500 points just to get the extra 30 and still be left with even more.
boskersrevenge on 10 Mar '11 said:
Well, someone needs to lay off the Doritos.
Not 100% familiar with that, but I'm guessing it's a kid who spent loads of Mum's money on Live cos her card was attached to his gamer profile.
Willing to bet a testicle that I'm right.
WHERESMYMONKEY on 10 Mar '11 said:
I read this over on kotaku and there was a link to the thread it was on. Was quite an interesting read really. They're mostly a random code, with certain precursors at the beginning to tell you what it's for.
Toasted_PSP on 10 Mar '11 said:
I dont see why that would change it they stopped using MS points and started charging in Pounds. The PSN uses proper money for its store and you can buy £20 PSN top up cards for £17 or £18 is you look around, I have even picked them up for £16.
El Mag on 10 Mar '11 said:
You're right Bosk, which is lucky because i'd have taken that testy.... you can put them away now though if you want.
nuggit3000 on 10 Mar '11 said:
It hasnt cost the $1.2 million. People may have downloaded $1.2 million worth of stuff, but they probably wouldnt have bought that much if it werent free. Yes its wrong, and MS may have lost out on a few hundred grand worth of sales, but then people may have found some real gems they wouldnt have found otherwise and will recomemend these games to friends. It p**ses me off when they exagerate like this.
Its like when they say the music industry has lost millions for all the illegally downloaded material, erm no, people wouldnt have downloaded it, if it werent free so youve lost nothing, and if they like your music, they will tell their friends about it and maybe result in a few more sales for you.
Piracy IS wrong, but it does not harm the industry as much as they'd have you think, it has some bad sides and some good sides.
f**k Playstation probably wouldnt be here if it werent for piracy. Hardly anyone I know had a PS1 until it was hacked, then it became a household name and brought gaming to the mainstream mature audience.
Very_Silver_Ownz on 10 Mar '11 said:
I don't think MS will be losing any sleep over this. $1 million is chump change to them. Also they were too busy sleeping with Kylie Minogue before she red ringed of deathed
pRM8 on 10 Mar '11 said:
You seemed to have missed my point completely, I don't have a problem with the price of the points cards as I know if you look in the right place you can get a decent deal.
Its the fact I have to buy a big pack of points just so I can buy something worth very little. Why should I have to do that? I or others might not want to actually buy anything else at that moment or in the future (although this is quite improbable but the point still stands) Its also besides the point that I can use those other points for other things as If I really wanted any other things I should be able to just pay for them individually anyway.
Anyway I seem to be rolling over the same ground again here and I don't actually feel that bad about it tbh, I just like to moan a lot
fps_d0minat0r on 10 Mar '11 said:
I think you need to learn the basics of an economy and then try writing all of that again.
if your against it then dont interfere with people who abide by it.
the truth is people would buy all the games they pirate but they simply cant afford it which is why they pirate.....thats not a good reason to pirate....maybe they should try getting better qualifications and better jobs and until then, only play with the money they got.
IAmTheWalrus on 10 Mar '11 said:
MS Points should stay and here is why.
I can get 2100 MS points for 21 euros. Red Dead : Undead Nightmares is 800 MS points on XBL, yes? That equals to 8 euro. Yet on PSN that exact same pack is 10 euro. The same products on PSN are more expensive than XBL. That is why the points system is great. The same with Dead Space severed DLC. Cost me 560 MS points = 5. 60 euro, yet on PSN it's 7 euro.
jamez-vampire on 10 Mar '11 said:
ahhhh so what bill gates pays more for a hooker than that
and to the guy above prices may be a little more but in tern
playstation have FREE online play like ever other console except wallet raping xbox
they also have special offesr without being a member and if ou are a member
you get FREE games and add ons
and you can get lots of free stuff for your avatar
dont get me wrong i like xbox just not the people that run it
FASELI on 10 Mar '11 said:
The points system is used because it is more accessible, many people on XBL do not have credit or debit cards; be it from age or other financial limitations. I think yet again some of you really can't see beyond your own situation. To make XBL a success Microsoft have to maximise sales through it and to do that they have to ensure that their whole potential customer base can use it.
Toasted_PSP on 10 Mar '11 said:
The point system is used to disguise the really cost of what you are buying.
If XBL used proper currency people that do not have credit cards or debit cards would just pick up prepaid cards in shops like they do for MSpoints, they would just buy £20 of credit rather than 2100 points (or whatever 2100 points equates to in really money).
jtthegame on 10 Mar '11 said:
the games on demand store you can buy with microsoft points or cash why not do that all over xbox live
plain_kloz_cop on 10 Mar '11 said:
$1.2 million? Purse change.
the elz on 11 Mar '11 said:
M$ should maybe start giving away some free content, instead i have a dashboard full of adverts & they still refuse to let me use the BBC iPlayer on it as it breaks their policy of charging for everything.
as im pating for xbox live how about less adverts & more free content you greedy c@nt$ !
DrawnGunslinger on 12 Mar '11 said:
There seems to be confusion all round here.
MS are not evil, just good at getting a fool to part with his cash like many profit making organisations. The points scheme is not a rip off, you have the right to buy what you like with those points. You dont have to buy excessively more points than you require, and if you do then you are not forced to spend them. If you dont like the points system then dont buy the points.
With regards to the initial story that this thread is supposed to relate to, it is wrong of the hackers to make their work available to joe public the way they did. Just because you can do something, that doesn't give you the right to do it. I could rob a bank or rape somebody if i felt like it but morally that is wrong so i choose not to.
Microsoft are right to consider this a loss of turnover as the ill gotten dlc should have been paid for by the recipient. I hope they are able to trace who is guilty and ban them from live.