Beta Testing - The Microsoft Points to Real Money Exchange

For those of you that don’t know; the UK Xbox gamers currently involved in the beta-testing for the new Dashboard have been experiencing significant price hikes as a result of Microsoft’s transition from their points format to real currency.

Reddit users have been chronicling the changes and have observed an increase in prices on the UK Xbox marketplace. The dashboard is set to convert all your existing points into real money but fear not Microsoft are addressing the issue.

They told Joystiq, "We are aware that select regions experienced some incorrect game title pricing in the Xbox Live beta. This was an unintended error that we are in the process of fixing." Beta users affected by the incorrect prices will be reimbursed "after the update is available to all members."

The prices changes listed were:

400 MSP were previously £3.20 - now cost £4.49

800 MSP were previously £6.80 – now cost £8.99

1200 MSP were previously £9.99 – now cost £11.99

1600 MSP were previously £13.60 – now cost £14.99

Several articles quickly popped up; some explaining that the price increases actually fall in with the PlayStation Network equivalents, while others suggested that you would do better to buy games ahead of this change. For the time being we suggest you stay put and await further news as Microsoft release updates.

Beta testers from other regions are reporting that prices have very slightly dropped - in Australia, for example, by around $1.