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[Shadowstar39]

It probably aligns with their vision for Game Pass.

The Xbox Game Studios are basically going to focus on not AAA but AA games with a huge focus on multiplayer and microtransactions.

Sounds horrible. I have never owned an xbox console and won't start now anyway. Multiplayer and microtransactions two things i hate. This is why I stick with Ps4/Switch/PC.

The only one that I was slightly interested in was the original xbox as it had a bunch of cool exclusives. Only reason i didn't as I was way too much into pc back then and it was a golden age of fps and rpgs for pc. I wasn't missing much.
I pay for psplus for the free monthly games. I have had it since day 1 and must have like 100+ games from plus by now.

 

[Stuart360]

But they can't do that. It has to be available for base GP too.

Well what i mean is eventually there will just be one package so to speak, encompassing Gamepass, Live, Xcloud, all for one standard monthly price. I think thats why they have cancelled the yearly Live, but you can still buy 2 or 3 months. Its probably something that is going to come into effect a few months from now, maybe starting with the launch of XSX.

 

[ZehDon]

I agree with the thoughts that this in preparation to roll it all into one service subscription.
“Join Game Pass - get Online multiplayer and access to hundreds of titles each month!”

 

[Bernkastel]

There are actual people in this thread who think you will need Game Pass to play online.

 

[truth411]

Isn't this effectively a Massive price increase?
From $60 to $100 a year?

 

[Klik]

How much does xbox live/ps plus generate a year,couple of billions of $?

I just don't see them abandon that..But maybe Microsoft is going all in this time

 

[Allandor]

I would say that the new game pass subscription is the reason.
also all my titles are coming for PC and they want cross play in it. So no more reason for Gold.
also, who buys a year at the website if Amazon & Co regularly has 3 or 6 month for half the price.

 

[Slings and Arrows]

Most likely there won't be 'Gold' on its own any more. The tiers will probably be gamepass and ultimate, in the way there was gold and gamepass

 

[Klayzer]

Probably repackaging Live with another tier of Gamepass/Xcloud. Or it could be something much more sinister.... the dreaded price increase. If so, best believe Sony will increase shortly after for plus.

It's one thing I've learned from following this industry for decades, they will put aside their differences when its more money that they can possibly squeeze out of their fanbases. Dont you just love corporate collusion schemes.

 

[GHG]

Being rolled into Gamepass Ultimate (or a new tier of gamepass) with a slight price increase.

 

[KingdomHeartsFan]

Well what i mean is eventually there will just be one package so to speak, encompassing Gamepass, Live, Xcloud, all for one standard monthly price. I think thats why they have cancelled the yearly Live, but you can still buy 2 or 3 months. Its probably something that is going to come into effect a few months from now, maybe starting with the launch of XSX.

That sounds horrible, basically if you don't use gamepass your fucked.

 

[RoboEight]

Gotta be game pass related. I bought 12 month Xbox live card 2 months ago and it kept trying to give me the option of changing it to like 6 months of ultimate gamepass.

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

Man, can you imagine if this happens?

I honestly don't think they will. But it would be amazing.

Would be one of the biggest steps in getting to Sonys throat. The general consumer, unlike the GAF hardcore audience, will care a lot about such things.

 

[Explosive Zombie]

If they did away with Gold it'd be absolutely huge. Like there's no denying they'd be in this fight to win it at that point. However... this could be simply to encourage people to get Gamepass Ultimate. In which case yeah I guess I get that but then why still offer 1 or 3 months? Why remove the best value amount, 12 months, unless it's because there WON'T BE GOLD in 12 months? I'm really liking stuff like this, it shows the competition is real.

 

[Klayzer]

It certainly would be a big deal for the industry, but billion dollar corporations don't become conglomerates by being a charity. I have a hard time believing Microsoft would give up that type of easy revenue just for the hell of it.

 

[Sony]

Doesn't make sense for it to be Free Multiplayer. Free multiplayer would drive console unit sales. Microsoft's strategy is to make you buy their services, not neccecarily devices.
I think it'll be replaced with Game Pass Ultimate.

 

[xrnzaaas]

Hopefully people have caught onto the absurdity of the double standard. MS charges to play the same games online on Xbox, on the same servers with free PC users if crossplay.

Yep MS should've removed the subscription when they started merging Xbox & PC gaming.

