Mon, Oct 08, 2012 | 12:08 BST
Microsoft abandoning MS Points, new report claims
Microsoft is doing away with MS Points on Windows 8 and potentially Xbox 360 in favour of real currency, a new report has suggested.
The Verge reports that the Windows 8 movie store has started charging for rentals and purchases in real currency, which a is a step away from the Microsoft Points model used in the operating system’s beta phase.
Using an advanced edition of Windows 8, the site claims that you can still pay using Microsoft Points while using a credit card, but that the currency defaults to real money during the process.
With Windows 8 mechanics strongly tipped for the next iteration of Xbox, it seems unlikely that Microsoft would want to fragment its install base by having two sets of payment methods, suggesting that real currency is the way forward for the console.
We’ll have more as it happens.
Thanks Eurogamer.
8 
Posted in: Games for Windows, Microsoft, Xbox 360
Tags: microsoft points, windows 8
8 comments
#1
Esatzu
08/10/12, 1:25 pm
I hope they don’t do that cause it’s cheaper to buy points than the games with real money. 4200Msp is 38€
#2
pukem0n
08/10/12, 1:40 pm
better start hording those points cards then for later
#3
Zohar
08/10/12, 2:05 pm
Finally. I hope this is true. I hate points schemes. They always get you to buy more than you want. I can understand that some people who buy points often enough eventually end up with a balance they can zero out by buying something they want. For people like me, who only buy stuff once in a blue moon, I always have some odd balance that I can’t spend on anything useful that is basically free money for Microsoft.
#4
XaosWolf
08/10/12, 3:46 pm
Good to hear. They’re the last ones to do it. Points/Top-Up cards are always there for those that need em.
#5
polygem
08/10/12, 4:08 pm
hating the points too. clever plan.
#6
Da Man
08/10/12, 5:48 pm
Good work. Now I won’t be able to purchase content from other regions.
#7
zinc
08/10/12, 6:01 pm
@6, I was under the impression, that if I was to buy content from other regions, it wouldn’t play on my region locked 360?
#8
Da Man
08/10/12, 6:07 pm
I have an Eu, a Jp and a Na account on my 360. All Xbla content works just fine. There was one or two exceptions.