Current Events > Yearly Xbox Live Gold subscriptions are no longer available

(+) Yeah! (+)

Just one month and three months now.

One week before their big showcase.

Coincidence or is a major change about to be announced?

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Probably lumping it in with game pass from here on.
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Antifar posted...

Probably lumping it in with game pass from here on.

They already do that with Ultimate. I don't think they'd increase the paywall that much for it to be the only option.

Gold is such a big money maker though so I dunno.

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Calling it: one big announcement will be GPU is replacing XBL Gold.

GP will be $5/month with no annual option, includes PC GP
GPU will be $10/month or $60/year like Gold was.

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Tired-Insomniac posted...

Calling it: one big announcement will be GPU is replacing XBL Gold.

GP will be $5/month with no annual option, includes PC GP
GPU will be $10/month or $60/year like Gold was.

Why would they do that, wouldn't they just lose money?

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This seems like a weird decision since not everyone wants game pass.

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If having cheaper online/services leads to more people on their console, buying games of the Xbox store, they make that money back. I think Microsoft is willing to take a short term hit in order to get people in their ecosystem this gen.
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Maybe the online paywall for consoles will be removed for the Xbox Series X launch and Game Pass Ultimate will include Game Pass for console, PC and Cloud. Games with Gold is ditched when Xbox Series X launches. Any outstanding Gold subscription after that period can be converted to your Game Pass type of choice.

Probably dreaming though heh.

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BignutzisBack posted...

Why would they do that, wouldn't they just lose money?

IIRC they found out that games sold better on game pass. There's a small discount to buying a GP game, and selling 500 copies of a more obscure at $40 a piece was better than selling 100 copies at $60

Numbers were random of course but it makes sense that they could get a lot more people into game pass and make even more money because more copies of games would get sold.

Or it could all just be a coincidence or maybe even an error

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I'm guessing XBL gold is finally going to go free.

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I never bought the year sub, only the 3 month since i rarely play

Its such a scam it expires if you dont use. If it was like a gas tank without a leak, itd last me a year

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I feel like Microsoft dropping Gold was a leak a number of months everyone just dismissed as crazy.
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Well God damn, Xcloud included in GPU starting September:

https://www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2020/7/16/21326797/microsoft-xcloud-launch-xbox-game-pass-ultimate-free?__twitter_impression=true


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Bio1590 posted...

I feel like Microsoft dropping Gold was a leak a number of months everyone just dismissed as crazy.

Everyone subscribed to game pass has basically been predicting this for a while. Also PC games played over XBL have never needed a paid subscription and they probably have seen more players move to PC as a result.

Call it "lost money" if you want but this is going to be a tremendous pull from Sony customers.

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Tired-Insomniac posted...

Well God damn, Xcloud included in GPU starting September:

https://www.theverge.com/platform/amp/2020/7/16/21326797/microsoft-xcloud-launch-xbox-game-pass-ultimate-free?__twitter_impression=true

The beta was already like this. This is just a launch announcement.

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Tyranthraxus posted...

I'm guessing XBL gold is finally going to go free.

Considering Xbox is at the bottom of the console warrior pile now, free online is an obvious desperation move that may well give XSX a decent push.

Well, I got like 2 years of ultimate stock piled

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Questionmarktarius posted...

Considering Xbox is at the bottom of the console warrior pile now, free online is an obvious desperation move that may well give XSX a decent push.

Xbox isn't a console anymore it's a service.

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Darmik posted...

Maybe the online paywall for consoles will be removed for the Xbox Series X launch and Game Pass Ultimate will include Game Pass for console, PC and Cloud. Games with Gold is ditched when Xbox Series X launches. Any outstanding Gold subscription after that period can be converted to your Game Pass type of choice.

Probably dreaming though heh.

i hope so but something tells me that this is a subtle way of easing into a price increase for XBL, now you're either paying $120 a year or $100 a year instead of $60 a year if you just bought the year sub.

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Possibly related
https://kotaku.com/game-pass-ultimate-is-getting-video-game-streaming-in-s-1844403046
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Best Buy Canada and EB Games still have the 1-year subs listed and purchasable, for what it's worth.
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Dang.

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i'd just like to be able to buy game pass for pc without also gaving to pay for gold, or at least not also game pass for a console i don't use.

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TwoDoorPC posted...

i'd just like to be able to buy game pass for pc without also gaving to pay for gold, or at least not also game pass for a console i don't use.

You don't have to pay for gold. You only pay for GPU.

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Seems like theyre gonna make it $40 to become an Xbox live gold member for that price. Says instead of $60 itll be $40, so seems like you can still get a year its just cheaper and worded differently.

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Tyranthraxus posted...

You don't have to pay for gold. You only pay for GPU.

it was when i started paying. they must have changed the payment options since and not told me!

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TwoDoorPC posted...

it was when i started paying. they must have changed the payment options since and not told me!

That was before GPU was a thing. XBL and GamePass are separate subscriptions and only apply to the console. GPU is PC and Console and is just one subscription.

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TwoDoorPC posted...

i'd just like to be able to buy game pass for pc without also gaving to pay for gold, or at least not also game pass for a console i don't use.

You should be able to pay for just Game Pass for PC. I think being already subscribed to Ultimate means you need to wait until that has lapsed?

gatorsPENSbucs posted...

Seems like theyre gonna make it $40 to become an Xbox live gold member for that price. Says instead of $60 itll be $40, so seems like you can still get a year its just cheaper and worded differently.

Where does it say that? I've still only got one or three month options. Or at least that's all I get if I try to buy it not signed into my account.

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i'd actually buy an xbox over the ps5 if online was free