Yesterday was a busy day for Xbox news, huh? In addition to the Xbox One X being discontinued and a bunch of announcements from Xbox head Phil Spencer, it was also revealed that yearly Xbox Live Gold subscriptions had been mysteriously removed from the Microsoft Store (note - this has now been confirmed as intentional).
There is a lot of speculation floating around about what this might mean, and let's be honest - it might not mean anything at all. But it suggests there's a least a chance that Microsoft is planning to make changes to its Xbox Live Gold service, including the possibility of removing it entirely.
There appears to be two main schools of thought as to what this change could entail - either bundling Gold with the highly-popular Xbox Game Pass, or making Xbox Live multiplayer completely free and merging the Games with Gold program into Xbox Game Pass instead, which could make a lot of sense (despite the obvious financial hit).
But why would Microsoft even consider doing this? Well, it aligns with their strategy of putting the player first ahead of the device, and the ever-increasing appeal of Xbox Game Pass means the company can still rely on millions of subscribers continuing to play monthly fees for its content.
And of course, with the Xbox Series X on the horizon, an announcement that Xbox Live multiplayer was being made completely free would be a huge win, both from a marketing standpoint and for the players contemplating which next generation system to purchase this Holiday.
But again, there are no confirmations here, and this is purely just speculation based on the removal of the yearly subscription, as well as a recent prediction from industry insider Jeff Grubb who suggested Microsoft could talk about the future of Xbox Live Gold at next week's Xbox Games Showcase event.
So, what do you think? Is Microsoft preparing to make Xbox Live multiplayer completely free, will it bundle it with Xbox Game Pass instead, or is nothing going to happen at all? Share your thoughts below.
Comments 27
Bundling gold and game pass would be shooting themselves in the foot.
Making online play free would be the biggest win for online console gaming since MS first introduced XBL.
A buddy of mine brought up this theory this morning to me. Would be an ultimate mic drop type moment if they did!
If Microsoft really wants to come off as being in the best interest for gaming, then this is a must. Locking people out from playing with friends is no longer the norm. There is no way competition could spin this as a negative and solidifies Xbox as the go-to place to play with friends.
@Richnj Gold and GamePass are already bundled in the Ultimate subscription.
Sony are paying to use MS cloud services this gen, i think MS have made a brilliant business move.
Sony are basically paying for people's Gold memberships.
I get the feeling there will be an xCloud sub replacing gold and multiplayer will be ""free with any sub"
If it goes free then that’s great for gamers.
Then we just for pay for gold and game pass if we wish. I have ultimate so it’s pretty cool.
I still cannot work out Microsoft’s strategy with all this, they seem to say one thing like we not bothered about selling consoles to much and more about subscription services, but then I think if you sell more consoles into your ecosystem you can sell more subscriptions. I guess they are just going all out, but then they discontinued the Xbox one x, which leaves the Xbox one s and being honest that console is not going to run the new game’s that well, which then forces buying a series X to even get 1080p and higher as the Xbox one s struggles now at 900p. So why even bother with the one s and just ditch it and full on next generation and I don’t care what anyone says that series x is a beast and will be held back 1st party studio wise by the one s.
I know Live Gold is bundled into Game Pass Ultimate... now. I didn’t know this until recently. There being two online services can be confusing for someone that is not neck-deep in the ecosystem.
Paid online and Live, IMO, get in the way of making Game Pass grow. Make online free, and some might just take that and stop paying, but I think many others will just convert to Game Pass Ultimate. When a new customer comes around, they only have one option: game pass.
I also think, sooner or later, Ultimate will go away too, and it will just be Game Pass (not necessarily any cheaper than Ultimate.)
If they make it free then they would've unified pc and console. Pc for the nerds and console for those who know nothing about ram and graphics cards like me.
@RedShirtRod the diehard console war fanboys always find a negative. They'd just say Xbox series X has no true exclusives.
If the get rid of Xbox Live Gold they are changing the Gamepass Ultimate proposition so they would have to amend the price on that as you aren't getting the free OG/360 games to keep or the games for the use of the lifetime of Gold membership. If they don't change the price it will upset the vocal people on the internet.
Alternatively they are just capping the time period at 3 months to increase revenue (4x3 is more costly than 12) so people chop and change to Gamepass as and when they want.
