A purported survey posted on ResetEra suggests that Microsoft may be exploring an ad-supported tier of Xbox Game Pass, which also grants Xbox Live Gold.
The cheaper tier would include all of Xbox's exclusive library of games, including major first-party titles six months after launch. Those games, however, would play ads upon launch to help fund the tier.
If real, the purported tier would cost $3 dollars per month, and provide access to a variety of Xbox Game Pass content with some fairly generous limitations. It would include an EA Access-like vault of past first-party Xbox games, with a similar 6-month delay on new Xbox games from hitting the service. Those who accessed these download-only Xbox games via this tier would be asked to view an ad before the game starts rolling.
Assuming the above table is real, this tier also includes online multiplayer access, which is currently $9.99 per month and offers no games beyond the severely-diminished Xbox Live Games with Gold program. Games with Gold now generally only includes two Xbox One indie titles per month, and has been the subject of criticism and derision for some time.
This supposed ad-supported tier would aggressively undercut the monthly tier of Xbox Live Gold, potentially becoming a head-scratcher in this equation. Would Microsoft really be willing to sacrifice the $10 per month Xbox Live Gold subscription for this far cheaper version which also includes vast amounts of the best Xbox games? Would ad revenues be able to make up for the potential shortfall here? I, for one, am skeptical. Microsoft does offer Xbox Live Gold at $60 per year as well, working out to $5 per month, but even at this price, there's still a deficit to account for when accounting for millions of users.
Is Microsoft Exploring a Cheaper Ad-Supported Xbox Game Pass 'Lite'? | Windows Central
Hmm.
This sounds like a way to kill off the individual Xbox Live Gold membership, instead converting it into a cheaper Game Pass tier. 6-month delay for a $3 service and Xbox Live Gold does make sense, but I suspect Xbox Live Gold pulls in profits way larger than Game Pass, hence the ads for the cheaper tier, but, ads are going to be a really hard pill to swallow for a lot of users.
They were never going to dump XBLG on its own without a catch though, it's just too much money, I do think this sounds better than keeping Gold on its own though, focus needs to be on Game Pass and GwG is awful. Actually, would this tier come with Deals with Gold as well? The ads should only be one at the start of boot up as well.
Last edited by Ryuu96 - on 17 December 2022
