As of today, Microsoft has removed the requirement for Xbox Live Gold subscription to play free-to-play multiplayer games. Microsoft has been testing this removal for the last several weeks. What does this exactly mean though?
If you find yourself mostly playing Apex Legends, Fortnite, Rocket League, Warframe or even Path of Exile, you can now play without needing that Xbox Live Gold subscription. There are more than 50 F2P games available to play without needing the subscription. This could be some decent amount of savings for some people who primarily play the F2P multiplayer games.
This move is showing that Microsoft is listening and trying to give its fanbase what they want. Previously, Microsoft had attempted to price-hiked the cost of the XBL Gold yearly subscription by double, earlier this year which did not settle well with Xbox fans at all. Microsoft quickly backtracked and offered to remove the paywall for free-to-play multiplayer games.
Microsoft seems to be on the right track in making everything best for its users. The company has been heavily pushing its Game Pass which offers over 100 titles to play for a small fee, which has garnered lots of subscribers. Will Sony bend on this idea also to match Microsoft?