Microsoft Refutes Rumour That Xbox Live Gold is Being Discontinued
Lately, rumours have been circulating online that Microsoft’s long-running Xbox Live Gold service might be coming to an end, with plans to launch a new free version. However, Microsoft has now refuted these rumours. The company states categorically that they have no plans to change Xbox Live Gold anytime soon.
Microsoft: Xbox Live Gold Isn’t Going Anywhere
Rumours about the Xbox Live Gold service changing first began to circulate after Microsoft updated their Service Agreement. Instead of “Xbox Live Gold,” some sections were changed to read “Xbox online service”. This alteration appeared to match other rumours that Microsoft was planning on launching a new free online service for Xbox. (Potentially designed for the Xbox Series X.) Now, however, it seems that all this speculation was nothing more than that.
“The update to ‘Xbox online service’ in the Microsoft Services Agreement refers to the underlying Xbox service that includes features like cross-saves and friend requests,” explained a Microsoft spokesperson, speaking recently with GameSpot; “This language update is intended to distinguish the underlying service, and the paid Xbox Live Gold subscription. There are no changes being made to the experience of the service or Xbox Live Gold.”
For now, at least, it seems that Xbox Live Gold won’t be changing. However, Microsoft has yet to reveal many details about their plans for online services on the Xbox Series X. After the recent reveal that Halo Infinite will feature free-to-play multiplayer, fans have speculated that Microsoft might offer a new free version of online service for its next-gen console. It’s worth noting that Sony exempts several major free-to-play titles from PlayStation Plus; something which Microsoft does not do. At present, if you want to play free-to-play titles online on an Xbox, you still need to pay for Xbox Live Gold; something which, weirdly, you don’t need to do if you use Xbox services on PC. This discrepancy is one reason why fans think a change might be on the horizon.