Microsoft rolls back Xbox Live Gold price hike after backlash; unlocks Free-to-Play games on Xbox

Microsoft has just rolled back the price hike for its Xbox Live Gold subscription service just hours after the announcement. The company updated the initial release to share an update on why it decided to roll back the price hike. In addition, it also shared a new development around multi-player games on Xbox consoles. As per the announcement, the company is unlocking Free-to-Play games on Xbox from the Xbox Live Gold membership. This means that Xbox console owners no longer need to subscribe to Live Gold to play multi-player games like Call of Duty Warzone, Fortnite, and more. Let’s check out the details around the Xbox Live Gold price hike rollback from Microsoft here.

Microsoft is not increasing the price of Xbox Live Gold, details

The console maker apologized to its customers in a response to its initial decision about increasing the price of Xbox Live Gold. For context, the company had decided to increase the 1-month Live Gold membership by $1 to $10.99. Corresponding to this, the 3-month membership would increase by $5 to $29.99. Beyond this, the company did not increase the 12-month and 6-month Live Gold membership prices. Microsoft also confirmed that Xbox Live Gold members can easily upgrade to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate without paying anything extra.

Looking at the statement, Microsoft stated, “We messed up today and you were right to let us know.” It is likely that the price hike was meant to push Xbox Live Gold subscribers towards Game Pass Ultimate. However, the backlash will push Microsoft to search for better ways to push Game Pass subscription to its users.

As mentioned above, the company took this opportunity to announce a major change for free-to-play games on Xbox consoles. This change is significant as previously Xbox Live powered the online multiplayer gaming and digital media delivery on the consoles. Now, players don’t need to subscribe to Live Gold for the multiplayer or even media delivery aspect. Microsoft also claimed that it is “working hard to deliver this change as soon as possible. We are not sure about the exact timeline for this change, but the company stated that it is arriving in “the coming months”.