Less than 24 hours after announcing that Xbox Live Gold prices were being raised, Microsoft has since reversed their decision following wide scale backlash from gamers and critics alike.
The outrage began after Microsoft announced that Xbox Live Gold memberships were receiving a significant price increase. One month memberships were increasing from £6.99 to £7.99, three months were being raised from £17.99 to £21.99, and six month memberships were going up from £29.99 to £42.99; the new pricing would mean one year of Xbox Live Gold would cost £85.98, almost double the price of PlayStation Plus.
The decision was heavily criticised by the gaming community and deemed inconsiderate as many continue to battle the financial impact of the global pandemic. Many also saw this move as a way to force players over to the slightly pricier Game Pass Ultimate, Microsoft’s premium Xbox service containing Xbox Live Gold, Xbox Game Pass and cloud streaming on Android devices.
Adding further insult to injury, Xbox are the only platform that require an online subscription to play free-to-play titles such as Fortnite and Call of Duty: Warzone.
Given how much positive sentiment the Xbox brand has generated over the past few months, Microsoft were quick to quell the growing fallout and provided a statement admitting that “we messed up today”.
“Connecting and playing with friends is a vital part of gaming and we failed to meet the expectations of players who count on it every day. As a result, we have decided not to change Xbox Live Gold pricing.”
In addition to backtracking on the price hike, Microsoft announced that they’d be changing their policy so that an Xbox Live Gold membership would no longer be required to play free-to-play games online.
“We’re turning this moment into an opportunity to bring Xbox Live more in line with how we see the player at the center of their experience. For free-to-play games, you will no longer need an Xbox Live Gold membership to play those games on Xbox. We are working hard to deliver this change as soon as possible in the coming months.”
The decision to revert back to the current price structure for Xbox Live Gold and remove the need for a membership to play online free-to-play games has been welcomed by many. This significant U-turn has also proved that consumers have legitimate power to prevent companies from making ill decisions like this.