What Is Xbox Live Gold And Is It Worth It
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If you have an Xbox One or Xbox 360, Microsofts Xbox Live Gold service is required to play multiplayer games online. A subscription costs $10 per month or $60 per year. Xbox Live Gold also includes additional benefits, like free games every month and discounts on some digital games.
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Jul 20, 2020 That makes sense in terms of value, especially when you consider the extra features on offer for $5 more each month.
If you dont want to be charged when your free trial expires, you can sign up with What do Xbox Lives charges look like on my bank statement?
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Xbox Cloud Gaming From September 2020
Microsoft’s cloud game streaming platform formerly known as Project xCloud is an official product as of September 2020, and is part of the increasingly attractive Game Pass Ultimate package.
The library of games has shrunk somewhat from that which was offered during the testing period, but there are still some of Microsoft’s finest in there for launch along with some top titles from third-party publishers. Most recently, titles brought in-house with Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda have joined the game streaming ranks.
Cloud Gaming is part of the main Game Pass app for Android, while on iOS, Mac, Chrome OS, and Linux, Xbox Cloud Gaming is available through the browser.
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Microsoft Is Raising The Price Of Xbox Live Gold Pushing People To Game Pass Ultimate Instead
Xbox Series X+S
While people have been speculating about Microsofts plans for Xbox Live Gold for a little while now, Im not sure anyone really expected this development. Microsoft just announced that it would be hiking the price of an Xbox Live Gold subscriptionused for accessing online play as well as Games With Gold and Deals With Goldfrom $9.99 to $10.99 for a 1-month subscription, from $24.99 to $29.99 for a 3-month, and from $39.99 to $59.99 for a 6-month, effectively standardizing the price at about $10 a month.
Its a pain, if a moderate one, for current subscribers to Xbox Live Gold, but it sure seems like Microsoft is trying to move people towards its other, sexier subscription service: Game Pass Ultimate, which includes all the services of Xbox Live Gold and costs $15 a month absent some sort of deal, promotion or what not which happens all the time. If youre upgrading from Xbox Live Gold, you can 3 months for $1.
The calculus here, mostly, is that it makes the idea of just paying for Xbox Live Gold less appealing. If youve got an Xbox One, Series X or Series S and want to play online gameswhich most people doyouve now got to pay $120 a year to do so. Or you could pay $150 a year and get everything you got before plus a huge library of games, including Microsoft exclusives on your launch day. Its a bit like when movie theaters let you get a colossal soda for like $2 more, or at least it would be if movie theaters existed.
Xbox Live Gold Benefits
If you want to play all of the top Xbox multiplayer games online, you need an Xbox Live Gold subscription. Without it, you won’t be able to enjoy competitive bouts of or join a 12-player race in Forza Horizon 4.
Xbox Live Gold also gets you two free games a month for Xbox Series X/S, One and 360. The Xbox 360 games are backwards compatible, so you can play them on an Xbox One. Compared to PlayStation Plus, which only gets you two games per month, Xbox Live Gold is seriously-good value.
The benefits also include ‘Free Play Days’ and up to 75% off in the Microsoft Store, meaning you can pick up some of the hottest add-ons and games at a fraction of their usual price without leaving your sofa.
When you factor in all the perks, an Xbox Live Gold subscription is a no-brainer especially if you opt for a 12-month subscription. It means a bigger upfront outlay, but you stand to make some seriously juicy savings over the course of the year.
- Add one of the best gaming TVs to your setup
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How To Cancel Your Xbox Live Gold Subscription Lifewire
Mar 29, 2021 When you turn off recurring billing, you retain access to all of the Xbox Live Gold features until the end of your current subscription period.
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You Need Xbox Live Gold For Multiplayer Gaming
If you want to play online multiplayer on your Xbox One or Xbox 360, you will need Xbox Live Gold. Your subscription also enables access to the party system and voice chat. If you try to use the online mutiplayer features within games without Xbox Live Gold, youll be stopped in your tracks and told you need Xbox Live Gold to continue.
This service isnt necessary for playing single-player games, and it isnt required when playing multiplayer games offline. For example, you dont need to pay anything to play a split-screen game with two people in the same room on the same console.
Xbox Live Gold also isnt required if you want to watch Netflix and Hulu, or use other media-streaming apps. For example, In the Xbox 360 daysand even when the Xbox One launchedyou needed to pay both the Netflix subscription fee and the Xbox Live Gold subscription fee just to watch Netflix on your Xbox One, but Microsoft changed this. Xbox Live Gold is now only useful to gamers.
