The company planned to raise Gold prices in 2021 before quickly reversing the decision. It stopped offering year-long subscriptions in 2020, and ditched Xbox 360 games in 2022. Microsoft has signalled its intent to change Live Gold for a while.

Redeemed Xbox 360 games are yours to keep even if your subscription lapses. However, you'll still have access to any Xbox One games you claimed if you're either a Core or Ultimate member. If you're already an Xbox Live Gold member, you'll automatically switch to Game Pass Core when it's available. Most of them are first-party games like Doom Eternal, Forza Horizon 4 and Halo 5, although you will find the occasional third-party project like Among Us and Human Fall Flat. Instead, you'll get a base collection of more than 25 games with new entries two to three times per year. The company is sunsetting Games with Gold, which offered a steady flow of titles for Live subscribers. The $60 per year (or $10 per month) subscription is necessary to play many ( but not all) online multiplayer games on consoles, as before, but it also represents a shift in how the company doles out bonus games.

Microsoft has revealed it's replacing Xbox Live Gold with a Game Pass Core tier on September 14th. One of the last traces of the early Xbox era is going away.

Game pass