Recently, Microsoft has removed 12-month subscriptions for Xbox Live Gold on their website. There also haven’t been any Xbox Live Gold membership deals since the Ultimate pass has been announced.
Do you think Microsoft will move away from charging for XBL Gold, and instead only charge for Game Pass? Or is Game Pass simply taking the place of Gold?
Although they would definitely be losing a source of revenue, I think it would be a fantastic move to get more people on the Xbox platform.
I think they’ll scrap the Gold Membership online fee and instead encourage people to purchase Game Pass as an enchantment to the online experience.
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> I think they’ll scrap the Gold Membership online fee and instead encourage people to purchase Game Pass as an enchantment to the online experience.
Makes sense, gives best bang for the buck.
Nintendo introducing a paid online subscription, Microsoft potentially moving away from theirs, what’s next? Cats and dogs living together?
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They’re probably going to raise the price again if anything lol
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> They’re probably going to raise the price again if anything lol
Scum move if true.
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> > They’re probably going to raise the price again if anything lol
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> Scum move if true.
Agreed, but i don’t think they will.
I recently renewed mine so…if it is true then I hope it would be refunded, at least in Microsoft points or an upgrade to Game Pass.
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> I recently renewed mine so…if it is true then I hope it would be refunded, at least in Microsoft points or an upgrade to Game Pass.
I’m still on 12-month renewal but I guess it’s only inevitable that Microsoft makes everyone go to game pass at some point.
But I think if you do switch over to Game Pass then any extra time you had on your current deal with get transferred over.
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> > They’re probably going to raise the price again if anything lol
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> Scum move if true.
Hope they dont the little scummy bleeeeeeps
If it is free but we only have to pay for GP Im fine with it
I hope they figure something out before mine expires.
Making gold free is probably the last thing I expect. Perhaps a price increase or some new type of subscription is way more likely.
I think they’re just gonna charge monthly which makes Ultimate look more appealing. No way they’re making online free, it makes too much money.
The biggest question mark with all the shuffling that MS is doing with the stable of Xbox services right now is whether or not Gold functionality as we’ve known it dating all the way back to the 360 days is going to become part of what will likely become the singular paid Ultimate subscription (including XCloud, Game Pass, etc.) or if traditional Gold features will become free for all users on Xbox platforms.
In the PC crowd, a barrier to entry via payment to online play is ridiculous. On consoles, however, it’s become the norm (a fact for which we mainly have XBL on the 360 to thank). MS has been surprisingly forward-thinking in terms of making Xbox services increasingly pro-consumer in recent years through things like Backwards Compatibility and Game Pass, so maybe they’re thinking of resetting the precedent for free online multi-player on XSX and XBL across all supported platforms (XB1 family, XSX and presumably XSS, and PC).
Or, and this is unfortunately where my mind goes more readily, Xbox Live Gold functionality will become a baked in feature to the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription along with Game Pass and XCloud. That’ll still represent a great value for the consumer, but it won’t make the basic online features that have traditionally been locked behind XBL Gold subscriptions free-for-all.
At this point, we’ll just have to wait and see what they do with it. Tomorrow’s event promises to be focused on games over services and systems, but it is possible that something like this is closely enough related to the subject matter to warrant some details.
It would certainly be a bold “Good Guy Microsoft,” move that’d get people talking if they announced that XBL Gold features were now free on the Xbox platform. Back on the PS3, it was an oft-touted feature for PS fanboys to hold over Xboxers heads that PSN was free (even if it was considerably lower quality as a service than XBL at the time). Consequently, it could bolster player base for Xbox to make a move like this going forward.
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> They’re probably going to raise the price again if anything lol
I didn’t consider that, but it could happen. Alternatively, we could see a price rise in game pass, and live is free. They need money to come from somewhere. Right now there is a debate on how much games should cost. Some games might be 70 instead of 60. And I know Nintendo is allways worrying about prices.
But now Xbox has to compete with other gaming streaming service. so a bold move to make Xbox live free, and really push game pass is technically possible.
I think an interesting layer to the whole conversation is that playing PC games online is free, and that Microsoft has been steadily moving in the direction of supporting both Xbox and PC. If Microsoft wants to extend the viability of the Xbox line, it would make sense to drop the cost of Xbox Live, or else they’ll encounter the possibility of many gamers either moving to PC, off gaming, or to another console entirely.
Now, if they’re thinking about discontinuing the Xbox line in the future, that’s a different conversation. Then it would make sense to try and transition gamers over to PC.
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> I think an interesting layer to the whole conversation is that playing PC games online is free, and that Microsoft has been steadily moving in the direction of supporting both Xbox and PC. If Microsoft wants to extend the viability of the Xbox line, it would make sense to drop the cost of Xbox Live, or else they’ll encounter the possibility of many gamers either moving to PC, off gaming, or to another console entirely.
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> Now, if they’re thinking about discontinuing the Xbox line in the future, that’s a different conversation. Then it would make sense to try and transition gamers over to PC.
It is an interesting thing, yet strange that only the 12-month is missing. I doubt they will try and move people to PC, higher chance of losing people than getting them to change. Many people prefer the plug and play of a console/consistent hardware.
I personally think MS should move to merge the two platforms into one ecosystem. Have games support crossplay and instead filter based on control input and not platform.
I think it’s the only logical solution as they are introducing more PC titles and their competitor, Playstation, is doing far better now. Why make it premium to play online when your PC users can play online for free and you’re behind in the console war?
If they do, I’m already popping onto Halo Infinite during free time guaranteed. I can’t prioritize paying for XBL when I have a bunch of student fees and gym fees to worry about.
Game pass in itself is an amazing service so honestly I wouldn’t mind them shifting to that model.
But if XBL is lumped with gamepass, I guess that’s just more incentive to buy it for everyone.
I doubt it will happen anytime soon, but I will be happy to see this come true.