Xbox Live Gold pricing is going up to $60 for six months in the U.S, also adjusting in other regions [Update]
Gold by itself becomes an increasingly unpopular option.
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What you need to know
Updated Jan. 23, 12:51 a.m. ET: Very early Saturday morning, the Xbox team announced that it would berolling back the price hike on Xbox Live Goldfollowing negative feedback. Prices will stay the same for Xbox Live Gold Members — $9.99 for one month, $24.99 for three months, $39.99 for six months, and $59.99 for 12 months. The announcement also revealed that users will no longer need an Xbox Live Gold membership to play free-to-play games on Xbox. Our original news story is below.
Xbox Live Gold, the online service that allows Xbox console players to connect and play together online as well as a few free games per month, is seeing a price hike. As detailed onXbox Wire, the one month plan for Xbox Live Gold is being increased by $1, while three months is now $30 and six months is $60.
If you’re currently subscribed on an existing 12 month or six month plan, you’ll keep your current price whenever you renew your subscription. You can convert your remaining Xbox Live Gold time into Xbox Game Pass Ultimate at a one-to-one rate, so if you have five months left on your subscription, you’d get five months ofXbox Game Pass Ultimate. Considering that Xbox Game Pass Ultimate includes Xbox Live Gold, Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Game Pass for PC andXbox Cloud Gaming, this is a pretty easy choice to make.
Unlike its PlayStation counterpart,PlayStation Plus, Xbox Live Gold is required to play free-to-play games online, such as Fortnite. Xbox Live Gold is not required for PC players to play games online. These discrepancies have been the subject of much criticism from Xbox players, especially since Xbox Live Gold rarely gives away thebest Xbox gamesmonth to month.
Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold in one
Xbox Game Pass gives you access to over 200 games for one monthly fee. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate also adds Xbox Live Gold to the package so you can play online with your friends. You also get access to EA Play.
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Samuel Tolbert is a freelance writer covering gaming news, previews, reviews, interviews and different aspects of the gaming industry, specifically focusing on Xbox and PC gaming on Windows Central. You can find him on Twitter@SamuelTolbert.