Realistically I think that moving paid multiplayer to GP Ultimate is the more likely scenario. There's a chance you're going to have to pay more than now if you're only interested in MP and not necessarily in having GP.

 

[Klayzer]

Seems like the console makers have plateaued with their userbase. They obviously see an untapped market in the pc crowd, will it work, we shall see. What will be the cause and effect though. Will they lose a large percentage of their base when they go all in to the pc market, or will it solidify their current market position. So many questions to be answered.

 

[Sw0pDiller]

Wait... What about the consumer friendly Microsoft? Removing this option isn't it.

 

[ZywyPL]

Not a chance. Bare in mind they are the ones who started the whole paid online thing, where the games run on P2P protocol. If anything, I expect them to be slowly moving into one, unified GP Ultimate plan, thet's their current agenda/business plan after all.

 

[cormack12]

They'll probably just reintroduce different tiers and branding, the smaller renewals are just to get people to next gen. They might even change the name from XBL Gold at this point.

 

[Starbuck2907]

If they went free online and only made money with gamepass, Sony would have to match, and dropping PSN subs would hurt Sony a LOT more than losing Xbox subs would for Microsoft. This would be a megaton, and they would only do it if GamePass is doing extremely well.

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

I wish it was free but doubt it.
If they force Game Pass than I won't do multiplayer on XSX.

 

[FranXico]

They're unifying subscriptions. Which is a sensible thing.

 

[Flintty]

Yup. I think it’s part of unification with the PC platform. One subscription model for Gamepass, free games to keep and XCloud, across multiple platforms. Free multiplayer with silver.

Well I can hope

 

[DGrayson]

Strange...

I have Gold 1 yr with auto renewal. Will it not renew now?

 

[FranXico]

Free multiplayer!*

* brought to you by the company that introduced the practice of charging for multiplayer.

 

[RoadHazard]

MS/Xbox is all about services, much moreso than about the console itself. It would shock me if they decided to start giving multiplayer away for free for no reason (other than goodwill).

 

[The Pleasure]

but sony fans are happy to keep pay $60 for paid remasters and exclusive when you get them for free plus more on gamepass ultimate??

Hi Johnny Turbo. Is the evil Sany giving you games that were already on theor previous systems years ago?

 

[The Bloody-Nine]

If I buy a 12 month sub code today can I still redeem it?

 

[S0ULZB0URNE]

but sony fans are happy to keep pay $60 for paid remasters and exclusive when you get them for free plus more on gamepass ultimate??

No you don't get anything but a bill for your rentals.
Big difference.

 

[vaibhavpisal]

Some big changes are coming it seems. Whatever happens hope they make good games to support it.

 

[Dommel]

People really think removing Gold will mean free multiplayer?

It's obviously going to be rolled into Gamepass and/or Ultimate.

 

[GenericUser]

I don't see why anyone that pays for PS+ wouldn't get a Xbox as their online console if they did this. $60x8 = $480. You essentially get the XSEX for free if you stop paying for online on PS5 and switch to XSEX for your online games.

Yeah, I'd love that idea. I would become an xbox fanboy in an instant, if MS dops the gold shit. I think microsoft can afford to drop the gold subscription fees, unlike sony. I hope they do it, that would be a devastating blast for sony, maybe forcing them to remove or at least reduce the PS+ price tag. Fingers crossed.

 

[Nerd Strangler]

Free multiplayer isn't that crazy. With how huge MTX revenue is these days the loss in subscription revenue will presumably be offset to some degree by higher user engagement and in-game monetization.

My best guess as to why they only disabled the 1 year option is at the July event they will announce they are discontinuing xbox live and converting the remaining balance to game pass ultimate. And they didn't want people rushing to stock on up xbox live at low prices in case their plans leaked.

The fact that they only removed the 1 year option is a bit puzzling, so thats my attempt to rationalize it.

 

[Dontero]

They will just roll it into Gamepass and rise price of gamepass. You could already upgrade it to ultimate which comes with xbox subscription service for like nothing for past 3-6months.

Free multiplayer isn't that crazy. With how huge MTX revenue is these days the loss in subscription revenue will presumably be offset to some degree by higher user engagement and in-game monetization.

People who pay for MTX don't have problem with paying for online.

