On January 22, Microsoft announced a price increase for Xbox Live Gold. However, this faced significant backlash. In the meantime, Microsoft has reversed the price increase and even announced a general improvement for Live Gold.
What happened? In a blog post, the Xbox Live Gold team explained that there was to be a price increase for their service, which has remained the same depending on the region for up to 10 years. Specifically, the changes for German customers would have looked like this:
- 1-month Xbox Live Gold membership from 6.99 Euro to 8.99 Euro
- 3-month Xbox Live Gold membership from 19.99 Euro to 23.99 Euro
- 6-month Xbox Live Gold membership from 39.99 Euro to 47.99 Euro
However, these changes were not to apply to existing 6- or 12-month subscriptions and were to be adjusted only after at least 60 days.
How did people react? On social media, many Xbox users expressed dissatisfaction. For instance, the user sawdeanz on reddit: “Wait 120 a year? WTF. Is that still necessary just to play online? What a damn rip-off.”
Especially in America, the price increase was very noticeable. From 59.99 dollars for 12 months, the price rose to 59.99 for 6 months. The website Windows Central then called Xbox Live Gold the “worst deal in gaming history.”
Many on Reddit speculated that this was intended to further promote the Game Pass. While it costs up to 9.99 Euro per month, it includes hundreds of games in addition to Xbox Live Gold. As Live Gold itself becomes less attractive, the Game Pass simultaneously becomes more appealing, the community concluded.
By the way, you can save significantly on the Game Pass with some simple tricks:
Xbox backtracks, promises major improvement for Live Gold
How did Microsoft respond to the criticism? On January 23, Xbox released a new blog post announcing they would not implement the price increase.
For now, prices are to remain as they are in all regions. Any future price increases should be announced 45 to 60 days in advance.
Additionally, Xbox promised an improvement for Live Gold. Free-to-play games will soon be playable online without needing Xbox Live Gold. However, the implementation of this will still take some time. Updates are expected in the coming months.
“This is why Microsoft is better than Sony”
How does the community react to the update? Below the tweet from Xbox, numerous users express their thanks to Microsoft for the response and praise:
- Twitch streamer DansGaming commented: “I’m not used to something being done for the customer this quickly. Thank you for listening and doing the right thing.”.
- The user SonOfStormcloak even writes: “See. THIS is the reason why Microsoft is light-years better than Sony. Would Sony have listened to customers and reversed their decision? I’d bet every dollar I own that they wouldn’t. Thank you, Microsoft and Xbox. Fan for life.”.
However, there is also significant criticism.
- Some wonder why the price increase was so drastic. For them, a rise of a few dollars wouldn’t have caused a shitstorm, but a 100% increase for an annual subscription certainly would.
- There is also criticism regarding the Xbox Live Gold service itself. This must be purchased to play online on the Xbox, a practice that doesn’t exist on PC. Some therefore hope for a general abolishment of this system, which also exists with Sony’s PlayStation Plus.
The Game Pass, in turn, also provides access to the online feature and also to hundreds of games. Included are now also titles from EA, including Battlefield, The Sims, and Titanfall 2. More on this here:
Xbox Game Pass is getting better – now also includes EA Play