Get ready baby because Xbox live is about to go free.. This is a win win for microsoft...
@Enigk either way they are going to upset vocal people. I mean even the “change and chop” would upset those people that prefer the year.
This would be great for gamers. I have no idea why people would find reasons to complain about this.
@mousieone You can't please all of the people all of the time and never has that been more true in the internet age. People just used to shrug and go "nevermind" but now everyone is a keyboard warrior fighting for things to go exactly the way they want forgetting that other people exist and may like it a different way. Imagine if everyone agreed on everything. World peace would be awesome but having to listen to Ed Sheeran as no one else released music anymore other than him as no one listens to anything else.
Additional thought: if Xbox multiplayer goes free, it won’t be revealed until they reveal the price of the series x, and that likely will happen after Sony announces their price.
First of all, Gold one-year subscriptions disappearance means something. I agree with Fraser, it makes sense from a marketing standpoint to give online for free and it will make a lot of gamers buy Series X because most gamers aren't unconditional fans. Games with Gold disappears but your collection remains. Announce free online at the same time you announce a console price that is the same or cheaper than PS5 and the applause will be heard from the moon.
As much as I'd love this to happen, it's possible that online is included with standard Game Pass come September and Game Pass Ultimate adds xCloud at the same time (right now Ultimate includes online).
@Medic_Alert Right, for Call of Duty, FIFA, GTA, Minecraft and battle royale games, it's going to give Microsoft hardware and software sales a gigantic boost.
@JON22 True, it would also unify Xbox and Windows as gaming platforms. That would make sense as well.
@Enigk That's why I think that Gold would be included with Game Pass and not with Game Pass Ultimate, because Games with Gold would disappear. I haven't considered your second possibility but I don't think it would be well received so I think that it won't happen because it would ruin Microsoft's consumer-friendly strategy.
If it's about the gamers, [T]/ < Then let my gamers, game for free!
If it happens, I wonder what will happen to all those 'free' XB1 Games with Gold games people have? They are all 'free' with an Active XB1 Gold subscription so if they take away the 'need' for gold, what happens with those games?
Of course, I would love to not have to pay to go online but I don't know if I would be 'happy' to lose access to ALL those free games attached to my account either or be forced to pay for Game Pass or some other subscription service to keep playing those.
I guess it is a bit confusing having a few different subscription services and paying to play online is somewhat outdated - even if that is offset by free games and extra discounts. It will be interesting to see what happens and what impact changes could have to our libraries...
@BAMozzy
“ It will be interesting to see what happens and what impact changes could have to our libraries...”
Interesting indeed! This would be quite a bold and smart move for MS, IMO.
My wish is that they would just offer one sub package ($15/month) and online is free. We will see what comes. I have to admit to being more intrigued for the 23rd than I have been for any other MS show/event in years.
The comment section on this site is just fantastic
Healthy debate, intelligent ideas and a wonderful community feel.
I'd be interested to know the average age of posters on this site. It feels like an older, more mature group of gamers.
@LocalPenguin And it's good to have you here too!
Think the best way for them to go that would put the most pressure on Sony:
Free online multiplayer for all
Gamepass standard that includes xcloud
Gamepass ultimate with the 4 free games a month and maybe a new feature that let's you keep a game for an extra month after its going to leave.
They def need to let people that have the games with gold keep them.
Hmm, if Xbox Games Showcase is all about games then i guess they'll reveal online plans in August when they might announce Series X price and Series S if it's a real console. However, they should wait for Sony to reveal price first since Sony is being too mysterious (didn't show specifications and console until Microsoft did).
Hmm see at the moment I pay for Game Pass Ultimate because I get online and game pass but if online were to become free I for instance would just sub to Game Pass and got to be a lot of people that do that and has to be still a lot of people that still sub just to Gold
If I had to guess they'll come a yearly Game Pass Ultimate option instead
I voted yes but in reality I’m not sure, I guess it all depends on how much money Microsoft is taken from Game Pass and Sony or Nintendo for using its network services. Azure is a big network and probably costs a fortune to run it, so they need that return off its investment in it, but the platform is not just used for games and it’s used for online cloud computing.
So yes if they are making enough of a return I can see them making multiplayer free, it’s the sort of thing Microsoft would do now and would certainly be a kick in the groin to Sony.
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