560°

Microsoft isn’t renaming Xbox Live and has "no plans" to discontinue Xbox Live Gold

Microsoft’s comments don’t address the free rumors around Xbox Live.

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theverge.com
RazzerRedux1358d ago (Edited 1358d ago )

"Microsoft isn’t specifically commenting about the free rumors around Xbox Live, which started when the company removed the 12-month option for Xbox Live Gold from its online store last month."

No idea why that would lead anyone to believe Live Gold was going to be free. The 1 and 3 month options are still there. Microsoft wants everyone moving to Game Pass Ultimate and 12 month Live Gold was far too competitive in pricing at $60. This is a move to make more money as removing the 12 month option is effectively a price increase. Simple as that.

SamPao1358d ago

nonono its about having options :P

nowitzki20041358d ago (Edited 1358d ago )

They are looking out for the consumer :P

RpgSama1358d ago Show
1358d ago
SullysCigar1357d ago

Where are the Xbox faithful?

I'd be interested to hear their views, but they don't seem to be sharing them.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 1357d ago
--Onilink--1358d ago (Edited 1358d ago )

Or they are planning to unifiy live with all gamepass options with a slight price increase due to the added functionality (as such, adding extra customers to gamepass and all its associated games)

And they didnt remove the short term options because they wont make the announcement yet and still need to give people the ability to subscribe to live since its required to play online

That sounds just as likely to me, though then again, its not like Live would go free, that part never made any sense to me, I think they just want to make sure to integrate to gamepass on all levels and not just ultimate

isarai1358d ago

What if you don't want gamepass though? Some people are really only interested in a couple franchises and want to play online, not be forced to also pay for a subscription they never asked for in order to do so.

--Onilink--1358d ago (Edited 1358d ago )

Then it would be a problem for those people sure, I’m not saying its a perfect approach from MS if that is the case, just that I think its also a possibility that makes sense business wise for MS

Ausbo1358d ago

They won’t force you to have gamepass to play online. That was would be very bad and anti consumer. There would be huge backlash on that move

Christopher1357d ago

Wow. Really surprised at the downvotes for Ausbo. I completely agree with him. Forcing a service at a higher cost onto someone to play online is anti-consumer.

The only thing I can see is them completely doing away with Games For Gold and moving that into a gamepass lite where you get access to a few games by only for that month. But that would be worse than Games For Gold as it is as it's limited in design.

--Onilink--1357d ago

@Christopher

Not that Im disagreeing with him, but its not really unheard of.

Just look at something like amazon prime, they just basically kept adding more and more stuff on top of it and increasing the price and they never really left a specific option for what Prime used to do. You either got everything or nothing.

Not giving a choice certainly isnt good, but its not like gamepass isn’t an amazing deal anyway

rainslacker1357d ago

@isarai

Than MS has a platform for you. It's called the PC.

Sophisticated_Chap1357d ago

If they force people to pay a higher monthly fee, then I would think fewer people would buy in on the new subscription.

I think Game Pass is a great value, but I don't need to play that many games, nor do I have the time to play all of those games. I'm also very picky about my digital games library and what shows up in my Acheivements.

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 1357d ago
RauLeCreuset1357d ago

I have suspected the removal of the 12 month Gold sub may be an attempt to effectively lock the 12 month Gold subscription itself behind a Game Pass paywall to force annual Gold subscribers onto pricier subscriptions. That's just speculation. That said, this site had better blow up like never before if speculation turns out to be reality, after years now of marketing buzzwords about being pro consumer and more options being used to undermine the competition while puffing up Xbox.

jerethdagryphon1357d ago

Yup my thinking up the price on it and stop the 12 months before the announce it so people don't buy 10 years to save money

derektweed11357d ago

I get what you're saying and maybe your exaggerating but I think there is a limit of 3 years or something that one can have for Xbox live gold.

alb18991357d ago

I don't see why is it about money if they are almost giving as a present gamepass and now Xcloud is included. Of course is a tactical move so for everyone makes sense to pay just one subscription.

RazzerRedux1357d ago (Edited 1357d ago )

"makes sense to pay just one *more expensive* subscription"

Fixed. They have removed the cheapest option for multiplayer. I get they have added features like xCloud, but they have removed options as well. Regardless, this will increase revenue from services thus, it is "about money".

3-4-51357d ago

This..
A business needs to make money decisions sometimes and Xbox Live Gold is a great deal....it's also it's own Brand by the this point as it goes hand in hand with online gaming the last 15+ years as an industry standard.

Would be foolish to get rid of it...worth keeping just for the marketing name alone.

* I've been doing 12 month subs since 2003 so it feels like they want me on Gamepass ultimate.

Sophisticated_Chap1357d ago

No point in removing the 12 month subscription, if unless the reason is so that they don't piss people off by having them purchase 12 months of gold, only to find out in September or October that the service will be free after November.

