Microsoft Confirms It Has Removed Yearly Xbox Live Gold Subscription

No, it'll be rolled into gamepass only or smaller monthly amounts.

Gold price change? No.

Free? Maybe.

Included with another subscription (Game Pass)? Maybe.

The fact that xCloud joins Game Pass Ultimate in September and the fact that you can't get a one-year Gold subscription makes me think that the change will occur in September. It's either bundled with standard Game Pass or becoming free.

@FraserG I am certain that our Games with Gold collection will be respected. Xbox and Xbox 360 games are ours and Xbox One games are playable as long as we are subscribed to Game Pass but... Do you mean that they'll release more Games with Gold once Gold and Game Pass are merged?

It's happening people, Xbox is soon going to make multiplayer free... This would be huge for microsoft, They have the best game subscription service by far and not only that soon they're gonna have the most pro consumer online service in the gaming industry.. Microsoft knows what they're doing..

@Bmartin001 Hopefully. That would give Series X a gigantic popularity boost.

@FraserG Ha ha, who knows. To be honest, it's progressively more difficult to select different games each month for something like Gold and both Games with Gold and Playstation Plus are often criticised because of the games selection. I expect Gold to disappear completely. Perhaps they'll explain it on the 23rd ☺️.

@FraserG
If you're right on any of that, the one I hope for the most is multiplayer going free. Imo, these companies never should've charged a fee for that to begin with. This would be great for everybody. If MS takes the paywall away, it doesn't mean Sony and Nintendo will follow suit but it absolutely puts a lot of pressure on them to do so.

Hoping it's free to see my Nintendo friends justify their now pricey laggy online service.

That’s what you call a 360 if it goes free.
Being honest multiplayer should be free on all consoles and things like game pass etc should be charged.
Kudos to Microsoft if they do this.
They really are seeing the distant future here along with the all devices and subscription services like game pass. I don’t think short term financially is that great but long term yes and they have the money and power easily to do the long term.

I have Game Pass Ultimate, so I could care less either way to be honest. GWG have been crap for awhile now & with XCloud coming to Game Pass, it’ll be a great deal regardless.

Well, they start that anticonsumer practice, it would be nice if they also end it. Online should be free on all platform. But it sounds too good to be true.
Most likely they will just merge Gold into GamePass, one single subscription for everything.

@BlueOcean 360 GwG games can not be removed anyway. The way the system worked it was only possible to let people buy them for free. That's why if you stop paying for gold, you still keep your 360 titles.

So worse case, we'd keep all our 360 and OG xbox games.

I think there's 1 of 2 outcomes:

1. Gold is removed, online multiplayer goes free meanwhile the other Gold perks (e.g. discounts) get added to Game Pass for console.

2. Gold is removed, all Gold perks (including online multiplayer) are added to Game Pass for console and Xbox 360 servers are shut down.

What about the folks paid up until 2023 for Gold?

@FraserG If Games with Gold is going to be integrated into Game Pass, then I'd sooner expect that there will be no free games at all anymore. Well, at least not in the way that we're getting them now in GwG, so there will be no more free OG Xbox or Xbox 360 downloads which are ours to keep, and instead, everything is going to turn into this lousy "Netflix for games" service, which isn't what I want at ALL.

I understand that Game Pass is a big thing, and good value for money for a lot of people, but I just don't have the time or even the taste to play games within a limited time frame, seeing as Game Pass is removing games left and right every week, so that would mean I'd miss out on too many games that I might potentially be interested in, but just don't have the time for.

So, on the one hand, Phil and his team are ticking all the boxes with the new system, but the loss of the true Games with Gold service would be a VERY sad day for me, because for my situation, that's a FAR superior solution compared to the mandatory play schedules of Game Pass.

@Enigk Given the conversion from Gold to Game Pass Ultimate is currently only $1/£1/€1 at the moment, Microsoft would probably convert all remaining Gold into Game Pass Ultimate.

@Enigk What @Grumblevolcano said, automatic upgrade.

@Grumblevolcano & @BlueOcean Wish I had stocked up then. Could have got best part of 3 years of Gamepass for just over £100.

@FraserG
Oh!! if this is what happens I think it will be the best of both worlds and I very much approve. I like Gamepass but sometimes my subscription ends and it takes me a little bit of time before I can renew. Being able to play online for free while I am waiting to budget for gamepass would be amazing.

If it becomes free I will start playing most online games on Xbox lol

@Arugula All the brand new GamePass subs. How does Netflix or Hulu not lose money?

I'm going to be getting the XsX this Christmas and it's my first time back to Xbox since the OG Xbox. I was planning on getting 3 years of Xbox Gold and converting it to games pass ultimate for the $1 as it's my first time with these services so now I'm curious if I'll have to do that before September or not. Don't want to miss out on the crazy deal they have with that $1 upgrade for first time game pass ultimate users.