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What Is Xbox All Access
Xbox All Access is a monthly installment payment option for a new Xbox Series S or X. Customers can sign up for the plan to pay $35 a month for an Xbox Series X or $25 a month for an Xbox Series S. Both plans include 24 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. There are no upfront fees and 0% APR. Best Buy, GameStop, Microsoft Store, Target and Walmart are all participants in the program, however, the trick is to sign up when consoles are available. If you’re still on the hunt for an Xbox Series X or S, will have the latest restock updates for you.
What About Game Pass Ultimate
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is a more expensive subscription plan that launched in 2019. It includes all of the perks of Xbox Game Pass for console and PC Game Pass for Windows, plus a few extras. One of the biggest additions is Xbox Cloud Gaming , which is a cloud gaming platform lets you stream games directly to your phone.
Another benefit is EA Play, which is EAs standalone subscription service that normally costs $4.99 a month. You also get Xbox Live Gold, which costs $9.99 a month on its own.
Considering Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is just $14.99 a month, its an even better value than the cheaper Game Pass. Learn more about it in our Xbox Game Pass Ultimate guide, or check out subscription plans at the link below.
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What Exactly Is Xbox Game Pass Ultimate
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is the combination of two current programs: Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold. Subscribers to Ultimate will have access to both for one monthly subscription cost instead of two separate ones. Additionally, the newer Xbox Game Pass for PC subscription is also included with Game Pass Ultimate.
Xbox Game Pass is Microsoft’s subscription service that offers complete access to a huge library of games covering both Xbox Series X/S and backward-compatible titles. You can download these to your console to play in full for as long as you’re a paying subscriber or the games in question remain in the Game Pass library.
Better yet, if a Game Pass title also supports Xbox Play Anywhere, you get access to play those on your PC, as well, as part of your subscription, even if you don’t have Game Pass Ultimate.
The PC-specific Game Pass subscription has its own list of games, some of which cross over with the console program on account of Xbox Play Anywhere. But many are exclusive to PC, such as Age of Empires and Microsoft Flight Simulator.
If you choose to buy any game you play in Game Pass Ultimate, you’ll get a 10% discount on it while you’re a member.
Gold subscribers also get exclusive discounts every single week on games from the Microsoft Store, as well as additional discounts during special promotional periods.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate provides access to all of this under one easy-to-manage subscription.
Xbox Live Gold: Who Its For
Xbox Live Gold starts at $9.99 per month and is currently required for playing most Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S games online. It also gets you access to a handful of free games every month, as well as exclusive discounts.
If you only play a handful of online titles on your Xbox One, Xbox Series X or Xbox Series S and arent interested in the hundreds of games available on Game Pass, youll technically save a bunch of money sticking with Gold compared to the $14.99 per month Game Pass Ultimate subscription. And since Gold is no longer required to play free-to-play titles such as Fortnite and Call of Duty: Warzone, you could get by without paying for either service depending on your game of choice. But its worth considering the long-term value of switching to Game Pass Ultimate.
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Is Xbox Live Gold Worth It
The question should not even pop up, but if it does, we will guide you through the beneficial features provided by Xbox Live Gold. Pick up an Xbox Live subscription and you will enter a massive world of options and features that will enhance and embellish your Xbox 360, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S experience:
- Advanced and extremely reliable console gaming network
- 2 to 4 free games to play every month
- Multiplayer mode on all console models
- Game discounts that may vary from 50% to 75% at the Xbox store.
Probably the greatest feature provided by Xbox Gold is online multiplayer, which enables you to play in the company of fellow Xbox gamers across the world! Also, you will be able to get a couple of Xbox games per month that are completely free of charge, with them just being a download away. Of course, the exclusive discounts save you a good amount of money in the long run and access to the best Xbox Live Gold deal! Experience the best with the cheap Xbox Live price!
Ea Play On Xbox Game Pass Ultimate
Microsoft and EA have been close for a long time now, with EA Access once exclusive on Xbox One. While the exclusivity is no more, what’s about to happen is something nobody expected.
EA Play, a subscription service on its own that allows access to a selection of EA’s vast back catalog of games, will become part of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Xbox Game Pass for PC.
So with one single subscription to Game Pass Ultimate, you’ll not only have access to the Game Pass Library on both console and PC and Cloud Gaming, but soon EA’s subscription service, too.
