Microsoft is raising the price of its Xbox Live Gold, the Xbox online service, the company announced on Friday. Xbox Live Gold will now cost $ 10.99 a month for a one-month subscription – a $ 1 price increase. The three-month membership will now cost $ 29.99, a $ 5 increase. A six-month subscription. costs up to $ 59.99. Microsoft’s last price increase for Xbox Live Gold was in 2010.
“We periodically assess the value and price of our services to reflect changes in regional markets and to continue to invest in the Xbox community; we will make price adjustments for Xbox Live Gold in selected markets, ”wrote Microsoft in its announcement. “In many markets, the price of Xbox Live Gold has not changed for years, and in some markets, it has not changed for more than 10 years.”
Microsoft is allowing interested parties to convert their Gold plans into Game Pass plans. Players who choose to upgrade from Xbox Live Gold to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate – which gives players access to Gold and Game Pass services – will have their subscription time converted directly at no extra cost. “For example, if you have 11 months of Xbox Live Gold now and upgrade to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, those 11 months convert to 11 months of Ultimate at no additional cost,” said Microsoft.
Although the cost turns out to be higher, there is much more value to make up for it – in case you are interested in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. For the price of your current Xbox Live Gold subscription, you will have access to an online Gold subscription, Game Pass for Windows PC and console, EA Play and its cloud gaming service, xCloud. After the renewal, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will cost $ 14.99 per month. Because of this, Microsoft’s latest increase appears to encourage the transition of Xbox Live Gold subscribers to the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription.
If you are a subscriber who already has a 12 or 6 month subscription to Xbox Live Gold, the price will remain the same during the subscription; then, it will be renewed with the new price. If you upgrade to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, it will be renewed for that price.
Microsoft said that existing subscribers will be notified via email of the price change, noting that prices will not increase “until at least 45 days after receiving the message”.