OP-ED: Xbox Live is Now a Legitimate Reason Not to Purchase an Xbox · 5:40pm Sep 8th, 2020
I don’t talk about my gaming hobby on here too much (recommendations for titles like Subnautica notwithstanding) but from time to time it comes up. And from time to time, I do have something to say about it. Today, what I have to say is … weird. A pointed observation, but one that I want to put out there.
Xbox Live is now a legitimate reason not to own an Xbox.
This might seem strange (or if you’re unfamiliar with the names here, confusing). So let me offer a bit of background.
The Xbox is Microsoft’s gaming console. The first one launched in 2001, made a name for itself with titles like Halo, and has since become one of the three mainstream consoles most people think of when they think of games. A console, by the way, being a set-top box, like a Blu-Ray player, that plays games. Think of a small, specialized computer that’s built to do one thing: game.
Now, Xbox made a name for itself in several ways. But one of the areas where Miscrosoft lead the pack was in bringing online play to consoles as a mainstream feature rather than a peculiar oddity.
Online play is the ability for players to connect with others over the internet, engaging in cooperative or competitive play. To most of you, this isn’t new knowledge. Xbox was the first to bring this ability to a console by default with “Xbox Live,” a service that you had to pay for but let you play Halo with your friends across the country.
For a while, this was understandable: Consoles weren’t PCs. The games were only there. Pay a little extra to play online? Weird from the perspective of a PC player (where this ability has been around for forever) but for a console. Okay, sure.
Except in the last two years … this “pay to play” mentality has become a bit of a sticking point against the platform, rather than for it.
Why? Well, Microsoft has made major pushes to “unify” their gaming platform. All their first-party titles now come to PC, with the company putting an emphasis on making it as easy as possible for game-makers to release their titles on both platforms. They’ve even worked to make cross-play possible, so players on one can play with people on the other ecosystem.
Oh, and then they took it one step further and started making purchases cross over. Buy a game like Forza Horizon 4 from a participating digital store, for example, and play it on both your Xbox or your PC, wherever you want.
Buy once, play where you want. Sounds pretty good, right? Except this is where the problem arises.
As I understand it, they ARE getting rid of gold because it's now included in game pass ultimate. Apparently it's not going to its own separate subscription anymore unless you're already signed up.
I have an ultimate subscription and it includes not only the bonuses of Gold but over 100 free games you can play.
Now I MAY HAVE understood this whole situation wrong but I believe they are doing exactly what you suggest, if for a different reason.
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While this would be the smart move, MS has so far denied it, and is still selling subscriptions to Gold. There's expectation that they should change this for the launch of the new consoles, but no hard word on it at all save the denials.