If you didn’t already think that Game Pass Ultimate is the best value package in gaming, this pretty much seals it.
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Should I Get Xbox Live Gold Or Xbox Game Pass
This depends on your gaming habits. Xbox Live Gold’s biggest selling point is not the free games, but it’s being able to play online. Are you someone who is going to play a few games online and only those games on a regular basis? Then you’ll want Xbox Live Gold.
On the other hand, if you want what is the equivalent to “Netflix for video games,” then Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is an easy choice. You have more than 100 games to choose from, and you’ll be able to play them from multiple devices. Tack on Xbox Live Gold, and you get a tremendous value for $15 a month. Put another way, you get to play dozens of games per year for the price of just three new console games purchased at retail .
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What Is Xbox Game Pass
Of course, the Xbox Gold variant is far from the only Xbox Network membership you can buy. Xbox Game Pass, and even Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, are there to complete your Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S experience with even more additional content. With the monthly and quite cheap Xbox Game Pass price, you get:
- A rotating catalogue of games for free from a range of publishers
- Other premium services.
With this subscription, you get more content than you could possibly finish in a year. As for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, you get:
- Over 100 high-quality games for console, PC, and Android mobile devices
- All the benefits of Xbox Live Gold
- EA Play membership.
Is Xbox Game Pass the same as Xbox Live Gold, though? In essence, they are different services – the Game Pass grants you access just to play games for free for a considerably small monthly fee. Meanwhile, an Xbox Live Gold subscription allows you to play online multiplayer and unlocks additional features on the Xbox Network. While you do get steep discounts with the Gold membership and a few free games every month, you dont have access to play a whole catalogue of games for free. Both the Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold price is worth it though!
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How To Redeem Gift Cards And Codes On Xbox
There are two ways to activate an Xbox Live Gold membership and other Xbox subscriptions. All you have to do is purchase an Xbox Game Pass , EA Play or Xbox Live Gold and then follow the instructions provided below. If you are using an Xbox One console, heres how to activate your Xbox subscriptions:
- When on the Home screen, go to the Store
- Find the Categories selection and choose Games
- Choose the Use a Code feature
- Sign in if prompted
- Your prepaid key will either come in the form of a QR code or the 25-character code
- In the case of a QR code, hold it to your Kinect sensor. In the case of the 25-character code, simply enter it by hand.
If you want to activate your Xbox Live card via Web Browser, follow these instructions:
- Go to redeem.microsoft.com and select the Redeem code feature
- Click on the Sign In option
- Log into your Microsoft account
- Click on the Redeem option
- Enter the 25-character code and click Confirm
- Enjoy your purchase!
Once you successfully redeem the Xbox code, your subscription will be activated in just a few seconds and you are free to indulge in the best Xbox Live Gold deal and other services to your hearts content!
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Is Xbox Game Pass Worth It
For just £10.99 a month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate gives you over 100+ games to play, for as long as you like, as well as providing all the benefits of EA Play and Xbox Live Gold! With a huge suite of games across every genre from AAA to indie, youre sure to find plenty to play and you might even discover some new favourites along the way. New games are added all the time, and you can play brand new Xbox Game Studios and Bethesda Softworks games on release day.
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Disney+ Returns To Xbox Game Pass Ultimate
Last holiday, we were excited to launch a collaboration with our friends at Disney+ to bring a 30-day trial to our Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members through the Perks program. The response from our community was fantastic we know many of you claimed the Perk to stream all the great entertainment available on Disney+ with your friends and family. When the Perk ended in January, we heard you ask for more and today were excited to share the good news.
Starting today, Ultimate members will once again be able to enjoy series, movies, and Originals, including the premiere of Marvel Studios Loki on June 9, with a new 30-day trial to Disney+ via Perks*. Whether you claimed the previous Disney+ Perk or not, Ultimate members who do not currently have an active Disney+ subscription will be eligible to claim the 30-day subscription trial through the Perks Gallery on their Xbox console, on the Xbox app for Windows PC, or through the Xbox Game Pass mobile app on iOS and Android. Once the Perk is claimed, members will be directed to the Disney+ site to activate their subscription. Members can claim and activate the trial now until September 30.
so you can start streaming immediately.
Dont miss out on another great chance to check out Disney+ with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Perks. And stay tuned to Xbox Wire for all the latest gaming news.
