Microsoft isn’t renaming Xbox Live and has "no plans" to discontinue Xbox Live Gold

Microsoft’s comments don’t address the free rumors around Xbox Live.

[RazzerRedux]

"Microsoft isn’t specifically commenting about the free rumors around Xbox Live, which started when the company removed the 12-month option for Xbox Live Gold from its online store last month."

No idea why that would lead anyone to believe Live Gold was going to be free. The 1 and 3 month options are still there. Microsoft wants everyone moving to Game Pass Ultimate and 12 month Live Gold was far too competitive in pricing at $60. This is a move to make more money as removing the 12 month option is effectively a price increase. Simple as that.

[SamPao]

nonono its about having options :P

[nowitzki2004]

They are looking out for the consumer :P

[SullysCigar]

Where are the Xbox faithful?

I'd be interested to hear their views, but they don't seem to be sharing them.

[--Onilink--]

Or they are planning to unifiy live with all gamepass options with a slight price increase due to the added functionality (as such, adding extra customers to gamepass and all its associated games)

And they didnt remove the short term options because they wont make the announcement yet and still need to give people the ability to subscribe to live since its required to play online

That sounds just as likely to me, though then again, its not like Live would go free, that part never made any sense to me, I think they just want to make sure to integrate to gamepass on all levels and not just ultimate

[isarai]

What if you don't want gamepass though? Some people are really only interested in a couple franchises and want to play online, not be forced to also pay for a subscription they never asked for in order to do so.

[--Onilink--]

Then it would be a problem for those people sure, I’m not saying its a perfect approach from MS if that is the case, just that I think its also a possibility that makes sense business wise for MS

[Ausbo]

They won’t force you to have gamepass to play online. That was would be very bad and anti consumer. There would be huge backlash on that move

[Christopher]

Wow. Really surprised at the downvotes for Ausbo. I completely agree with him. Forcing a service at a higher cost onto someone to play online is anti-consumer.

The only thing I can see is them completely doing away with Games For Gold and moving that into a gamepass lite where you get access to a few games by only for that month. But that would be worse than Games For Gold as it is as it's limited in design.

[--Onilink--]

@Christopher

Not that Im disagreeing with him, but its not really unheard of.

Just look at something like amazon prime, they just basically kept adding more and more stuff on top of it and increasing the price and they never really left a specific option for what Prime used to do. You either got everything or nothing.

Not giving a choice certainly isnt good, but its not like gamepass isn’t an amazing deal anyway

[rainslacker]

@isarai

Than MS has a platform for you. It's called the PC.

[Sophisticated_Chap]

If they force people to pay a higher monthly fee, then I would think fewer people would buy in on the new subscription.

I think Game Pass is a great value, but I don't need to play that many games, nor do I have the time to play all of those games. I'm also very picky about my digital games library and what shows up in my Acheivements.

[RauLeCreuset]

I have suspected the removal of the 12 month Gold sub may be an attempt to effectively lock the 12 month Gold subscription itself behind a Game Pass paywall to force annual Gold subscribers onto pricier subscriptions. That's just speculation. That said, this site had better blow up like never before if speculation turns out to be reality, after years now of marketing buzzwords about being pro consumer and more options being used to undermine the competition while puffing up Xbox.

[jerethdagryphon]

Yup my thinking up the price on it and stop the 12 months before the announce it so people don't buy 10 years to save money

[derektweed1]

I get what you're saying and maybe your exaggerating but I think there is a limit of 3 years or something that one can have for Xbox live gold.

[alb1899]

I don't see why is it about money if they are almost giving as a present gamepass and now Xcloud is included. Of course is a tactical move so for everyone makes sense to pay just one subscription.

[RazzerRedux]

"makes sense to pay just one *more expensive* subscription"

Fixed. They have removed the cheapest option for multiplayer. I get they have added features like xCloud, but they have removed options as well. Regardless, this will increase revenue from services thus, it is "about money".

[3-4-5]

This..
A business needs to make money decisions sometimes and Xbox Live Gold is a great deal....it's also it's own Brand by the this point as it goes hand in hand with online gaming the last 15+ years as an industry standard.

Would be foolish to get rid of it...worth keeping just for the marketing name alone.

