Xbox Live Gold is Dead. Long Live Game Pass

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

Microsoft just made a bombshell announcement today. Xbox Live Gold is officially being retired. Starting September, they're rebranding Xbox Live Gold as Xbox Game Pass Core

So what does this mean? Xbox Live Gold is transitioning to Xbox Game Pass Core. Game Pass Core is the same price as Xbox Live Gold was, with the same features. The only difference now aside from the name, is there is the new addition of the Game Pass Core catalog, which is a curated library of 25+ select Game Pass games. Deals with Gold will now be called Deals with Game Pass.

So let's do the numbers: Most people are already paying $60 a year for online play with Xbox Live Gold, so Game Pass Core is also $60 a year, but now you also have 25+ games available for the price of one. That's pretty bloody good value there. Alternatively, you can pay $120 a year for a library of 400+ games for the price of two.

If you're an existing Xbox Live Gold subscriber, your subscription will automatically roll over to Game Pass Core.

Here's the current confirmed games for the Game Pass Core library:

• Among Us
• Descenders
• Dishonored 2
• Doom Eternal
• Fable Anniversary
• Fallout 4
• Fallout 76 (lmao)
• Forza Horizon 4
• Gears 5
• Grounded
• Halo 5: Guardians
• Halo Wars 2 (play it this game is really damn good)
• Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
• Human Fall Flat
• Inside
• Ori & The Will of the Wisps
• Psychonauts 2
• State of Decay 2
• Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited

Honestly there needs to be more multiplayer games in this library. Maybe once the ActiBlizz deal closes a Call of Duty game will be added to it.

 

[salamanderjuice]

It's trading the "Games with Gold" for a small selection of Game Pass titles. How good of a value that is will depend on how often they cycle games in and out. If that list looks more or less the same in 2 years ehhh.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

It's trading the "Games with Gold" for a small selection of Game Pass titles. How good of a value that is will depend on how often they cycle games in and out. If that list looks more or less the same in 2 years ehhh.

Microsoft says games will be added to Game Pass Core 2-3 times a year. It won't be as frequent as full Game Pass is since full Game Pass gets new games at the beginning and end of each month. An incentive to get you to sub to Ultimate instead of Core.

You can sub to regular Game Pass on top of a Game Pass Core sub for $10 a month, so for months you want to check out the Game Pass catalog or if there's a new game that's day one on Game Pass, you can sub for one month for $10 to play the games you want, then go back to just Core.

All in all, all I see is value. I punch those numbers into my calculator and it makes a happy face.

 

[salamanderjuice]

Microsoft says games will be added to Game Pass Core 2-3 times a year. It won't be as frequent as full Game Pass is since full Game Pass gets new games at the beginning and end of each month. An incentive to get you to sub to Ultimate instead of Core.

You can sub to regular Game Pass on top of a Game Pass Core sub for $10 a month, so for months you want to check out the Game Pass catalog or if there's a new game that's day one on Game Pass, you can sub for one month for $10 to play the games you want, then go back to just Core.

All in all, all I see is value. I punch those numbers into my calculator and it makes a happy face.

Would you think it's a good value if 2 years from now they've only swapped out like 6 titles total? Have they said how many games they will swap out at a time?

You could already bump up Gold to Game Pass, nothing new there.

 

[mattspace]

the other aspect of this, is Game Pass Ultimate, which just had a price rise (AUD$16 -> $19 / month), now loses the free "own it for ever" game each month.

What's most odd about this is it was only a couple of months ago they made a big deal about running out of Xbox 360 games, and how Games With Gold would transition to Xbox One titles.

 

[Spaceboi Scaphandre]

the other aspect of this, is Game Pass Ultimate, which just had a price rise (AUD$16 -> $19 / month), now loses the free "own it for ever" game each month.

What's most odd about this is it was only a couple of months ago they made a big deal about running out of Xbox 360 games, and how Games With Gold would transition to Xbox One titles.

To be honest this isn't really a big loss as Games with Gold was more substantial in the late years of the Xbox 360, as it was made to counter PSPlus. As the years went on with Game Pass becoming more and more popular Games with Gold became less incentivized.

 

[Ameer_1]

Well in June I bought a Series S on ebay for $150 that still has warranty until November and I got gamepass ultimate 13 months for only $34 so I'm pretty set I'm just waiting on Xbox to add all the old Call Of Duty on gamepass.

 

[mattspace]

Well in June I bought a Series S on ebay for $150 that still has warranty until November and I got gamepass ultimate 13 months for only $34 so I'm pretty set I'm just waiting on Xbox to add all the old Call Of Duty on gamepass.

Modern COD is certainly almost incomprehensible, and that's just trying to install it.

 

[Ameer_1]

Modern COD is certainly almost incomprehensible, and that's just trying to install it.

I usually buy them when they launch and beat the campaign and reach the highest level I think level 55 and I usually sell it back for full price within two weeks or even one week.