Xbox Live Gold: backing out on price adjustments – also in Germany?

Microsoft not only communicated the Xbox Games with Gold in February yesterday, Friday, but also adjusted the price for the gold membership juicy. That caused a lot of criticism, which is why the company is now backing down.

The price adjustment announced yesterday for the gold membership on Xbox Live made waves in gaming circles. No wonder, because an annual subscription was actually twice as expensive as before. It is logical that Microsoft was exposed to numerous criticisms – and it now seems to be working.

Via the English version of the in-house portal Xbox Wire

it has now been announced that the intended price increase is now being disregarded. In a statement it says (translated):

“We screwed it up today and you were right to let us know. Connecting and playing with friends is a vital part of gaming and we’ve failed to meet the expectations of the players who count on it every day. As a result, we have therefore decided not to change the pricing model for Xbox Live Gold after all. “

Today was not great. We always try to do our best for you and today we missed the mark.

We hear you, and we’re reversing our Xbox Live Gold pricing updates.

— Xbox (@Xbox) January 23, 2021

Instead, they are now taking a completely different direction, which is enjoyable for gamers, in order to smooth things over a little: “We are using this moment as a new opportunity to design Xbox Live more in the way we see the gamers in the focus of the experience. to play games, you will no longer need an Xbox Live Gold membership to play them on Xbox. We are working hard to make this change available as soon as possible in the coming months. “

In short: Popular games such as the Battle Royale hits Fortnite or Apex Legends can in future be enjoyed online in multiplayer even without an existing Gold membership. Microsoft is now drawing level with the competition on the PC or the PSN on the PlayStation, because there a PS-Plus subscription for free-to-play titles was also not absolutely necessary.

Gold memberships can be renewed at the previous price. This is at least true for the English-speaking area, because the German-language version of the Xbox Wire does not have the corresponding new information ready yet. An announcement should be expected at the beginning of the week at the latest – hopefully at least!

Microsoft has now announced which free games you can look forward to at Xbox Games with Gold in January 2021.