Xbox |OT|

[Ryuu96]

Angelus said:

Ryuu96 said:

That has always been the case though, nothing has changed about the other tiers. I only think it may cause some confusion now that the console tier doesn't have Xbox Live Gold but the Core tier and Ultimate tier do.

Guess the Console tier can be sort of for people who don't play online games. If you play online right now, you either have Xbox Live Gold because you don't care, or know about Game Pass (a lot of my family members on the latter...) or you sub to Game Pass Ultimate because you like Game Pass and also play online.

All they're really doing here is rebranding Xbox Live Gold into Game Pass so it's the same 4 tiers as always, except they're also swapping out GWG with a catalogue of older Game Pass titles that will grow over time. Feels more like an effort to kill all reference to Xbox Live and then hope overtime folk upgrade to Ultimate, Lol.

So they get all those Xbox Live Gold suckers who won't still sub to Game Pass into the ecosystem, maybe they notice these free games, maybe they want more, maybe they decide to upgrade to Ultimate. I'll say that Microsoft's mass consumer marketing of Game Pass is still pretty poor, I find myself having to explain Game Pass to family members a lot who are still on only XBLG, Lol.

Yea I know, it technically nothing changes, but it's shit optics. On paper it may be a simple rebrand, but in effect, you're telling us Gold is gone - which implies less emphasis on the simple NECESSITY of online play (and let's be fucking clear, it is absolute a necessity) - while simultaneously still withholding what gold was all about to any console user who wants more than the bare minimum, but cares fuck all about PC.

Gold the name has gone. Xbox Live still exists. I do concede it might be confusing. But literally nothing is changing from a structural POV, it feels weird to be all of a sudden mad about something which has been the case since Game Pass existed.

Ton of people still on Xbox Live Gold only care for the online play, nothing is changing for them, not even the price, some of them might not even notice a difference xD. Some of them may explore Game Pass more now though.

Only change is GWG is finally getting a bullet, which everyone hated in recent history anyway and Tbh I doubt it was taken advantage of, I'd make a guess that the vast majority of XBLG subscribers don't even touch GWG cause there's so many people who just play the same few titles every year and need Xbox Live for them.

Oh and Game Pass Console still has the advantage of Day One releases over Game Pass Core.

Last edited by Ryuu96 - on 16 July 2023