In Friday, Microsoft announced that it would raise prices for Xbox Live Gold during a pandemic, a statement that sparked anger among Xbox fans. A few hours later, Microsoft stepped back furiously and said it had “messed up”. No price increases would take place at this time, the company said. In addition, I was launching a free multiplayer for free games as well.
On a update in its original blog posted just before midnight on Friday, Microsoft acknowledged that multiplayer is a critical part of games and said it “failed to live up to expectations” of players who use multiplayer every day. It is not easy to skip Xbox Live Gold, which is required to play online games on Xbox consoles. The move would have increased the cheapest option for a $ 60 one-year subscription – which can currently still be purchased at stores like GameStop and Amazon – to $ 120.
In an apparent effort to appease angry and disappointed players, Microsoft said it would no longer require players to have an Xbox Live Gold subscription to play multiplayer for free games, such as Fifteen days or Call of Duty: Warzone. For comparison, prior to this announcement, Microsoft was the only major platform that did not allow players to use multiplayer for free in free games, The Verge reported.
“We blew it today and you were right to let us know. Connecting and playing with friends is a vital part of the game and we fail to meet the expectations of the players who rely on it every day. As a result, we decided not to change the price for Xbox Live Gold ”, Microsoft said in your update. “We are turning this moment into an opportunity to bring Xbox Live more in line with how we see the player at the center of their experience. For free games, you will no longer need an Xbox Live Gold subscription to play on Xbox. “
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Microsoft did not specify when the free multiplayer would come for free games, only that it was working to do it “as soon as possible” in the coming months.
In terms of Xbox Live Gold pricing, existing members will remain at the current renewal price. New and existing members can pay $ 9.99 for a month, $ 24.99 for three months, $ 39.99 for six months and $ 59.99 for 12 months of retail, per company.
It was not difficult to deduce that the price increase proposed by the company would not be well accepted. First, it is proposing this during a pandemic, which has benefited it is games division. Second, he didn’t even bother to explain why the price was increasing. The only reason he gave was that he would “continue to invest” in the Xbox community and that, in many markets, the price of Xbox Live Gold has not changed in more than 10 years.
“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’ll make price adjustments for Xbox Live Gold in select markets, ”said the company in its original blog post.
Microsoft’s now reduced price increase was visa in Many as a company effort to encourage players to switch to the Game Pass Ultimate service, which gives members access to the Game Pass, a service with a game library similar to Netflix, and Xbox Live Gold, among other benefits, for $ 14.99 per month. The Game Pass Ultimate deal is better than paying for Xbox Live Gold or Xbox Game Pass on your own and would end up making Microsoft more money in the long run.
As noted by Polygonhowever, not everyone can buy the Game Pass Ultimate, and they shouldn’t be forced to buy just to put more money in Microsoft’s pockets. Fortunately, now they don’t need it anymore, and they can celebrate that fact by playing multiplayer in free games in the near future.