Will the Series X make multi-player free
It’s been a long time since we’ve had free online multiplayer on consoles. Nintendo was the final hold out, officially moving to a premium service back in 2018. However, there’s a rather intriguing rumour going around that Microsoft, the company that invented paid online multiplayer, might actually be looking to do away with it. Could this be true?
There’s a few peices of evidence being cycled around the rumour mill in this regard.
One, Microsoft has stopped selling 12-month subscriptions to Xbox Live Gold. They’re only offering one and three month subs at the moment. If you were to buy a three month subscription now, that would take you to the end of October, right in time for the Series X’s probably November launch.
Two, there’s a secondary rumour going around that Halo Infinite’s multiplayer mode will be free-to-play. This claim is being made through an Irish retailer via the Verge, so I’m not sure how much stock I would put into it. Especially when said retailer has already taken that tidbit down from their website. Retail “leaks” should always be taken with a massive grain of salt.
Third is a tweet on July 31st by GamesBeat’s Jeff Grubb, who said that “Xbox Live Gold is going away and playing online multiplayer will be free. They will not force you into Ultimate to play online.” So here we have a reporter from an access media outlet seemingly supporting earlier rumours, which is actually the strongest piece of evidence we have. Anything reported by the mainstream games press can be assumed to have been filtered through many PR checks before it’s allowed to see the light of day. Though Grubb does not cite any sources.
So what do I make of this? Well, it may have some legs. Free multiplayer would be a key way to differentiate the Series X from its competition, since online services on Xbox and PlayStation reached parity some time ago in terms of service. The quality Xbox Live just isn’t a selling point anymore. It would also put Xbox on the same level as the PC, Microsoft’s “other” gaming platform.
Online games also have newer, more lucrative monetization schemes in the form of “optional” microtransactions. So they don’t really need to rely on subscriptions anymore to cover service costs. Hence why the free-to-play model has become so pervasive over the last decade.
However, what I think is most likely, is that Microsoft will end up folding Xbox Live into Game Pass. The company has been pushing the service as a major feature of the Series X and PC. They’re also planning to include xCloud streaming as part of the “Ultimate” price tier. Grubbs’s tweet seems to refute this. Though I’m still skeptical of his report without citation, or another source to double confirm his claim.
Xbox Live Gold is already included with the Ultimate tier as is. So I can see them marketing it as “free with Game Pass Ultimate” in the same way Games with Gold are “free”. I could be wrong, but this is what my gut is telling me. Live isn’t going away, but will be bundled as part of Game Pass rather than being a separate product.
However, they still might make a move out of left field. The market is far more competitive today than it was in 2013. Any angle either Sony and Microsoft can take to grab market share could decide who’s on top. In true Mythbusters fashion, I give this rumour a “plausible”.