Xbox Live Gold being shut down after over 20 years

This likely won’t come as a surprise to too many people. Xbox Live Gold is finally set to shut down as a subscription service after 20 years.

It’s well known that Xbox Live Gold hasn’t exactly had the best reception as of late. Users have complained of ‘trash’ new free games, arguing that the games included simply don’t justify the price. For a while now, it’s seemed as if the end is nigh. Just last month, Microsoft announced a price hike for Xbox Game Pass ahead of the release of Starfield. In the UK, the standard Console edition price will increase from £7.99 to £8.99. Europe will see it go from €9.99 to €10.99, while the US will see an increase from $8.99 to $10.99.

Speaking of Starfield, take a look at the latest trailer below.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will increase from £10.99 to £12.99 in the UK, €12.99 to €14.99 in European regions, and $14.99 to $16.99 in the United States. New subscribers will be paying this price now, while existing subscribers will do so from 13 August (with the exception of Germany, which changes on 13 September). Now, it’s looking as if Xbox Live Gold is set to become a new cheaper tier of Game Pass.

As reported by ComicBook, Xbox Live Gold could shut down as soon as 1 September. Twitter user Wario64 was the first to spot the notice on a Korean website. It’s believed that Xbox Live Gold will become Xbox Game Pass Core, not to be confused with the standard Console or Ultimate versions of the service. The new Core tier will reportedly be slightly cheaper than existing options at $9.99.

It’s set to include the same benefits, including online multiplayer, and it’s assumed existing Xbox Live Gold subscribers will automatically transfer over to this new offering. Games With Gold will end, but Core subscribers will seemingly gain access to a library of 25 Game Pass titles. To unlock the whole Game Pass catalogue, including day one releases, users will need to upgrade to Console or Ultimate editions of Game Pass.

This remains unconfirmed by Microsoft but it certainly looks and sounds convincing. I’d imagine that Microsoft won’t take too long to clear up any confusion.