* I've been doing 12 month subs since 2003 so it feels like they want me on Gamepass ultimate.

[Sophisticated_Chap]

No point in removing the 12 month subscription, if unless the reason is so that they don't piss people off by having them purchase 12 months of gold, only to find out in September or October that the service will be free after November.

[RazzerRedux]

Good luck with that

[Sophisticated_Chap]

We'll just have to wait and see. Fun speculation for the mean time.

[DarXyde]

My current guess is a bizarre one: lock 1 year of Gold behind Game Pass and everyone else can top up every 1-3 months. They make a little extra on subs that way. It's strange because it's the most pro-consumer anti-consumer move I've seen from them: "remove a pro-consumer option that saves a bit on annual subs (which is anti-consumer) to push you toward the pro-consumer option of an annual subscription and get "free" day one first- party titles."

It's... certainly a different approach, but likely to work out for them if true.

[ziggurcat]

It's not going to be free. Making Halo Infinite's online F2P != MS is making XBL free (which is where this whole thing originated), it just means they're using the GaaS model for Halo's MP.

[neutralgamer1992]

Correct me if I am wrong but don't you need live to play F2P

[ShadowWolf712]

That's supposedly the only big aspect of it they're changing, according to insiders at least.

[akaFullMetal]

Yes, you need Xbox live to play free to play games on xbox.

[moriarty1889]

yes you do. It has been the knock on them for so long now with having a paywall on other f2p games. Something Sony, their competition, doesnt do.

[darthv72]

It is rumored that they will finally drop the gold requirement for F2P games, but as of right now you still need it to play them.

[ziggurcat]

You need XBLG to play F2P games on Xbox currently. But as darth says, they're probably going to no longer require a Gold sub to play a F2P MP game.

[Dragonscale]

There is no free to play on xbox. Everything is behind a paywall.

[TheEnigma313]

PS4 you don't but xbox you do.

[yarbie1000]

So they’re doubling the price to play online from $60 to $120... Wow! And Xbox fans are claiming Sony is anti-consumer...OOF!

[moriarty1889]

MS arent giving up that ‘GOLD’ mine anytime soon. wishful thinking for some who actually thought they would.

[elazz]

And Xbox Fans are ready to tell you they happily pay 120 - 180 dollars because look at all the GAMES. /s There are enough people that barely play more games than a yearly Fifa and Call of Duty which would mean you gotta pay even more to play online than now. Some others buy mainly discounted games or second hand and will never spend a yearly amount of 120 to 180 USD on games. Microsoft is trying to get as much money per user and they know all the blind xbox fans will happily pay.

At least I'm glad they did not bring this shit to PC yet in such a way so if there is a gem that comes out I could still play it. However I doubt that there is anything substantial coming.

[RamRod88]

I'm not. I don't want to be forced to choose either buying gamepass or Ultimate to play online. I would rather have them keep the 12 month option for those that don't care about gamepass.

[waderae]

Your spot on, its not just those "call of fifa" players either, low income families etc will also have to suffer the increase in price, its £49.99 to £72 minimum for a year now.

People will tell you that its all about value of ultimate.... but its only value if you can afford it or if you are going to use it.

Its not like you can currently play FTP games or gamepass games (online) without forking out for Gold.

[Drew345]

Wow...

That's a mic drop moment right there.

[ChristopherJack]

Blind? Fan? In general, yes(much like yourself) but in this specific case you're clearly wrong. Fan means fanatic, in other words Xbox fans are probably not just playing the one cod or FIFA per year that you've mentioned, those are the casual gamers, actual Xbox fans are probably playing Halo, Gears, Forza, etc, & getting 'some' value out of Game pass(even if you personally disagree about the quality of their value- your opinion is irrelevant to someone else's subjective enjoyment).

I don't know how fans are blind for paying for something they'll actually use. That's like calling movie buffs blind for using Netflix.

[cell989]

$120 to have permission to play online?!! WTF? Who thinks this is ok??? Why is it not $60 anymore? Isn’t there an option to purchase 1 year membership?

[stuna1]

Not anymore! Microsoft probably has been mulling ideals for years as to how they can vacuum more money out of consumer pockets for years! Especially considering that console and game sale wise they have fallen behind. So they definitely had to come up with some feasible way of offsetting those deficiencies.