Sophisticated_Chap1357d ago

We'll just have to wait and see. Fun speculation for the mean time.

DarXyde1357d ago

My current guess is a bizarre one: lock 1 year of Gold behind Game Pass and everyone else can top up every 1-3 months. They make a little extra on subs that way. It's strange because it's the most pro-consumer anti-consumer move I've seen from them: "remove a pro-consumer option that saves a bit on annual subs (which is anti-consumer) to push you toward the pro-consumer option of an annual subscription and get "free" day one first- party titles."

It's... certainly a different approach, but likely to work out for them if true.

+ Show (5) more repliesLast reply 1357d ago
ziggurcat1358d ago

It's not going to be free. Making Halo Infinite's online F2P != MS is making XBL free (which is where this whole thing originated), it just means they're using the GaaS model for Halo's MP.

neutralgamer19921358d ago

Correct me if I am wrong but don't you need live to play F2P

ShadowWolf7121358d ago

That's supposedly the only big aspect of it they're changing, according to insiders at least.

akaFullMetal1358d ago

Yes, you need Xbox live to play free to play games on xbox.

moriarty18891358d ago (Edited 1358d ago )

yes you do. It has been the knock on them for so long now with having a paywall on other f2p games. Something Sony, their competition, doesnt do.

darthv721358d ago

It is rumored that they will finally drop the gold requirement for F2P games, but as of right now you still need it to play them.

ziggurcat1357d ago

You need XBLG to play F2P games on Xbox currently. But as darth says, they're probably going to no longer require a Gold sub to play a F2P MP game.

Dragonscale1357d ago

There is no free to play on xbox. Everything is behind a paywall.

TheEnigma3131357d ago

PS4 you don't but xbox you do.

+ Show (4) more repliesLast reply 1357d ago
TGGJustin1358d ago ShowReplies(3)
yarbie10001358d ago (Edited 1358d ago )

So they’re doubling the price to play online from $60 to $120... Wow! And Xbox fans are claiming Sony is anti-consumer...OOF!

moriarty18891358d ago

MS arent giving up that ‘GOLD’ mine anytime soon. wishful thinking for some who actually thought they would.

elazz1358d ago

And Xbox Fans are ready to tell you they happily pay 120 - 180 dollars because look at all the GAMES. /s There are enough people that barely play more games than a yearly Fifa and Call of Duty which would mean you gotta pay even more to play online than now. Some others buy mainly discounted games or second hand and will never spend a yearly amount of 120 to 180 USD on games. Microsoft is trying to get as much money per user and they know all the blind xbox fans will happily pay.

At least I'm glad they did not bring this shit to PC yet in such a way so if there is a gem that comes out I could still play it. However I doubt that there is anything substantial coming.

RamRod881358d ago

I'm not. I don't want to be forced to choose either buying gamepass or Ultimate to play online. I would rather have them keep the 12 month option for those that don't care about gamepass.

waderae1357d ago

Your spot on, its not just those "call of fifa" players either, low income families etc will also have to suffer the increase in price, its £49.99 to £72 minimum for a year now.

People will tell you that its all about value of ultimate.... but its only value if you can afford it or if you are going to use it.

Its not like you can currently play FTP games or gamepass games (online) without forking out for Gold.

Drew3451357d ago

Wow...

That's a mic drop moment right there.

ChristopherJack1357d ago

Blind? Fan? In general, yes(much like yourself) but in this specific case you're clearly wrong. Fan means fanatic, in other words Xbox fans are probably not just playing the one cod or FIFA per year that you've mentioned, those are the casual gamers, actual Xbox fans are probably playing Halo, Gears, Forza, etc, & getting 'some' value out of Game pass(even if you personally disagree about the quality of their value- your opinion is irrelevant to someone else's subjective enjoyment).

I don't know how fans are blind for paying for something they'll actually use. That's like calling movie buffs blind for using Netflix.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 1357d ago
cell9891357d ago (Edited 1357d ago )

$120 to have permission to play online?!! WTF? Who thinks this is ok??? Why is it not $60 anymore? Isn’t there an option to purchase 1 year membership?

stuna11357d ago

Not anymore! Microsoft probably has been mulling ideals for years as to how they can vacuum more money out of consumer pockets for years! Especially considering that console and game sale wise they have fallen behind. So they definitely had to come up with some feasible way of offsetting those deficiencies.

Also don't think for a second it's over, because I believe the free to play paywall will remain intact, which is why they're bundling so much into the subscription!? Likely in their opinion a insignificant trade off for what you get.

rainslacker1357d ago

It could go the route of GWFL, where the PC gamer pretty much unanimously said no thank you.

But, that would require the user base of the console to actually say no, and not purchase it. Somehow, I don't have faith in the average consumer not to make it profitable for the companies, so they'll just do it regardless of any criticism.

