Today, Microsoft has announced that after 10 years in most markets, they will be increasing the price of Xbox Live Gold. Talking about the change, Microsoft said “periodically, we assess the value and pricing of our services to reflect changes in regional marketplaces and to continue to invest in the Xbox community; we’ll be making price adjustments for Xbox Live Gold in select markets. In many markets, the price of Xbox Live Gold has not changed for years and in some markets, it hasn’t changed for over 10 years.”
Now, Xbox Live Gold 1-month memberships cost $10.99, a $1 increase from the previous price. The 3-month membership has been increased by $5 and now costs $29.99. A 6-month Xbox Live Gold membership costs $59.99. If you’re an existing 12-month or 6-month Xbox Live Gold member, there is no change in price. If you renew your membership, it will renew at the current price and not these new changes. You could also upgrade and covert your Xbox Live Gold membership to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. The remaining Gold time will covert directly to Ultimate (up to 36 months). For example, if you have 11 months of Xbox Live Gold now and you upgrade to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, those 11 months would convert to Ultimate at no additional cost. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate includes access to the Game Pass library where you get access to over 100 games including Xbox Game Studios titles, Xbox Live Gold, EA Play which is EA’s subscription service that allows you to access more than 60 of EA’s biggest and best console and PC games, and xCloud streaming.
Some members have already been informed of the changes in some regions. If you are in a region where these prices are going to be adjusted, you will receive an email and a message center notification over the next month. Prices won’t be adjusted until at least 45 days after you receive the message.
UPDATE (1/22): After receiving backlash from the Xbox Live Gold price increase, Microsoft announced that they are reversing the new pricing updates. They also announced that they will be removing Gold requirements for free-to-play games as Xbox was the only platform that required it.