Microsoft’s Xbox consoles don’t have free online multiplayer for most games (except free-to-play titles), requiring you to purchase a subscription to Xbox Live Gold. Now, Xbox Live Gold is being replaced with Xbox Game Pass Core, while staying at the same price.
Microsoft already has two Game Pass subscriptions available on Xbox consoles, which provide access to an expansive library of great games for one monthly cost — Xbox Game Pass at $10.99/mo, and Game Pass Ultimate at $16.99/mo that adds EA titles, cloud streaming, and access to PC games. The latter option includes the online multiplayer access of Xbox Live Gold.
Xbox Game Pass Core will be the new entry-level subscription for Xbox Live Gold, when it arrives on September 14. It will replace Xbox Live Gold, and it costs the same as Xbox Live Gold does today: $9.99/mo. The main change is that the “Games with Gold” program, which provided a few free games to members each month to claim, is being replaced with a single shared library with over 25 titles. That’s much smaller than the hundreds of games available in Xbox Game Pass, PC Game Pass, or Game Pass Ultimate, but the initial collection isn’t bad at all. Any Xbox One games you claimed with Xbox Live Gold will remain available as long as you stay subscribed, and any claimed Xbox 360 games will stay in your account regardless of your subscription status.
Xbox Game Pass Core will launch with access to Fallout 4, Human Fall Flat, Psychonauts 2, Doom Eternal, Fallout 76, Among Us, Gears 5, and other games. Microsoft says it will add new games to the subscription “2-3 times a year.”
Unfortunately, Xbox Game Pass Core doesn’t solve the confusion that already existed around Xbox Live Gold. You might think that regular Xbox Game Pass is a step up from the new Core option, but that doesn’t have online multiplayer access — if you want both the full Game Pass and the ability to play most games online, your cheapest option is Game Pass Ultimate, which is a few dollars cheaper than Game Pass Core and Xbox Game Pass together. There’s also still not an option for people who just want online multiplayer and nothing else, which ideally would cost less than $10 each month.
Source: Xbox
