Users of Microsoft's Xbox Live Gold service have been told that, despite what Microsoft initially said, it won't be increasing the price of Xbox Live Gold.
No Xbox Live Gold Price Increase
In a news post on xbox.com, the Xbox Live Gold Team has now stated that there will be no changes to the Xbox Live Gold pricing, and it will unlock games that are free-to-play (like Fortnite, for example) so everyone can play.
In a bold move, the team has admitted in front of everyone that it was wrong to attempt to raise the price of Xbox Live Gold:
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.
So, you can carry on using your Xbox Live Gold without paying a bit extra. This means Xbox Live or Xbox Live Gold customers are able to continue playing without forking out more cash.
What Was the Price Increase?
This is an update to an existing post, which previously said this (Microsoft has redacted this from the article, but you can still see it, just with a strike through the passage):
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.
However, the update to the post now says, in nice bold letters so you can see Microsoft is serious about it... :
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.
Continue to Enjoy Xbox Live Gold
So, there it is, if you have Xbox Live Gold then you actually won't need to pay any more money for it.
This is a very quick u-turn from Microsoft. $1 a month isn't a huge amount of money when you think about it, but add up all those Xbox Live Gold subscriptions and you're probably looking at a lot of cash that Microsoft won't be making.
However, it is great to see Microsoft responding to its community and listening to its users, ensuring that it is not biting off the hand that feeds it and keeping gaming accessible to as many people as possible.
