Leaks have surfaced online that Gaming giant Microsoft is about to replace its Xbox Live Gold service with a brand-new offering.
It looks like the team at Windows Central might have unwittingly warned us all that Microsoft is about to do away with one of its core gaming services. The Xbox Live Gold subscription, something that’s seen around 21 years of service, might be about to head into retirement. Briefly posted over on the Microsoft focused website and then removed, a news post regarding this strong rumor was picked up by an eagle-eyed poster on the Korean Naver community. The localized social media post contains a bunch of detail gleamed form the post, including the new Xbox Game Pass Core replacement.
According to the post, the replacement for Xbox Live Gold will come in on the 9 September 2023. It is set to cost the same price and remains the gateway to online multiplayer gaming using the Xbox services. It retains the subscription discounts for other Xbox titles but is set to do away with the 2 free games a month. Instead, this new service is supposed to include a catalogue of 25 free games. The list includes 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. This is likely to expand after launch.
The timeframe for this switch over sounds fairly plausible, as Xbox Live Gold has only been available as a 1 or 3 month purchase for some time, over on the Xbox website. Whether this is a slip up or a ruse is unknown quite yet, but Windows Central certainly hasn’t quashed the rumors and its not the first time we’ve seen rumors that Microsoft plans to axe this particular product.
For current, or ongoing subscribers who overlap past the 9 September, there is no news on what this might mean. The post does detail that current free game libraries will carry over, but now we just need to wait and see if an official notice appears on either Windows Central or the official Xbox website.
