Gamers, prepare your wallets, for they are about to get lighter. Much lighter. Xbox Live subscribers in several countries, including South Africa, have gotten email notifications regarding an incoming pricing increase for Microsoft’s gaming service. Sadly, South Africa is going to be the hardest hit with the price update, with costs more than tripling for a month-to-month Xbox Live sub.

Yes, really. South African Xbox Live subscribers were paying R50 per month for a month-to-month sub and R590 for a full year. That costing was extremely cheap overall, considering, and it’s also going away on 20 June this year.

Instead users can expect to pay R159 month-to-month, according to reports. A year’s subscription will cost you R979, which isn’t as major a price hike if you like to purchase your Xbox Live annually. We can’t complain too hard about the change, however. For years South Africa has been getting its access at a fraction of the price paid by other countries. Now, we’re just being brought into line with the rest of them.

Subscribers who have their accounts set to auto-renew on the changeover date of 20 June will find themselves billed at the higher rates. If there’s any nasty shock in your credit card statement after then, don’t say we didn’t give you a heads-up.

Source: Game Informer