The Xbox Live Gold subscription service, which allows players to play multiplayer games online, finds itself in a strange place at the current moment. With the announcement today that the price of Xbox Live Gold will be going up across the board, there are some questioning the decision, including a former Xbox VP who wonders what the strategy is for the service.
Both Sony and Microsoft offer subscription-based services that allow players to access a vault’s worth of titles; PS Now for Sony, and Xbox Game Pass for Microsoft. While Sony keeps PS Now separate from PS Plus (its service to access online gaming), Microsoft bundles Xbox Game Pass with Xbox Live Gold at the highest membership tier. Both consoles subscriptions offer a wealth of content, but with the recent price hike to the Xbox Live Gold service, that will price a year’s membership at $120 USD, many are wondering what kind of future there is for Xbox Live Gold and how that relates to Xbox Game Pass.
This includes the former Xbox VP in charge of Xbox Live and Xbox Game Pass, Mike Ybarra, who took to Twitter to question just what Microsoft’s strategy is for the service. “Get rid of Gold, stop charging for multiplayer, especially in F2P games. And put energy behind ensuring Game Pass is the best deal around.” is what Mike had to say about the current state of Microsoft’s online memberships. While there has been speculation about what will become of Xbox Live Gold going forward, the new pricing certainly suggests Microsoft wants players to migrate to Game Pass Ultimate, the more expensive service bundled with Live Gold that renews subscriptions monthly at $14.99.
To add to the confusion, some retailers still stock the 12-month Xbox Live Gold membership for $60, despite the fact that Microsoft itself no longer sells 12-month Live Gold in its store. Ybarra’s call for a sense of order is reasonable, as streamlining services and making them accessible and affordable to Xbox customers should be a priority. Annually coming in at $120 and $180 respectively, Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass aren’t exactly cheap. Considering PlayStation Plus is $60, and Nintendo Switch Online is $20, Xbox is the outlier and comes at a substantial premium compared to its competition.
There is certainly worthwhile content offered to subscribers, as Xbox Live Gold in February will offer Resident Evil and Gears of War 5, among other titles, for free. But the current hodgepodge of subscriptions and the high price service the company seems to be guiding customers towards are making it a frustrating situation.
Source: Twitter
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