Xbox and Microsoft have been a hot topic in the gaming community as of late. With Microsoft acquiring Activision Blizzard and winning the case against the FTC that opposed that merger, they seem to be on top of the world right now. Their latest decision however might be a shot in the foot as a beloved feature of Xbox might be making a turn for the worst. Fans of Xbox love playing the games of the console and also enjoy the benefits of Xbox Live, the service that allowed online multiplayer for most games. Well for Xbox Live Gold members things are gunna change.
All That Glitters Is No Longer Golden
The Xbox Live service launched on the original Xbox console on November 15th, 2002. It became popularized by the online multiplayer portions in Halo 2, and ever since then it has been used on every Xbox platform ever since. The Games for Gold promotion was released on the Xbox 360 in July 2013. This gave Xbox Live Gold subscribers a handful of games every month. Unfortunately for Xbox players, the Live service and a few other things will be changed and or going away. It was recently announced that the Xbox Live Gold subscription will be retiring, and will be replaced with Xbox Game Pass Core.
Related: Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Due for Yet Another Ridiculous Price Rise
Now there is some good news! Most of the features of Xbox Live Gold will remain as they were. The prices will remain the same. It will still only cost $9.99 a month or $59.99 a year to use the service. In addition to the same prices, players still have access to online console multiplayer and a collection of over 25 games to play.
With the good however, there must also come the bad. The Games with Gold promotion will be going away on September 1st. While this was a big selling point for Live Gold, Core members will still access to a large library of free games. Xbox Live Gold members will automatically convert to Game Pass Core members when it launches on September 14th. At launch, Core members will have access to the a large list of games for free. The list includes:
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 & The Will of the Wisps
Psychonauts 2
State of Decay 2
The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited
Microsoft has stated that more games will be announced for Core ahead of its launch in September, and that new games will be added two or three times a year.
The Game Pass CORE Issue
It may not seem like a huge topic for debate, but many Xbox fans aren’t happy by the announcement of Game Pass Core. Why is that? If nothing is really changing in terms of prices and free games, then where’s the anger coming from? Well it might stem from the fact that nothing is really changing. When Game Pass Core launches, Game Pass has four different offerings. There’s Core ($9.99 a month), Console ($10.99 a month), PC ($9.99 a month), and Ultimate ($16.99 a month). 
Aside from from the many different plans to pick from, another reason for the negative reception for Core is because Core will offer online multiplayer for $9.99 a month whereas Console Game Pass doesn’t offer online multiplayer and you have to pay $10.99 a month for it. The reason for the launch of Core and the price raise in Game Pass earlier this month is due to the rise in Game Pass popularity according to Xbox boss Phil Spencer.
See Also: Xbox and Microsoft Get Huge Win with FTC Trial Granting Permission to Purchase Activision Blizzard
Wherever the reason, fans feel that Core is an unnecessary change to an already good service. With all the changes that are due to come to Xbox and Microsoft, some fans are sure to continue to be disappointed. What are your thoughts on Game Pass Core? Will you subscribe to that service or not? Let us know down in the comments!
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