Update 2: Well, it didn’t take long. In less than 24 hours, Microsoft reversed its decision to raise the price of Xbox Live Gold, announcing that it will maintain the £ 49.99 / $ 59.99 annual subscription price. In addition, paid online access to free-to-play games has now been removed, aligning it with PS Plus.
Good news for Xbox owners, then, but you might be wondering how that decision got out of the meeting room in the first place.
Update 1: Just a quick update to this story, Microsoft has now confirmed that six months of Xbox Live Gold will cost £ 42.99 in the UK. A 12-month subscription to PS Plus currently costs £ 49.99.
Original Story: Let’s hope that Microsoft’s new Xbox Live Gold pricing scheme has given Sony no idea, because PlayStation Plus it currently looks like a rip off compared to Team in Green’s revised pricing structure. If you eliminate the Xbox Game Pass from the conversation, we would say that Sony’s main subscription level has been much higher than its closest competitor in terms of monthly games for a while – and is now available at half the price too!
Currently, the PS Plus subscription for 12 months costs $ 59.99, but after some rumors, Microsoft has revealed that it will now charge $ 59.99 just for six months of service. This, apparently, will only apply to new or expired subscribers; the text is strange, but it appears that those with a recurring 12-month subscription will continue to pay the previous price of $ 59.99 for a year.
Of course, there is a much broader discussion to be had here, about how the Redmond company is effectively raising prices to increase the value of its Game Pass Ultimate option. However, it is worth remembering that a large group of players are only really interested in playing titles like FIFA 21 and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War, and now they will have to pay twice the price to do so with Xbox Live Gold compared to PS Plus.
It is also worth adding that, at the time of writing, free titles like Fortnite and Call of Duty: Warzone do not require a PS Plus subscription on PlayStation 4 or PlayStation 5, where Xbox players will have to pod out $ 120 to enjoy these titles online, unless the company changes its policies. This without mentioning additional advantages such as PS Plus Collection, that really add value to Sony’s service.
Of course, it is entirely possible that the Japanese giant is looking at this price increase and thinking that it can escape with a similar increase. We hope not because, although we feel that the PS Plus has a good value as it is now, we are not sure if we want to pay those Xbox Live Gold prices – especially when Sony doesn’t have an attractive alternative to Game Pass Ultimate yet.