The cost of Xbox Live is Gold going from £39.99 per year to £49.99 per year with Microsoft explaining away the increase due to 'Market conditions'. Its no more expensive than Sonys Playstation Plus online service but is a 25% increase in cost.
If you are an existing Gold subscriber, then you have 90 days grace at your existing price plan, and of course any prepaid time will remain in place so there are ways to delay the price increase further.
But is it worth the cost?
Live Gold firstly includes access to Online Multiplayer, which these days is more important than even for games. Fortnite being a good example of a game that is online only. Without Gold you cant play. Most games have some sort of Multiplayer option so if you want to play with friends then you need Gold.
You will also get 4 free games per month. This is usually a mixture of Xbox One and Xbox 360 backwards compatible games. This months offerings include The Gold Club 2019, and there is usually at least one game per month that I would play. Once you have downloaded your game it is yours to keep. Even if you dont renew Gold and move to a free live account you can still play the game, you just wont be able to have access to any online features.
You only need one Live subscription per console. So if there are a few of you at home you can all have your own accounts and play online on the same console.
You will also get access to game Demos. There aren't as many of these as there used to be, but some decent ones still pop up from time to time.
Deals with Gold. This is a weekly reduction in prices for a selection of games and add ons that are exclusive to gold members. I check the deals every week and often decide to buy something as the offers can be up to 85% off normal price.
There is a lot of value there for the cost in my opinion. I have been subscribing to Gold for 12 years now and cant see me stopping any time soon. I have probably handed over around £500 to Microsoft in subscription cost but my game catalogue is now large and I have always thought it great value.
If you are on the fence about whether to renew, then you always have the choice to renew when you like the look of one of the deals with gold games, but remember you wont be able to play online until you have Gold. You can also buy 3 month or six month subscriptions if you prefer to keep initial costs down.
Do you use Live Gold? How long have you been subscribing for, let me know below.
John
I'm still not sure how I feel about having to pay to play online multiple player, I know that they all do it now and throw in extras but it does feel like a way to make more pennies to me.
ReplyDeleteI like that they have the option to choose a 3 or 6 month subscription too so you don't have to fork out too much at once. I know a lot of my daughter's friends won't blink an eyelid over paying the increased price.
ReplyDeleteWe are Play Station fans so I hadn't heard about Xbox Live. It sounds like a great deal.
ReplyDeleteI remember buying Xbox one for my brother and the membership, it was cheaper way back when but I guess I can understand the price increase
ReplyDeleteWow, that is a bit of a hike.........we buy them annually so will get them at the lower price, thanks for the heads up
ReplyDeleteMy son would be lost without his live gold. It’s a big increase in price though i wonder if he knows
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad my two aren't interested in the XBox as the prices seem really extortionate! I don't think I could afford to keep up to date with everything :(
ReplyDeleteLouise
My youngest son is desperate for an X-Box so this makes really interesting reading, it's a big price rise though.
ReplyDeleteReally - think it is about time my son got a job and paid for this himself!
ReplyDeletewe have used gold for years, but my daughter has an xbox one in her room and my other half in the livingroom, so we have to pay for 2 subscriptions, it works out at a lot
ReplyDeleteMy hubby has had Live for a few years now and is not impressed with the rise!
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