[chiph]

I definitely see this as their attempt to capture the used-game revenue stream.

From a financials standpoint, this makes the same case as SaaS software does -- recurring revenue stream, predictable income, and so on.

It also increases the consequences of getting banned by the XBox staff. Not only can't you go online for multiplayer, you can't play your subscription games either.

[GVIrish]

"It also increases the consequences of getting banned by the XBox staff. Not only can't you go online for multiplayer, you can't play your subscription games either."

Sounds like a classic case of "this is feature not a bug". With this system the stakes will be significantly raised for those who are verbally abusive on Live. Although admittedly I don't know if increasing penalties for the riff raff will improve their behavior or not.