Is Microsoft Planning To Phase Out Xbox Live Gold? (inverse.com) 46
Yesterday, a Microsoft rep confirmed that the option to purchase 12 months of Xbox Live Gold has been removed from the Microsoft Store. That's exactly a week ahead of the July 23 games presentation, where Microsoft could be announcing a plan to phase out the subscription service altogether with the launch of Xbox Series X. Inverse reports: "At this time Xbox has decided to remove the 12 month Xbox Live Gold SKU from the Microsoft online Store," a Microsoft spokesperson tells Inverse. "Customers can still sign up for a 1 month or 3 month Xbox Live Gold subscription online through the Microsoft Store." No attention was brought to this change officially in any public statements, but shortening the length that people can subscribe to Xbox Live Gold is very telling. "It also seems like the right time for Microsoft to talk about the future of Xbox," Venture Beat's Jeff Grubb argues in a post about the July showcase. "That service is starting to feel a bit outdated. Maybe it's time to phase it out."
While Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg has since gone onto say that the July 23 presentation will be solely focused on games, this Grubb's article suggests that Xbox Live Gold is being phased out. That can't be taken lightly now that the option for a 12-month subscription is gone. It is worth noting that the 12-month Xbox Live Gold subscription remains available at retailers like GameStop, so if you do want to buy a year of the service that option is still open. But third-party retailers probably have residual inventory. It now seems likely that Xbox Live Gold will be phased out, possibly to get an edge up on the PS5, which will presumably still make players pay for online via PlayStation Plus subscriptions. If Xbox Series X's final price is cheaper than that of the PS5, and the console offers free online play that saves gamers about $60 a year, then Microsoft's console becomes the better financial investment hands down. But this remains hypothetical. What could Microsoft replace Xbox Live Gold with? The report goes on to say that the most obvious move for Microsoft "would be to integrate Xbox Live Gold into Game Pass Ultimate," which gives players access to Game Pass on Xbox One and PC in addition to an Xbox Live Gold subscription, so players can play any online games and they get unlimited access to any games that are available in the Game Pass library.
The service was also recently confirmed to be compatible with the upcoming game streaming service Project xCloud.
While Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg has since gone onto say that the July 23 presentation will be solely focused on games, this Grubb's article suggests that Xbox Live Gold is being phased out. That can't be taken lightly now that the option for a 12-month subscription is gone. It is worth noting that the 12-month Xbox Live Gold subscription remains available at retailers like GameStop, so if you do want to buy a year of the service that option is still open. But third-party retailers probably have residual inventory. It now seems likely that Xbox Live Gold will be phased out, possibly to get an edge up on the PS5, which will presumably still make players pay for online via PlayStation Plus subscriptions. If Xbox Series X's final price is cheaper than that of the PS5, and the console offers free online play that saves gamers about $60 a year, then Microsoft's console becomes the better financial investment hands down. But this remains hypothetical. What could Microsoft replace Xbox Live Gold with? The report goes on to say that the most obvious move for Microsoft "would be to integrate Xbox Live Gold into Game Pass Ultimate," which gives players access to Game Pass on Xbox One and PC in addition to an Xbox Live Gold subscription, so players can play any online games and they get unlimited access to any games that are available in the Game Pass library.
The service was also recently confirmed to be compatible with the upcoming game streaming service Project xCloud.
Uh... How about just no? (Score:2)
How about no subscription needed in the first place? Let's give that a go.
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Seconded. I think it's absurd that you have to pay a subscription just to be able to play games online. You're paying for the games; that should be enough! Some games don't even use external game servers; one of the players' consoles hosts the game so you're not even using Microsoft's resources.
I would be up for game subscriptions; IE pay $20 a month and be able to play a library of games. But buying the game outright and then having to pay a subscription just to play it? This kind of crap has kept me away
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Re:Uh... How about just no? (Score:4, Informative)
For ~$16 AUD a month you get a library of well over 100 games, most microsoft games week 1, and 3 100% free games per month that you own, don't rent.
down sides:
- the 3 games per month are chosen by MSFT. Sometimes it's 3 winners, other times it's 3 completely crap games
- the library rotates games in and out. It's not volatile (most games are there WELL over a year) but bad timing can hit you.
EA also has an equivalent, but I don't play many sports games.
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Not true. The Xbox360 game (or OG Xbox) game you completely own. The Xbox One games are rented (as long as you have your subscription). However, they're not "lost" - if you do cancel and resubscribe later you do get them back.
Anyhow, I suspect Microsoft is making GamePass the default subscription option, and if they were smart, they'd make it the same price as Gold. It seems like they were since that $1 promotion they have was only supposed to be a few mo
Re:Uh... How about just no? (Score:4, Interesting)
I suspect that's where they're going - open up network play for everyone because, sadly, single player only games are quickly becoming something only "boomers" play.
The only other alternative is that they're rolling network play into the more expensive GamePass subscription which would be horrible - but not surprising. Though I doubt they're doing that.