IRetrouk1358d ago (Edited 1358d ago )

So I was right then? Take that disagrees 🤛😂No way they are giving up that gold mine, no way at all, ftp games on the other hand might actually be free next gen though, that's still possible.

neutralgamer19921358d ago

Yes everyone with common sense knew that only select few who were trying to make Ms and Xbox brand look pro consumers were spreading rumors

No company would simply give up billions for PR

IRetrouk1358d ago

That was my main argument to be fair😂

ziggurcat1358d ago

Yeah, if anything, it probably just means they're taking F2P MP out from behind the XBLG paywall.

IRetrouk1358d ago

Yeah, I think that's a possibility and most likely thing to happen.

Show all comments (69)
70°

The INDIE Live Expo 2024 event is to feature over 100 game titles

INDIE Live Expo, Japan’s premiere online digital showcase series , will debut never-before-seen games & content updates across more than 100 titles on May 25th.

140°

PlayStation Doesn't Need a Dedicated PC Store Launcher

With all the PlayStation games that are now coming to PC, is it time for Sony to release a dedicated PC launcher?

thorstein3d ago

No, and they already solved any need with the overlay that's coming.

Vits3d ago

Unless they are trying to kill their recently created PC business, I would advise against opening a dedicated PC store. It's an extremely hard endeavor, and people, in general, are very comfortable with Steam. Even Epic, with their billions of dollars invested, is still struggling to find a foothold, and they have Fortnite.

just_looken2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

Money is one thing security is another but again millions have 0 knowledge past 2020.

Epic store for years struggled with a shopping cart/account theft/credit card theft

Rockstar launcher/store to this day over 5 years later still has horrific user interface security flaws lost account's and stolen CC

Then you got that activision need phone number oh we lost it launcher

The crown jewel is the ea launcher/store ea app 3 yrs old still has hundreds of threads were people lost games/accounts/game access or just straight up crashes.

Edit" Oh ubi launcher were you buy a game that may or may not be there again or work and the launcher 5yrs old still has no 4K support if you launch it on a 4k screen there is a high chance it will just crash.

ocelot073d ago

Can tell who ever put this together is not all that clued up on pc gaming.

It's just a known fact. The PC gaming community prefer Steam and Steam alone. They don't like different launchers. I personally don't mind them. But majority just stick with steam. Hence why EA and Ubisoft went back to on releasing on steam and why Microsoft release games on steam as people hated buying from the windows store.

The only other launchers that I imagine are doing ok is GOG due to being drm free and epic games due to the free games every week. Sony shouldn't release any sort of pc launcher n

Nitrowolf23d ago (Edited 3d ago )

It literally says in the OP that PC gamers don't like multiple launchers lol. It even mentions Steam being the go to for gamers

Tacoboto3d ago

Title: "PlayStation Doesn't Need a Dedicated PC Store Launcher"

N4G: "Can tell who ever put this together is not all that clued up on pc gaming"

When you don't even read the headline...

ocelot072d ago

I read it and had a brain fart. As read the title then this "With all the PlayStation games that are now coming to PC, is it time for Sony to release a dedicated PC launcher?"

So I hold my hands up on that mistake. Rest of my comment still stands.

Giblet_Head2d ago (Edited 2d ago )

Steam and GOG are highly preferred because of the rich feature set. Ubisoft, Rockstar, EA, Epic etc have all set a precedent over the years for customers to instinctively expect individual publisher launchers to be so extremely half-assed that the majority simply don't want to bother dealing with what is almost an inevitable disappointment by comparison to Steam or GOG. Those publishers and their inaction or general disinterest to improve have effectively ruined any future adoption to be taken seriously.

Einhander19723d ago (Edited 3d ago )

This is just another ridiculous double standard article.

It's like how Microsoft can spend 20 years of making nothing but gaas and live service style games to sell microtransactions, dlc and subscriptions and get praise for doing it, but if Sony wants to make a single game like that every website under the sun is writing articles saying how Sony is anti-consumer or whatever.

derek2d ago

Yep, huge double standard look at the tortured reaction to the ps5pro, websites hyperventilating like Sony is forcing people to buy it.

just_looken2d ago

Wait my xbox from 2004 has avengers gaas on it? wow your so smart

m$ Gaas started with the other companies like sony

Gamepass yes they are deep into that but its still a huge money saver sense you do not own your games then get a service like that.

Now there pc xbox launcher that is trash for years now

Show all comments (15)
90°

German Computer Game Awards 2024 has just announced its winners

"The best games of the year and the creative teams behind them were in the spotlight at the grand award ceremony of the German Computer Game Award 2024." - German Computer Game Awards.

anast3d ago

BG3 has won everything possible. It's insane.

TGG_overlord3d ago

That's right, well, BG3 deserved it imo.

anast3d ago

It's definitely a game of the generation if not all time.

InUrFoxHole3d ago

Sure buddy... You're trying to tell me it has a deeper story than goat 🐐 simulator 4000?!?!?. I wanna give bg3 a shot but my brain is burnt out on long games