What could be better than a change of generation of consoles to rethink its "policy" with regard to services and games on its platform? It was during the transition from PlayStation 3 to PlayStation 4 that Sony made online multiplayer pay off by integrating it into PlayStation Plus. Nintendo had done the same with the launch of the Nintendo Switch Online subscription in 2021, nevertheless waiting a year after the release of the Switch for this evolution.
We could also mention Microsoft's attempt at the launch of the Xbox One to review the operation of the second-hand market, or more recently the announcement of Smart Delivery to ensure a smooth transition from the Xbox One to the Xbox Series X.
Microsoft is removing 12-month Xbox Live Gold subscription
As of this writing, neither Microsoft nor Sony have made any clear announcements about their new service policy that will accompany the launch of future consoles. However, discussions seem to be animating around the future of Xbox Live Gold at Microsoft.
And for good reason, the firm has discreetly changed its subscription formulas. It is no longer possible to subscribe for 12 months to Xbox Live Gold and Microsoft has confirmed to the TrueAchievements site that this was not an error.
For now, Xbox has decided to remove the 12-month Xbox Live Gold item from Microsoft's online store. Customers can still sign up for a one-month or three-month subscription to Xbox Live Gold online at the Microsoft Store.Microsoft is refusing for the moment to explain why this option was removed. The fact remains that the firm has plethora of different formulas and that it would be well advised to prepare a complete change of its subscription offer to see more clearly in the future.
A too complex range of subscriptions
Where Sony offers two subscriptions and Nintendo only one, Microsoft has no less than 4 different paid plans in the Xbox ecosystem, in addition to the initial free offer:
- Xbox Live (formerly Xbox Live Silver) free: gamertag reservation, voice chat, demo downloads, and access to SVOD services.
- Xbox Live Gold at 6,99 euros per month: online multiplayer, free games every month, additional promotions
- Xbox Game Pass for console at 9,99 euros per month: access to a catalog of more than 100 games on Xbox One
- Xbox Game Pass for PC at 3,99 euros per month: access to a catalog of more than 100 games on Windows 10
- Xbox Game Pass Ultimate at 12,99 euros per month: includes the two Xbox Game Passes (PC and console), Xbox Live Gold, and xCloud (from September)
Having so many different subscription offers can end up being counterproductive for the end customer who doesn't really know what they're entitled to anymore. In the past, Xbox Live Gold also included access to services like Netflix, which you then had to pay for the subscription in addition. This restriction was lifted in 2014 during various changes made by Microsoft to raise the bar and make the Xbox One more interesting. Today, Xbox Live Gold really only exists for access to online multiplayer on Xbox Live servers and games offered every month, like PlayStation Plus.
To learn more
How to sign up for half price for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate
It should also be kept in mind that the xCloud cloud gaming service, whose final name we do not yet know, will eventually be offered by means other than the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription. This is what Phil Spencer confirmed in the columns of The Verge: “Over time we will continue to develop the way we introduce streaming to Xbox, to play games that you own that are not part of. subscription (Editor's note: Xbox Game Pass) ”. It is therefore entirely possible that Microsoft will offer a dedicated subscription to this service in the medium term.
Microsoft only charges its best customers
Xbox Live Gold is one of the oldest subscriptions offered by Microsoft and it may seem anachronistic in the company's current strategy. Today it is possible to access Xbox Live servers from an Xbox, but also from a mobile device running Android or iOS, from a PC and even from competing consoles on certain titles such as Cuphead on Nintendo Switch or Minecraft on PlayStation 4 However, access to Xbox Live is without paying an Xbox Live Gold subscription on these platforms. In other words, Microsoft only requires paying a subscription for multiplayer to its best customers, those who have purchased an Xbox.
Playing Cuphead on Switch doesn't require paying Live Gold
This strategy made sense in the days when it was all about selling consoles and Microsoft's games weren't coming out anywhere else. Today, Microsoft is promoting a multi-device strategy in a large ecosystem where “the player is at the center”, and in which charging a subscription on only one of these devices to access the network does not seem really anymore. make sense.
The explosion of free-to-play multiplayer games
Another, fairly recent problem with the Xbox Live Gold subscription plan. In the wake of Fortnite's success, free multiplayer games have multiplied on this generation of consoles. We think for example of Apex or Call Of Duty Warzone. It is completely free to play these games in multiplayer on PlayStation, but not on Xbox where the Live Gold subscription remains compulsory. It is a real competitive weakness on the part of Microsoft at a time when "having a machine to play Fortnite" is sometimes the number 1 criterion when buying a console.
What future for Xbox Live Gold?
Microsoft must therefore simplify its subscription offer and Xbox Live Gold seems to be the ideal candidate for a deletion or a merger with another formula.
To gain market share and significantly improve its brand image, Microsoft could make the decision to make multiplayer completely free on Xbox. The oft-well-informed Jeff Grubb said "it seems very close to being a certainty" about this idea and several trade journalists like Jez Corden said it was more a question of "when" and not of "if". However, this service today represents a significant turnover for the Xbox brand, and it is difficult to predict whether Microsoft could rationalize this loss of income, even though the firm is already investing heavily in gaming with the addition of games at Xbox Game Pass, the acquisition of studios, the creation of xCloud and the design of the Xbox Series X.
To learn more
Game Pass on Xbox, PC and cloud: all about Microsoft's unlimited gaming subscription
Another hypothesis, this time mentioned by journalist Brad Sams, would be an integration of multiplayer (always paid) in Xbox Game Pass. In the US, Xbox Live Gold is billed at the same price as Xbox Game Pass, which is $ 9,99 per month. A merger of the two subscriptions would be fairly straightforward to set up and would not cost Microsoft any money.
In either case, the downside of Xbox Live Gold disappearing or merging would also affect the value of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. As this is a subscription integrating all the other services, if one of them disappears or becomes free, the pack loses interest. Perhaps this is also why Microsoft decided to offer xCloud for free inside the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
Replace Xbox Live Gold with xCloud
A final hypothesis would be a complete change of the formula from Xbox Live Gold to xCloud. Multiplayer would become completely free throughout the Xbox Live ecosystem and the Xbox Live Gold offer would then be based on two strengths: access to xCloud servers from any device on the one hand, and access to free games of xCloud every month, like the operation of the "games with gold" offered today.
The number of subscription plans would therefore not change, but the offer would be rationalized around Microsoft's new strategy: to offer a catalog of games for purchase or by subscription on a multitude of devices.
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