Also don't think for a second it's over, because I believe the free to play paywall will remain intact, which is why they're bundling so much into the subscription!? Likely in their opinion a insignificant trade off for what you get.

[rainslacker]

It could go the route of GWFL, where the PC gamer pretty much unanimously said no thank you.

But, that would require the user base of the console to actually say no, and not purchase it. Somehow, I don't have faith in the average consumer not to make it profitable for the companies, so they'll just do it regardless of any criticism.

[IRetrouk]

So I was right then? Take that disagrees 🤛😂No way they are giving up that gold mine, no way at all, ftp games on the other hand might actually be free next gen though, that's still possible.

[neutralgamer1992]

Yes everyone with common sense knew that only select few who were trying to make Ms and Xbox brand look pro consumers were spreading rumors

No company would simply give up billions for PR

[IRetrouk]

That was my main argument to be fair😂

[ziggurcat]

Yeah, if anything, it probably just means they're taking F2P MP out from behind the XBLG paywall.

[IRetrouk]

Yeah, I think that's a possibility and most likely thing to happen.

[Father__Merrin]

it might have changed but free to play online titles on xbox require xbox live gold

[akaFullMetal]

I was surprised to see this rumor and wasn't going to believe till I saw it. Straight no from them, not surprising.
However I assume with halo infinite going free to play that ftp will not require Xbox live like PlayStation. Which would be nice.

[ShadowWolf712]

I do love the spin the article tries to put on it though.

"They totes did not address the rumors that XBL was gonna be free!" despite them saying XBL Gold, their paid service, ain't going away.

[Pancit_Canton]

It's the only thing that keeps Xbox gaming division a float. Why would you get rid of something that keeps them alive? Xbox hardware and game pass keeps bleeding them money.

[jznrpg]

I saw this rumor and I knew it wasn’t going to happen. The only thing I see them doing is getting rid of Live stand alone and putting it all together leaving you no choice for gamepass and xcloud . Basically that’s what they have done by removing the cheapest option on their store For xbox Live but I could see them saying it’s the best value getting all 3 and removing Live solo. It may take time but it’s very possible if not likely

[isarai]

I'm shocked anyone legit thought they would make gold free.

[badz149]

Hey xbox is the most consumer friendly platform and the mesiah Phil Spencer is hard at work to abolish XBLG for the longest time for the gamers.

[stuna1]

Boom I tried to tell them! All it has been about is maximization of profit. No $60 yearly option, just 1 month and 3 month options which effectively push both options over the $100 range when added up to a year.

Now watch the story get failed because someone doesn't want to hear the truth

[cell989]

That’s expensive F that

[Father__Merrin]

They have just said they have no plans to drop xbox live gold

[KRUSSIDULL]

Whatever they do it is pretty stupid to charge for playing online when it is free on PC. You are not really receiving anything because the game servers (if not peer-to-peer) are hosted by the publishers/developers not Xbox Live or PSN and you are already paying your service providers for your internet. Xbox Live and PSN is some of the biggest scam in history.

[Artemidorus]

Old fashioned and ripping off console users.

Get a pc instead

[warriorcase]

Microsoft have laid out their plans to make the 'Xbox' brand a service. The console is now just a piece of hardware for those who don't want to play on PC, phones or tablets or those who want more powerful and portable convenience. They've been pretty clear they are pushing the moving to service model and no longer aiming at a single market competition.

With this in mind I don't know why people thought it would just go free when the sale of these services will be key part of their market going forward.

[DJStotty]

“We have no plans to discontinue Xbox Live Gold at this time. It is an important part of gaming on Xbox today, and will continue to be in the future.”

So they still did not confirm whether it was free or not in the future.

Yeah they might have no plans to stop the service, but they did not deny they may be making the service free. Why would they let the competition be aware if they are making multiplayer free just before a console launch? Surely drop that bombshell later.

Gamepass Ultimate is currently cheaper than buying the subs seperately.

XBLG - 12mnths - £49.99
Gamepass - 12mnths - £7.99 per month - £95.88
Total - £145.87

Gamepass Ultimate (Gamepass console, gamepass PC, xbox live gold) - 3 mnths - £32.99 - 12mnths - £131.96

[gravedigger]

What a slap in the face. LOL