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- Microsoft is removing the Xbox Live Gold requirement for free-to-play multiplayer games. Xbox One and Xbox Series S / X owners no longer need an Xbox Live Gold subscription to play free games, use.
- Today, Microsoft revealed April's Games With Gold lineup Xbox Live Gold subscribers on Xbox One, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S are getting. And like March's offering, April's offering has left.
- You’ll need an account to play games and access other experiences on your Xbox console, Windows 10 PC, and Xbox mobile apps. If you don’t already have an account, you can create one for free. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate includes all the benefits of Xbox Live Gold, over 100 high-quality games for.
Microsoft is removing the Xbox Live Gold gate for free-to-play games today. For years, the company required an active membership to Gold to play games like Apex Legends and Fortnite. This was different from both Nintendo and Sony, which enabled online access for free games on Switch and PlayStation. Now, Xbox has parity in this regard.
Have you been frustrated by Xbox Live's downtime over the last few hours? Were you hoping to play some games online tonight? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter.
This move enables you to play more than 50 free-to-play games on Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S without an extra fee. This also improves the value proposition of the Xbox. Now, a budget-conscious consumer could get an Xbox Series S for $300 and start playing Call of Duty: Warzone with their friends immediately.
For Microsoft, the idea is that those players then either begin spending a significant amount of money on microtransactions or they join Xbox Game Pass.
But while the move to drop the free-to-play paywall took years, it was also inevitable. Later this year, Microsoft is launching Halo Infinite multiplayer as free-to-play. That game will hit both PC and Xbox, and that disparity would have looked strange to fans. And the team in charge of Xbox is laser focused on ensuring that the brand seems on top of things.
Microsoft remote desktop for mac setup. Microsoft originally announced plans to drop the pay wall for free-to-play games in January. It did so as part of an attempt to make amends for a plan to raise the price of Xbox Live Gold that fans immediately rejected. The company reversed that price hike the same day it originally announced it. But Microsoft always planned to drop the gate for free-to-play games this year.
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Xbox Server Twitter
Become a memberXbox owners soon won't need to pay for an Xbox Live Gold subscription to enjoy otherwise free-to-play games on their consoles. Wednesday's update to the Xbox Alpha Insiders Update Preview program (version 2104.210323-0000) notes that 'Multiplayer in Free-to-play games, Looking 4 Groups and Party Chat on Xbox no longer requires an Xbox Live Gold membership.' These features are being tested with Insiders 'ahead of general availability,' according to the update.
Microsoft first announced this move back in January as the company was busy rolling back a controversial planned increase in Xbox Live Gold prices. Back then, Microsoft said the free-to-play change was coming 'as soon as possible in the coming months,' but the rollout to Insiders suggests it will be reaching all Xbox players imminently.Microsoft's decision here brings the service in line with its major console competitors. When Sony started charging for multiplayer gameplay on PlayStation Network in 2014, it included a specific carve-out for 'a selection of free-to-play multiplayer titles [that] will be available without a PS Plus membership.' Nintendo included a similar carve-out for free-to-play titles like Fortnite when it started charging for its Switch Online service in 2018.
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But Microsoft has required a paid Xbox Live Gold subscription for access to console multiplayer games since the days of the Xbox 360. In fact, users needed an Xbox Live Gold subscription to access streaming media apps like Netflix and Hulu on Xbox consoles (on top of the subscription fees for those services) until 2014.
Back in July, Microsoft announced that the upcomingXbox Live Free Twitter
Halo InfiniteXbox Live Down Twitter
would include a free-to-play multiplayer component in addition to the standard, paid single-player campaign. But in August, the company swatted down rumors that it was getting rid of Xbox Live Gold or making the service free. 'We have no plans to discontinue Xbox Live Gold at this time,' the company said. 'It is an important part of gaming on Xbox today and will continue to be in the future.'Xbox Live Server Status Twitter
Free download video for mac. Still, the basic $5/month Xbox Live Gold online service has seemed like less of a focus for Microsoft in recent years, eclipsed by Xbox Game Pass and its massive selection of downloadable and streaming games. Since 2019, Microsoft has periodically offered to let users convert up to three years of Xbox Live Gold subscription time to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (which also includes all the features for Xbox Live Gold) for just $1. That suggests Microsoft is eager to get current Xbox Live subscribers on board with the more expansive $15/month Game Pass Ultimate plan in the long term.
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