By now, you've probably seen the announcement that Xbox Live Gold is being removed and replaced by a new form of Xbox Game Pass called "Xbox Game Pass Core" - which will take place on September 14th.
Xbox Game Pass Core features all of the same benefits as Xbox Live Gold, but instead of Games With Gold (which is ending on September 1st), Core members will get access to a select pool of Xbox Game Pass titles instead.
Sounds simple enough, right?
It is pretty simple, but the new problem relates to Xbox Game Pass for Console. As of September, Xbox Game Pass Core will be the cheapest version of Game Pass at $9.99 per-month or $59.99 per-year, and it includes online multiplayer as one of the benefits. Xbox Game Pass for Console is more expensive at $10.99 per-month, and although you get a bigger library of Game Pass titles, it doesn't include online multiplayer.
Here's a proper look at each of the new Xbox Game Pass tiers:
Basically, Xbox Game Pass for Console seems kind of redundant at this point. Xbox Game Pass Core offers good value for money, and Ultimate is the full package, but Console is pretty much pointless if you want to play online.
The thing we really don't want to see is people subscribing to the wrong package assuming they'll get online multiplayer as standard. The tiers made sense before, but now that Xbox Game Pass Core has been added into the mix, the whole thing looks considerably more confusing.
It remains to be seen if Microsoft will add online multiplayer to the "Console" version of Game Pass eventually, but it perhaps seems more likely that it'll be scrapped in favour of "Core", "PC" and "Ultimate" as the three main subscriptions. Only time will tell, but in the meantime, make sure you know what you're getting before you sign up! If you're already an Xbox Live Gold member, keep in mind that you'll switch to Xbox Game Pass Core automatically this September.