Microsoft is announcing an Xbox Live Gold price increase for the first time in years. Taking to the official Xbox Wire, the Live Gold team is announcing the first major price jump in as many as 10 years today and they are quite significant in some cases. While they won’t immediately effect existing subscribers, it appears as though Microsoft is looking to push folks to convert Live Gold accounts over to the newer, all-encompassing Xbox Game Pass Ultimate tier. Head below for more details.
Xbox Live Gold price increase
The Xbox Live Gold price increase will see the price rise by $1 per month to $10.99 for folks in the US and $5 for three-month subscriptions. Along with the new $30 three-month and $60 six-month Live Gold increases, Microsoft is allowing Xbox Live Gold members to directly convert remaining subscription time over to the Game Pass Ultimate tier:
For example, if you have 11 months of Xbox Live Gold now, and you upgrade to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, those 11 months convert to 11 months of Ultimate at no additional cost.
Microsoft removed the 12-month subscription from Xbox Live Gold in 2020 which means a year of the service just doubled in price, from $60 to $120 (2 x 6-month subs at $60) for folks not already subscribed. Although it is important to keep in mind that, if you’re an “existing online 12-month or 6-month Xbox Live Gold member,” there is no price change for you at all and “if you choose to renew your membership, it will renew at the current price.”
Here’s more details from Microsoft on the Live Gold price increase:
Members have already been notified in some regions. If you’re in a region where prices are being adjusted, you will receive an email and a message center notification over the next month letting you know what the new pricing is for your membership. Going forward, new pricing will be 1 month for $10.99, 3 months for $29.99, and 6 months for $59.99, or your local market equivalent.
The changes won’t take effect on your account until at 45 days after you have received the message mentioned above, according to today’s Xbox Wire post.
9to5Toys’ Take
While the Xbox Live Gold price increase seems minimal on a monthly basis, the idea that six months of Live Gold just jumped from $60 to $120 certainly isn’t. By comparison, Sony charges $60 for a year of PS Plus and you can regularly score it for around $30. It would appear as though Microsoft is looking to push folks towards the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription — costing $45 every three months after your converted Live Gold time has lapsed — that encompasses all of the benefits of Xbox Live Gold alongside access to well over 100 on-demand titles, and more.
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