Xbox Game Pass Core replaces Xbox Live Gold on September 14th – Xbox

The new Game Pass Core offer includes the usual Xbox Online support, deals and discounts, as well as a new mini catalog of over 25 games, including Gears 5, Forza Horizon 4, and Psychonauts 2. These games will be available to each subscriber of the new bundle for as long as they have it. active subscription.

Existing Xbox Live Gold members will automatically move over to Xbox Game Pass Core on September 14, with the service priced at $9.99 per month (or $59.99 per year) the same as Xbox Live Gold.

As part of the new subscription package, Microsoft is discontinuing Games with Gold on September 1, a feature that allowed Xbox owners to get free games every month for a decade and add them to their library. All previously redeemed Xbox 360 titles will remain in the library permanently, but Xbox One titles will be based on an ongoing active subscription to Xbox Game Pass Core or Game Pass Ultimate.

The 25 or so games that Microsoft includes in Game Pass Core are designed to be exchanged for games for gold, and Microsoft says it will add new titles two to three times a year.

“We wanted to take this opportunity to redefine how content is included with this subscription,” says Jerret West, CVP of Xbox Game Marketing. “We’ve found that the answer to a more compelling offer is to take advantage of select titles from the Xbox Game Pass catalog.”
As expected, this list of games is much more limited than the benefits of a full Xbox Game Pass subscription ($10.99 per month), as Microsoft confirmed today that only 19 games will be available at launch. that’s it:

• Between us

• descendant

• 2

• eternal torment

• memory of a fairy tale

• Fallout 4

• Fallout 76

• Forza Horizon 4

• gears 5

• grounded

• Halo 5: Guardians

• halo wars 2

• Hellblade: Senua’s sacrifice

• Human: Flat fall

• inside

• Ori and the will of the wisps

• Pioneers of the soul 2

• state of decay 2

• The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited

However, Xbox Game Pass Core may cause confusion about the online multiplayer aspects of Game Pass in general. While the Core includes multiplayer, the regular, higher-priced Xbox Game Pass does not. You still need Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to get Game Pass and online multiplayer benefits. Microsoft has yet to address the specific issue of having to buy Xbox Live Gold alongside a regular Game Pass subscription, and the name change arguably makes it even more confusing. In addition, Microsoft rebranded Xbox Live as Xbox Network in 2021, but has so far retained the Xbox Live Gold name for its basic subscription.

Microsoft then briefly tried to double the cost of an annual Xbox Live Gold subscription, a move Xbox owners didn’t like at all. Microsoft quickly backtracked and offered to remove the firewall for free multiplayer games, with games like Fortnite not requiring a subscription to play online. Microsoft then proceeded to “open” access to Xbox Party and Search Group (LFG) features to anyone without an Xbox Live Gold subscription, while also allowing anyone to play free-to-play games without Xbox Live Gold.

The addition of Xbox Game Pass Core comes just a few weeks after Microsoft increased the overall monthly pricing for Xbox Game Pass. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate increased from $14.99 per month to $16.99 (€14.99 / £12.99). The base price of Xbox Game Pass for consoles has also increased from $9.99 per month to $10.99 (€10.99 / £8.99). However, as of now, Microsoft has not changed the price of Game Pass for PC.

Microsoft also announced that it plans to end the Xbox Game Pass Friends & Family program in August. The plan spanned eight countries, but Microsoft said from the start that this was a “test program” that led to its complete removal on August 15th. There’s no indication if the company’s family show will return at a later date.