Microsoft ends Xbox Live Gold forever. Say hello to Xbox Game Pass 'Core.'

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Xbox Game Pass Core is replacing Xbox Live Gold after many years, but you shouldn't be worried. Here's why and when the change is happening.

Xbox Game Pass Core
(Image credit: Microsoft)

What you need to know

  • Microsoft is ending the Xbox Live Gold branding and replacing it with Xbox Game Pass "Core."
  • Xbox Game Pass Core is needed to access Xbox Network multiplayer on the console, but it brings new benefits. 
  • Xbox Game Pass Core costs the same as Xbox Live Gold, and all current users will be converted to the new service. 
  • This new service also offers a small library of curated Xbox Game Pass titles, including Forza Horizon 4, DOOM Eternal, and more. 
  • Xbox's Games with Gold service shuts down on September 1st. 

After over 20 years, the iconic "Xbox Live" branding is finally going away. 

It was perhaps only a matter of time. Microsoft rebranded Xbox Live to the Xbox network a few years ago and has led with its Xbox Game Pass branding as its primary subscription offering. Currently, Xbox Game Pass is split between Xbox Game Pass Console, PC Game Pass, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. There's also an Xbox Game Pass Family Plan tentatively in the works. 

Now, we have another member of the Xbox Game Pass range to say hi to. 

Microsoft's new Xbox Game Pass Core is now the baseline subscription service for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S consoles to gain access to multiplayer games. It will cost the same as Xbox Live Gold, making it $9.99 per month or $59.99 per year. 

However, Xbox Game Pass Core has many extra benefits over Xbox Live Gold, including access to a smaller curated pool of 25 "high-quality" Xbox games. The full list of Xbox Game Pass Core games we have right now is as follows: Among Us, Descenders, Dishonored 2, DOOM Eternal, Fable Anniversary, Fallout 4, Fallout 76, Forza Horizon 4, Gears 5, Grounded, Halo 5: Guardians, Halo Wars 2, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, Human Fall Flat, INSIDE, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Psychonauts 2, State of Decay 2, and Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited. 

Microsoft says this games list will expand in the "coming months." 

Microsoft now offers four tiers for Xbox Game Pass with the inclusion of the new Core option. (Image credit: Microsoft)

For users of Xbox Game Pass Console and Xbox Live Gold, increasingly, it makes more sense to subscribe to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. 

Paying for Xbox Game Pass Core and Xbox Game Pass Console as separate subscriptions nets you only a small saving if you're paying in 12-month installments. Twelve months of Xbox Game Pass Core for multiplayer and Xbox Game Pass for Console for the library costs $191.87, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate over 12 months costs $203.88. 

However, if you were to pay for Core and Console monthly, that cost would come to $251.76. For only a little extra, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate nets you access to cloud games, perks, and PC Game Pass. It's pretty clear which service Microsoft wants you to subscribe to, ultimately (ha, pun). 

Read more

Xbox Logo 2022

(Image credit: Windows Central)

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Either way, it's good that Microsoft has left the Xbox Game Pass Core option at $59.99 per year. A few years ago, Microsoft ignited an uproar by announcing that it would no longer support 12 monthly subscriptions of Xbox Live Gold — which Xbox Game Pass currently doesn't offer in its other tiers. Those who want Xbox online gameplay will not only keep that service, but they'll also now get access to discounts and deals on Xbox Game Pass and a library of 25 or more games from Microsoft's back catalog.

Xbox Live's "Games with Gold" service will go away on September 1st, although any of the games you redeemed as part of that program will remain active on your account.

Xbox Game Pass Core will launch this Fall and automatically convert all existing Xbox Live Gold members to the new service. That will massively inflate Xbox Game Pass' overall subscriber base to tens of millions and give newcomers a taste of what subscription-based content libraries look like for gaming.

Analysis: Xbox Game Pass goes turbo mode

(Image credit: Microsoft)

The end of Xbox Live Gold is a watershed moment in Xbox's history, punctuating an era of huge change within the brand. Microsoft is on the verge of grabbing Activision-Blizzard-King, massively expanding its PC gaming catalog and mobile gaming footprint. I suspect many of the publisher's back catalog of games will hit Xbox Game Pass very shortly after the deal closes.

With Xbox Game Pass now functionally doubling in size (or more) with tens of millions of new subscribers when this change goes over, its undoubtedly and well and truly a core part of the Xbox strategy. When games like Call of Duty, Diablo, and other heavy-hitters from Activision-Blizzard hit the service, it could truly change how we consume video games forever. Up until now, Xbox Game Pass has arguably lacked true "mega blockbuster" day-one additions, but we're now looking at a world where the service will have Netflix-like legitimacy when it comes to exclusive content. 

It'll be interesting to see where it all goes from here. 

