Xbox Live Being Replaced By Xbox Online Service
Rumors that Xbox Live Gold may become a thing of the past continue as Microsoft has officially removed references to Xbox Live in their service agreement. References to the online service were replaced by “Xbox Online service,” suggesting either a big rebranding or just the removal of Xbox Live Gold as a paywall. Microsoft recently confirmed that Xbox Game Pass has over 10 million subscribers and the company could be shifting existing Xbox Live Gold subscribers to a different model if Xbox Live Gold truly becomes a thing of the past.
While the Xbox Live references were only recently replaced by Xbox Online service in the Microsoft service agreement, they have also removed 12-month subscriptions to Xbox Live Gold from their website. Halo Infinite online multiplayer will also be playable without a subscription to the online service when it releases this Holiday, which just furthers the likelihood that Xbox Live is becoming a thing of the past. Twitter user and known leaker Wario64 was one of the first people to confirm that Microsoft changed their service agreement stating, “Xbox Live is now referred to as ‘Xbox online service’ in Microsoft’s Services Agreement.”
While Microsoft has yet to confirm Xbox Live Gold is going extinct, Wario64 has added credence to the rumors when he said, “There’s been rumors and speculation lately that Xbox Live Gold may go away soon.” With more actual announcements such as Halo Infinite being free to play online and back end things such as the service agreement being altered, it’s likely that Microsoft will make some sort of official statement on the future of Xbox Live Gold soon.
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