Microsoft makes Xbox Live Gold pricier, but it really wants you to get Game Pass Ultimate

Posted on by Nadeem Sarwar

Not too long ago, Microsoft launched a new generation of consoles – the Xbox Series X and Series S. Market availability issues aside, just when players started to get a hang of next-gen gaming, Microsoft has decided to raise the price of its Xbox Live Gold subscription service. Bad move, or just a greedy one? In its defense, Microsoft says it periodically assesses the value and pricing of its services, and is therefore making a price adjustment, especially for markets where the subscription costs have remained the same for a while now. So, what is changing? In Microsoft’s own words:

1. If you’re an existing online 12-month or 6-month Xbox Live Gold member, there’s no price change. If you choose to renew your membership, it will renew at the current price.

2. The price of a 1-month Gold membership is increasing $1 USD and the price of a 3-month membership is increasing $5 USD or the equivalent amount in your local market.

3. If you’d like to upgrade your Gold membership to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate your remaining Gold time will also convert directly to Ultimate (up to 36 months). For example, if you have 11 months of Xbox Live Gold now, and you upgrade to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, those 11 months convert to 11 months of Ultimate at no additional cost.

How much do you pay now?

Following the price upgrade, a month of Xbox Live Gold will now cost you $10.99. If you go for a 3-month plan, it will cost you $29.99, while a 6-month subscription will set you back by $$59.99. Interestingly, Microsoft doesn’t mention anything about the 1-year subscription plan in its announcement.

A carrot and stick situation for gamers

Microsoft is incentivizing its more premium Xbox Game Pass Ultimate service here. BIG TIME. The company will let you convert your Xbox Live Gold membership into Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, even if you have up to 36-months left on your Xbox Live Gold membership. So, you can essentially get up to three years of Games Pass Ultimate at the price of your Xbox Live Gold membership. Sweet, right? It actually is. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate offers a lot more perks and even bundles in EA Play and cloud gaming into the mix. Here’s a comparison:

But....!

But not everybody has over a year, or two, or nearly three years of Xbox Live Gold membership left on their account. And once you jump the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate bandwagon, you’re locked to a more expensive tier of Microsoft’s gaming service. What if the company eventually shuts down Xbox Live Gold in favor of pushing Xbox Game Pass more aggressively in the near future? Well, in that case, you’ll have to stick with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and pay the premium.

READ MORE: Microsoft delays the arrival of free EA Play for Xbox Game Pass on PC until 2021

Here, save some cash while you can!

In the meanwhile, if you plan on saving some cash before Xbox Game Pass becomes an inevitability, head over to Amazon and get the 12-month Xbox Live Gold plan at its older price of $59.99. This is a digital code, and you can stack up to three codes for a total duration of 36-months. The next step? Redeem the digital codes and upgrade your Xbox Live Gold membership to 36-months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate at no additional cost.

Costco is also selling the 24-month Xbox Live Gold plan for $94.99, which is a terrific deal that you should definitely get if you plan on gaming for the next couple of years. Go, grab these deals before they expire!

    12-month Xbox Live Gold Digital Code
      Head over to Amazon and get the Xbox Live Gold 2-month plan at the old price, and upgrade it to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate at no added cost. You can stack up to three cards or a maximum duration of six months

    The post Microsoft makes Xbox Live Gold pricier, but it really wants you to get Game Pass Ultimate appeared first on Pocketnow.

    Xbox Xcloud Game Streaming on the Surface Duo is Awesome

    Posted on by Adam Z. Lein

    Today’s the day when Microsoft’s Xbox Cloud Streaming is officially available. It appears in the updated “Game Pass” app on Android as a “Cloud” section next to the Console and PC sections. You can only browse games in the Console and PC sections (and install them remotely to your console or PC), but in the Cloud section, you can actually play them on your Android device!

    I’ve been using the Xcloud game streaming service as a beta since it started, and at the beginning, it was very rough. Games would freeze or the display would freeze and the game would keep going on audio but you couldn’t see anything. It used to be very buggy and difficult to use.

    Today is a completely different story. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Cloud Streaming is just about as smooth as playing Xbox games on a real Xbox!

    Below is a little video to illustrate how smooth Xbox Cloud Streaming works on a Surface Duo. Loading games can still be pretty slow, and the touch controls that we saw in the beta are missing for now, but playing games is very good. Of course, we’re on a 5Ghz WiFi connection with about 85Mbps download speeds, so your mileage may vary.

    Of course, this isn’t free. It requires a Game Pass Ultimate subscription which costs $15 per month. Game Pass is a subscription that’s kind of like Music Pass or Netflix except it’s for Xbox Games. That price sounds like way too much just to enable cloud streaming, but that $15/month includes a lot of other extras. You also get a huge library of Xbox games to install and play on any Xbox, and you get another selection of Windows 10 PC games to install and play on any of your gaming computers, and you get the Xbox Live Gold subscription which enables online multiplayer gaming as well as “Games with Gold” free games to keep every two weeks. You also get some 50-75% off discounts on buying Xbox games in the Microsoft Store and you get instant first day access to select new Xbox exclusive games as soon as they’re released. If you like Xbox and PC games, that $15/month becomes quite reasonable once you add up all the perks.

    Sorry, Xbox Game Pass Cloud Streaming won’t work on Apple iOS devices because Apple says no.

    The post Xbox Xcloud Game Streaming on the Surface Duo is Awesome appeared first on Pocketnow.

    Microsoft’s xCloud game streaming service will be free with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate

    Posted on by Nadeem Sarwar

    Microsoft has today announced that its Project xCloud game streaming service will be offered as a free addition to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members. In an official blog post, Xbox division head Phil Spencer revealed that xCloud will arrive at no additional cost for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers in September.

    What this means is all titles that are available in the Xbox Game Pass library will be playable on your smartphone and tablet as well. Plus, you will also be able to join in on the fun with millions of other gamers with multiplayer mode support irrespective of the machine you are playing on, provided the title supports cross-platform gaming.

    In case you’re not aware, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is the company’s subscription-based service that provides access to over 100 games that you can play on both your console as well as PC, alongside perks such as free games every month and multiplayer capability. Right now, you can purchase an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription for $14.99 in the US.

    Source: Xbox

    The post Microsoft’s xCloud game streaming service will be free with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate appeared first on Pocketnow.