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Weak rand sparks Xbox Live price hike

Johannesburg - Technology giant Microsoft is hiking subscription fees for its Xbox Live subscriptions in six countries including South Africa.

Xbox Live is Microsoft’s internet gaming and video entertainment service.

And Gaming news website Gamerinformer.com reported on Monday that emails sent to Xbox Live Gold members in South Africa revealed that the price of a monthly Xbox Live Gold subscription is set to increase from R50 to R159 as of June 20.

“We will be letting members coming up to renewal know about the changes ahead of time so they can choose to continue the subscription or turn off auto-renewal,” reads a note on the Xbox South Africa support page.

“However, if you’d like to cancel your subscription that just renewed to the higher price, contact support and we can offer you a refund,” says the company.

Are you an Xbox Live user in SA? Tell us your thoughts on this price hike by clicking here.

Other countries set for Xbox price increases are Austria, Hungary, Israel, Sweden, and Turkey, according to Gamerinformer.com.

Microsoft's move to hike Xbox Live prices in South Africa comes amid the rand’s depreciation over the last year.

A year ago, on May 18 2015, the rand was trading around R11.87 to the US dollar. Meanwhile, the rand on Tuesday was trading around the R15.6 mark to the US dollar.

President Jacob Zuma’s decision to fire Finance Minister Nhlanhla Nene in December last year accelerated the rand’s depreciation.

A Microsoft representative told Gamerinformer that the company "occasionally update pricing in a given market to provide a balance of service and value, and in some instances, meet currency fluctuations within the region”.

Currently, at R50 per month, South Africans pay about $3.25 for Xbox Live Gold. However, pricing in the US is $9.99 (R156).

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