Many were surprised when Microsoft mysteriously removed the option to buy 12-monthXbox Live Goldsubscriptions earlier this month, which led to speculation that the company has different plans for theXbox Live Goldsubscription model moving forward - especially given the company’s dedication to Xbox Game Pass, as highlighted by its recent Xbox Games Showcase event. Now it appears there is further evidence suggesting that Microsoft is phasing out its online multiplayer service altogether and will instead offer online multiplayer for free for the first time since the original Xbox.
Currently, Xbox Live Gold costs $9.99 per month and $19.99 quarterly, with the servicepreviously costing $59.99 for a year. The service is also part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which costs $14.99 per month and comes with access to both the Xbox One and PC versions of Xbox Game Pass. Xbox Game Pass will also include access to Microsoft’s cloud-gaming service xCloud when it launches this September. As recent rumors have claimed, however, this all seems likely to change in the very near future.
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VentureBeat reporter Jeff Grubb further hinted at the company’s plans to phase out the online multiplayer subscription service, claiming that Microsoft’s plans are now to make Xbox multiplayer completely free. In the thread, Grubb stated “Xbox Live Gold is going away and playing online multiplayer will be free. They will not force you into Ultimate to play online.” Further clarifying his statement, he continued “Fortniteproved that having huge engagement can lead to even bigger returns. Andgetting rid of multiplayer pay wallcan increase engagement.”
Many are intrigued to see how Sony will react to this change in Microsoft’s online ecosystem, as at the beginning of this generation the company began requiring PlayStation Plus subscriptions to access most online titles on PlayStation 4. PlayStation currently offerstwo PlayStation 4 titles a monthin comparison to Microsoft’s four, although Sony has been experimenting with including bonus titles recently.
