Microsoft has officially confirmed that it has removed the Xbox Live Gold 12-Month Subscription from the Microsoft Store. 1-Month and 3-Month subscriptions remain available, but the 12-Month is not. Microsoft made the removal on Thursday but left Xbox users wondering if there had been a mistake.
Customers noticed the removal of the Xbox Live Gold 12-Month subscription on Thursday, thinking it was a mistake. That's because the removal hadn't been posted with any official acknowledgment. It was only after TrueAchievements reached out to the Xbox team that it learned that it was an official decision. An Xbox representative stated simply that "Xbox has decided to remove the 12 months Xbox Live Gold SKU from the Microsoft Online Store."
Without an official explanation for the removal, the decision is certain to reignite rumors that the Xbox team is going to remove the price of Xbox Live with the launch of the Xbox Series X. Removing the 12-month subscription will stop users from spending extra money for a service they may not want or need.
Confirmation of the end of Xbox Live Gold, or that it's continuing, may not be announced soon. The Xbox team revealed this past week that its upcoming July Xbox broadcast will focus purely on games. There won't be discussion of hardware or services. As such, Xbox users may have to wait for August or September for another Xbox event to be announced for any news on the subject.
The Xbox Series X releases holiday 2020.
Source: TrueAchievements