Xbox Live Gold is being killed off this September
Xbox Live Gold, the online play subscription service that’s been a mainstay on Xbox consoles since the launch of the Xbox 360 in 2005, is being axed later this year. The service will be replaced with a new tier of Xbox Game Pass, called Xbox Game Pass Core, which will offer much of the same features, though with some slight tweaks.
The news comes courtesy of a now-deleted Windows Central article, which was reportedly published early due to “a bug in [their] system”, according to managing editor Jez Corden. The information contained in the article was subsequently republished by a number of websites, including Korean website Naver, along with a screenshot showing the new tier of Game Pass.
Microsoft has since confirmed the news, with a blog post detailing the new changes that were previously leaked by the Windows Central article.
Xbox Game Pass Core, like Xbox Live Gold before it, will offer access to online multiplayer for paid games, as well as deals and discounts that other Game Pass tiers currently get access to. It will also offer over 25 games in a limited Game Pass library, a partial list for which you can see below.
Among Us, Descenders, Dishonored 2, DOOM Eternal, Fable Anniversary, Fallout 4, Fallout 76, Forza Horizon 4, Gears 5, Grounded, Halo 5: Guardians, Halo Wars 2, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, Human Fall Flat, INSIDE, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Psychonauts 2, State of Decay 2, Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited.
Unfortunately for current Xbox Live Gold members and subscribers to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, the Games With Gold program, which offered two games monthly to subscribers, is being sunset in favor of the limited library. Players will keep games already redeemed through Games With Gold, and the list of games included in Game Pass Core will be updated and added to 2-3 times a year.
Xbox Game Pass Core will cost the same as Xbox Live Gold did, too, at $9.99 a month or $59.99 a year in the US, with other regions expected to follow the same pricing scheme. It’s said to be launching on September 14, 2023, and Xbox Live Gold will be deprecated two weeks earlier, on September 1. Existing subscribers will be automatically moved over to the new service two when Game Pass Core launches on September 14.
Xbox Live Gold’s sunsetting has been a long time coming, with many expecting that Xbox Game Pass for console would become the new baseline service — though it doesn’t currently include online play. It’s a bit surprising then that a new tier would be introduced instead, pushing the service ever closer to Sony’s own three-tier PlayStation Plus subscription.
Nintendo also has a multi-tiered online subscription service for the Nintendo Switch, with Nintendo Switch Online offering online play, access to NES, SNES, and Game Boy games, and a few extra perks like Tetris 99. Its more expensive tier, Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack, also adds Nintendo 64, Sega Genesis, and Game Boy Advance games to the mix, as well as DLC for Splatoon 2, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
Add into the mix EA’s multi-tiered EA Access scheme, Ubisoft’s Ubisoft Plus service, and services like GeForce NOW, which also has multiplier tiers, and it seems like tiered subscription services are here to stay.
