After the news that Microsoft’s Xbox One X and One S All-Digital consoles have been discontinued prior to the launch of the next Xbox Series X, it now appears that the console maker is also gradually retiring its current implementation of Xbox Live Gold.
The company confirmed to True Achievements that it is no longer selling 12-month subscriptions to the service in its online store, but is only offering 1-month and 3-month subscriptions.
“At this time, Xbox decided to remove the 12-month Xbox Live Gold SKU from Microsoft’s online store,” said a Microsoft spokesperson on the site, explaining that “customers can still subscribe for a one-month Xbox Live or three months. ” Online Gold subscription through Microsoft Store. “
What does Microsoft plan for the next generation?
While no reason was given for the decision, it may be an indication that Microsoft is planning a major overhaul of its online services for the next generation, and is likely to reveal those plans closer to the launch of Xbox Series X in the end. of the year.
So what might Xbox’s online services look like in the future? Given the huge success of your Xbox Game Pass subscription, it’s entirely possible that Microsoft could incorporate Xbox Live Gold functionality into that, ending the need to subscribe to two separate services. Whether that would lead to a price increase is, at this point, obviously an open question.
And then there is Microsoft’s next game streaming service, Project xCloud, which has so far seen “hundreds of thousands” of beta testers streaming Xbox games from PC to mobile devices, according to Xbox boss Phil Spencer.
It is entirely possible that Microsoft took a good look at Xbox Live Gold and what it offers, and decided that it was too much of an online service for the future of Xbox. Of course, for now all this is just speculation, but since there are still so many unknowns surrounding the launch of the Xbox Series X family, Microsoft looks like it will have a lot to announce later in the year.