 

[AFMichel]

If I buy a 12 month sub code today can I still redeem it?

Yes, bought 3 x 12 months yesterday for 60€ Link worked perfect!

 

[whyman]

I think gold is going. There will only be ultimate and I also think multiplayer will be free.

 

[Nerd Strangler]

People who pay for MTX don't have problem with paying for online.

Right, but people who don't play online don't pay for MTX. Thus, get more people playing online and you get more people paying for MTX.

Every time some big new online game comes along there are probably a million casual gamers who would otherwise try it if they didn't have to pony up for xbox live in order to do so. Some percentage of those people will probably wind up getting hooked and converted into regular MTX purchasers. But that can't happen if they don't try the game.

 

[Bonfires Down]

There are actual people in this thread who think you will need Game Pass to play online.

Yup, don’t know what’s going on there. While free online might seem unlikely, them forcing a more expensive Game Pass on everyone who wants to play online is way more unlikely.

 

[cash_longfellow]

Nope...this is Microsoft combining XBL and gamepass.

 

[MadchesterManc]

People really jumping the gun here. As far as I'm aware 1 month & 3 month are still there, no? Gold isn't going anywhere, Microsoft likely just rolling the 1 year option together with GamePass.

Gold is pretty much free money, why would a corporation that's built it's online infrastructure on such a thing suddenly want to give that revenue up. Microsoft ain't your buddy.

 

[Flintty]

People really jumping the gun here. As far as I'm aware 1 month & 3 month are still there, no? Gold isn't going anywhere, Microsoft likely just rolling the 1 year option together with GamePass.

Gold is pretty much free money, why would a corporation that's built it's online infrastructure on such a thing suddenly want to give that revenue up. Microsoft ain't your buddy.

Maybe because the change will not happen within 3 months but most likely will before a year has passed. Easier to stop a yearly sub now than process refunds later.

Edit: Good point though about rolling the year sub into GP.

 

[Miyazaki’s Slave]

I guess I stupidly assumed that game pass ultimate was the only thing they offered now. Every time I buy the cards on a discount its a 3 month card that I buy 3 or 4 times for various retailers. I never considered the price difference in gold (never occurred to me to even look for it) because I was getting them on sale.

**updated with current pricing from BB** Yeah....UGP is way more expensive than just gold....out of touch gamer is out of touch

1 month of gold - 9.99 vs. 1 month of ultimate game pass $14.99
12 months of gold - 59.99 vs 3 months of ultimate game pass $44.99

 

[Vawn]

Idk how much its gonna affect console sales, but software sales would be big. A lot of people buy both consoles, none of those people are gonna buy online games on PS5 over XSEX. Microsoft would get a big bump in software sales.

In theory that makes sense. But we have the full PS360 generation where one had paid online and the other had free online. I'm pretty sure online games like Call of Duty, Madden, etc sold better on Xbox.

 

[Bogroll]

Just before the big event next week, i hope its free but, if it is 1 or 3 months only i'm going to be pissed off.

 

[SoggyBiscuit]

The realist in me knows that it is simply too great a revenue stream for Microsoft to do away with completely. Free would be great, but I do wonder what caveats would come with the free online.

 

[ZywyPL]

I guess I stupidly assumed that game pass ultimate was the only thing they offered now. Every time I buy the cards on a discount its a 3 month card that I buy 3 or 4 times for various retailers. I never considered the price difference in gold (never occurred to me to even look for it) because I was getting them on sale.

**updated with current pricing from BB** Yeah....UGP is way more expensive than just gold....out of touch gamer is out of touch

1 month of gold - 9.99 vs. 1 month of ultimate game pass $14.99
12 months of gold - 59.99 vs 3 months of ultimate game pass $44.99

Whoa, I thought there is a much greater difference between the plans, 5$ a month extra for GP and xCloud? Sorry but that monthly Gold subscription looks like it has zero value at all, where does than 10$ goes for?

 

[PresetError]

If Xbox makes multiplayer free I will wear a non ironic Phil Spencer avatar of your chosing on this forum for as long as said service remains free.

 

[Zero707]

There 50/50 chance they will get rid of Gold
It's all because XCloud (Cloud gaming)
they won't ask XCloud User to pay for Multiplayer lol that will terrible
Also they want you to get Ultimate Edition of game pass