It's true. They will be making the change over the next few months. That means games like Fortnite, World of Tanks and Apex Legends will be playable online even without an active Live subscription. Below is the full statement from the Xbox Live Gold team.

[UPDATED on 1/22/2021 at 8:52 PM PT]

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

We’re turning this moment into an opportunity to bring Xbox Live more in line with how we see the player at the center of their experience. For free-to-play games, you will no longer need an Xbox Live Gold membership to play those games on Xbox. We are working hard to deliver this change as soon as possible in the coming months.

If you are an Xbox Live Gold member already, you stay at your current price for renewal. New and existing members can continue to enjoy Xbox Live Gold for the same prices they pay today. In the US, $9.99 for 1-month, $24.99 for 3-months, $39.99 for 6-months and $59.99 for retail 12-months.

Thank you.

Since we launched Xbox Live (18 years ago!), we’ve been working to make it the most advanced multiplayer network available, for the greatest community of gamers — and there are a lot of you. Millions of people come together on Xbox to play with friends and discover great games. We invest in our community by strengthening the digital safety of our players, enabling new ways to share, communicate and play with your friends, and delivering industry leading reliability across our network.

Periodically, we assess the value and pricing of our services to reflect changes in regional marketplaces and to continue to invest in the Xbox community; we’ll be making price adjustments for Xbox Live Gold in select markets. In many markets, the price of Xbox Live Gold has not changed for years and in some markets, it hasn’t changed for over 10 years.

So, what does this mean for you?

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 your current price.
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.
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.
Members have already been notified in some regions. If you’re in a region where prices are being adjusted, you will receive an email and a message center notification over the next month letting you know what the new pricing is for your membership. Going forward, new pricing will be 1-month for $10.99, 3-months for $29.99, and 6-months for $59.99, or your local market equivalent. You can always visit your account to manage your membership, and prices won’t adjust until at least 45 days after you receive the messages.

this is really cool. i have a good reason to choose xbox instead of ps5 :-P playstation will follow this step too?

only that SG set still not available here. and EU or JP set price still quite steep. But really tempting to get one.

This post has been edited by ahucks: Jan 24 2021, 07:14 PM

Isn't free to play games playable without a PS+ membership already? I have a PS4 Pro, but hardly play it these days. I think PS5 should be the same.

Yeah the stock shortage thing is ridiculous. I'm not hurting to get a Japan set out of desperation, so I just continue to wait for my SG Pre-order, if and when they become available.

FTP games like fortnight has never required ps+ subscription to play.

But in general PS+ value is way lesser compared to gamepass.

Both consoles are still pretty scarce though. So much so I wouldn’t even consider them “current gen” with the shortage everywhere.

I see. didnt noticed. Coz my ps+ still active.

Ok, end up angkat impulse import set and now waiting delivery arrive.

Hope can receive before CNY and take long leave to enjoy maximum power of the console XD

Upgrade to Series X??

Collect both Series S and X

Me going crazy dy XD

Microsoft WIN

Wow!

Cause lazy to move between living room and pc room when wife occupied one zone

So conclusion is to buy both

Only rich like u can afford 😁

Lol lol ...

Looking at current covid-19 situation, i guess those angpow (which i should giving out) for CNY enough to "cover"

CNY just stay at home gaming XD

LOL

I went to the bank yesterday - looks like they wont be getting new notes for CNY this year! yay!

😂cny i will be at quarantine centre at marriott, gonna bring my xbox with me 😂

This post has been edited by ben3003: Jan 26 2021, 10:33 AM

Everyone should switch to E-wallet / Angpow now

Lol >.< Hope the TV there is good with 4K ?

I'm going to be that grinch giving face masks in my ang pows.

Its great that they did this, i would assume most Xbox owner would have XBL/GP/GPU already. but then this would most probably benefit kits/guess account that doesnt have gold.

Now the next question is, can players without XBL join party chat? previously this feature is only allowed for XBL Gold, silver account user could not join party calls.

Is it worth to buy Xbox Series S with price tag RM1700?

That's actually a good question. I wanted to say definitely, but now I'm not sure. How is it done on PS4 or PS5?

not really sure about that, maybe some others could answer this.