Ah okay, I was kind of confused since you've mostly posted Idas stuff before then I just see two random names in that post.

For the time being COD being on Playstation isn't necessarily a bad thing for Microsoft. It's the no.1 franchise on the Playstation, so as long as it remains that way, the draw towards GamePass being a place you would want to switch over to is good for MS, people will eventually realize "hey wait a minute, I can just get the new COD and play all the previous ones for a lot less money with an XBox", which each COD copy sold makes MS money to finance more gaming projects on top of that.

If MS really wants to squeeze the screws, they can increase the price of the games to $79.99 or even $89.99 for standalone to make the value proposition of Game Pass look that much better. 

Someone pointed that out in the comment section but... Microsoft is now the biggest... 3rd party for Sony :D
Between COD and Minecraft; they may be the biggest one even beating Square Enix (for the number of games sold on the system).

This is kinda hilarious :D

Rumour

From September 1st, the Xbox Live Gold service will be replaced with the Xbox Game Pass Core service (Source: XBOX Information Cafe | Naver Cafe)

- After 21 years of creation, the term "Xbox Live" will be eliminated.

​- "Xbox Live Gold" changed to "Xbox Game Pass Core" from September 1, 2023.

- In order to enjoy online multiplayer and various benefits, you must subscribe to the "Core" service.

- The price of "Core" is the same as the existing "Live Gold" price ($9.99 per month / $59.99 per year)

- All existing live gold subscribers will be converted to core subscribers.

- More than 25 Game Pass games available in "Core" service:

Among Us, Descenders, Dishonored 2, DOOM Eternal, Fable Anniversary, Fallout 4, Fallout 76, Forza Horizon 4, Gears 5, Grounded, Halo 5: Guardians, Halo Wars 2, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, Human Fall Flat, INSIDE, Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Psychonauts 2, State of Decay 2, Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited. (MS says this list will grow in the coming months)

- Games with Gold will also end on September 1st.

- Free games previously acquired with Live Gold will remain in the user's account.

​- Discounts on purchases that Game Pass subscribers received also apply to "Core" subscribers.

So, basically it's the same price as XBLG but comes with no GwG - However, it does some with a smaller, albeit older, catalogue of Game Pass title which will grow overtime. Almost all of those titles are 1st party, aside from a few, I can't really work out a pattern as to when something would be included in Core.

Only thing I don't understand is why Console Game Pass wouldn't include XBLG, Core does, Ultimate does, but the middle-tier won't?

Other than the odd differences in tiers, this seems like a good move.

Why does the console one not include MP?

Also, if that's accurate, kinda just seems like console players get shafted again tbh. PC only sub gets pretty much everything you'd ever want, including EA Play, but console only - for more money - doesn't apparently include online or EA Play. Dafuq kinda BS is that?

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.

Kind of sad the Xbox live branding is going away. That plus Major Nelson leaving after 20 years, feels like the end of an era

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.