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Jez Corden
Jez Corden
Executive Editor

Jez Corden is the Executive Editor at Windows Central, focusing primarily on all things Xbox and gaming. Jez is known for breaking exclusive news and analysis as relates to the Microsoft ecosystem while being powered by tea. Follow on Twitter (X) and Threads, and listen to his XB2 Podcast, all about, you guessed it, Xbox!

9 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Iamdumbguy
    Games with Gold has been absolute garbage for years. MS should just make online play free. The rent seeking is out of control. You get nothing. This is as pathetic as selling M365 subscriptions for personal users and touting your access to an Excel template called Money and Teams calls.
    Reply
  • Thretosix
    Microsoft is fumbling this bad. I'll be letting my Game Pass lapse. The only way to get online multiplayer access is with Ultimate.
    Reply
  • NoLifeDGenerate
    Typical. Fixing something that isn't broken. I still want to know why PS got so many COD games, Minecraft, Fallout, etc as freebies that GWG didn't even though MS owns Minecraft/Bethesda for ages and now COD.

    I also want to know why Bethesda accounts still exist. Haven't people complained loud enough yet??? Redfall got all kinds of heat. They had to remove the accounts from the retro Doom games, but they refuse to let go of it even now that they're owned by MS. It's ridiculous. The only account I should need on Xbox is my Xbox account. PERIOD
    Reply
  • Iamdumbguy
    Thretosix said:
    Microsoft is fumbling this bad. I'll be letting my Game Pass lapse. The only way to get online multiplayer access is with Ultimate.
    Wait a sec. You can't play online with regular Game Pass?
    Reply
  • Iamdumbguy
    NoLifeDGenerate said:
    Typical. Fixing something that isn't broken. I still want to know why PS got so many COD games, Minecraft, Fallout, etc as freebies that GWG didn't even though MS owns Minecraft/Bethesda for ages and now COD.

    I also want to know why Bethesda accounts still exist. Haven't people complained loud enough yet??? Redfall got all kinds of heat. They had to remove the accounts from the retro Doom games, but they refuse to let go of it even now that they're owned by MS. It's ridiculous. The only account I should need on Xbox is my Xbox account. PERIOD
    Live Gold was broken, but this ain't fixing anything. They should just make online play free and let GamePass be the upsell.
    Reply
  • NoLifeDGenerate
    Iamdumbguy said:
    Wait a sec. You can't play online with regular Game Pass?

    It clearly says all pay tiers include online multiplayer. What I don't get is "core" and "console" being $1 difference. Why even bother with core?
    Reply
  • fjtorres5591
    NoLifeDGenerate said:
    It clearly says all pay tiers include online multiplayer. What I don't get is "core" and "console" being $1 difference. Why even bother with core?
    Core is only $9.99 on a month by month basis.
    They are keeping the $60 yearly subscription. $5 a month on the long commitment. That is the rationale.

    One of the things that came out in court last week is that a *lot* of COD players play nothing else or very little. CORE squeezes out the online gameplay Vig like GOLD, *and* offers up a sampling of good and different games to see if they can entice the single game types (COD, DESTINY, ETC) to try (and like!) more types of games. At which point they might migrate to the higher tiers.

    BTW, look at the timing: CORE goes (ahem) live in Sept just after STARFIELD and the Black Series S and just in time for the holiday shopping season. Now, remember that XBOXes used to come with a couple weeks "free" GOLD. Switch that for a few weeks of CORE. Give'em a taste of the variety of good games on GAMEPASS. Then they get a choice of a $60 one year commitment, $10 each month for CORE or $11 a month for the full deal.

    Odds are somebody new to XBOX--like the majority of Series S buyers--will be tempted by the free trial to sign up for CORE, especially since CORE can convert to a higher tier on a dollar-by-dollar basis.

    Finally, since we're talking the holiday season, it's easy to see Series S white going for $199-249 and Series S black for $299-329. Lower prices on Black Friday.

    Put it all together and CORE isn't for existing XBOX gamers but for newcomers. Either first timers or refugees from Sony or Nintendo interested in STARFIELD and the other XBOX exclusives. Series S more than Series X buyers.

    It's actually a smart move for a platform that, while closing the gap, still lags the Playstation 5 in sales this generation. And what better way than to go low and cheap and then move them up to the higher tiers? Baby steps...
    Reply
  • Iamdumbguy
    NoLifeDGenerate said:
    It clearly says all pay tiers include online multiplayer. What I don't get is "core" and "console" being $1 difference. Why even bother with core?
    I think you're wrong. The MS graphic does NOT include online gaming for GamePass Console. Such a rip-off. That means it's cheaper to buy GamePass Ultimate than Core + Console even if you don't play PC or cloud games.
    Reply
  • NoLifeDGenerate
    Iamdumbguy said:
    I think you're wrong. The MS graphic does NOT include online gaming for GamePass Console. Such a rip-off. That means it's cheaper to buy GamePass Ultimate than Core + Console even if you don't play PC or cloud games.

    Oh, wow. That's ******
    Reply