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TLOU2 and games like Zelda BOTW are the exception to the rule these days.
The majority of major titles these days are multiplayer which is still free on Playstation but NOT on XBox and maybe they want to head that off.
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And steadily sucking since the PS4 was released. PS Plus used to be good but it's been stinking a lot since Sony transformed it less into a reason to join and just a way to make money on multiplayer.
Chances are, Microsoft is ending Gold - free multiplayer and network apps. Because these days it doesn't make much sense anymore - if you want to use Netflix on Xbox you need to have Gold.
Al
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Then, how will they make money? [grin]
Too bad bye bye (Score:2)
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Considering console people also get angry when Microsoft tries to avoid hardware drm aka console exclusives itâ(TM)s par for the course with console fans to angrily reject consumer friendly moves.
Microsoft marketing presence (Score:3)
What is it, anyway? (Score:2)
Since I don't play on consoles, what do you get with that subscription?
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It's the ONLY way you can do multiplayer gaming on the xbox. Without it you're restricted to single player gaming. You're still free to logon to their service and download games and patches.
Unlike playstation all game activity goes through MS' xbox game servers. At one time MS also hosted all the game servers as well but I'm not sure if that's true anymore. I do know that FF XIV isn't on the Xbox (at least originally) because of that requirement though.
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So lemme get this straight. You pay for a console that you can only use to play XBox games, then you pay a premium for the games because they usually cost more than the PC version, and then you pay again to play online.
Do these people know that PCs exist?
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Do these people know that PCs exist?
They know. But game consoles are a lot cheaper than PCs. The price of a console is about the same as a really good graphics card... alone. They also don't require the same level of [software] maintenance as a PC.
I've done plenty of both console and PC gaming and both approaches have clear benefits, and drawbacks. I sold all my console stuff, so I made my choice, but I still get why consoles are still around.
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Given the add-on costs it seems that in the end you're cheaper with a PC than a console, though.
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Given the add-on costs it seems that in the end you're cheaper with a PC than a console, though.
It depends on what you play, and how often you upgrade. XBLG has long been available for $100/year through various specials, and last time I had it, it came with free games. At least one of those games per year would be something you might actually want to play :) So the additional cost wasn't really that much, however fundamentally offensive it might be to pay for some (at best) mediocre multiplayer matching, given that almost all games are hosted on some player's console. There are also way fewer cheaters
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The difference is that for the CPU and GPU equivalent to the Series X will cost $700. Add in all the other components and you've got a multi-thousand dollar PC.
The savings on the hardware buys a lot that you can spread across multiple years so it's easier to fund with cashflow instead of capital.
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Multi-thousand dollar PC? If you insist in having a multi-GPU gaming rig, maybe. To own something on par with consoles, 700 is plenty. Also, I upgrade my PC in those areas that are lacking, not all at once. My GPU is fairly new but my CPU is like 4 years old. And that's basically all that needs upgrading in relevant speeds because you can keep using the rest for ages.
So I highly doubt that you're running a much higher bill with a PC, especially when you start to factor in the higher cost for games and the "
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$700 is the actual cost of a comparable CPU GPU - source:
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-xb... [pcgamer.com]
Start getting comparables for the rest, you're over $2k easy.
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PCs are expensive and STILL too "hard" for most of your average gamers to understand and use correctly.
Besides, Madden isn't on Steam.
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Besides, Madden isn't on Steam.
https://store.steampowered.com... [steampowered.com]
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Consoles "just work" without worrying about stuff like driver updates or hardware differences. And they're significantly cheaper than an equivalent gaming PC. And no, new release games don't cost more on consoles. *And* they've got exclusives.
And on top of all that, there's no law against owning a PC in addition to a console.
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Consoles "just work"? I was there when a friend wanted to play a new game he bought. Took him almost 3 hours to get it installed and his console upgraded to be allowed the privilege of playing it.
thanks, but no thanks.
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It would have taken even longer for him to install it via Steam, then--and it may still not of worked. Or required some indeterminate amount of time adjusting settings, updating drivers, etc. Even waiting 3 hours for a console download is still an improvement over the average PC experience.
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I have no idea what PC you use to play, but I couldn't even remotely repeat that experience. What game on a PC requires 3 hours of install?
Ok, if you're trying to install games in Steam while sitting on a 9600 baud modem, I could see your point.
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I'm impressed your friend got a 9600 baud modem working on a modern console.
The zone (Score:1)
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MSN Gaming Zone. It hosted like a total of 16 or so 'servers' - which were probably all hosted on one physical box, back in the day. I spent a lot of hours on MSN Gaming Zone's Unreal Tournament '99 servers. ;)
Was **always** on their roadmap (Score:2)
They are simply simplifying their subscription services, not making a big change, or an unexpected change.
Tenure (Score:1)
I just always wanted that Xbox Live Gold TENURE number to come in to play for some reason. Get some acknowledgment. Maybe some discounts. But the very few times they offered anything it wasn't substantial at all.