Microsoft fans may be saying goodbye to Xbox Live Gold on September 1, if rumors about its upcoming rebranding prove to be true. For many gamers, Xbox Live Gold is very nostalgic. The subscription service dates back to the Xbox 360, which along with the PS3 and Nintendo Wii, represents the golden age of gaming for a lot of people. But speculation that Xbox Live Gold may be going away has been around for a while now, and it may finally be happening.
The term “Xbox Live” goes back even further than that, all the way to November 2002 and the OG Xbox. Rebranded as simply “Xbox network” in 2021, much to the dismay of many gamers, the service introduced friends lists, a universal identifier known as a Gamertag, and allowed people to use voice chat and download digital content like DLC using a broadband internet connection. Xbox Live Gold, the subscription portion of the service, is required to play online with others and also grants access to the free Games With Gold titles that are made available every month.
Now, rumors are circulating that Xbox Live Gold may soon be no more, or at least its iconic name may be disappearing much like “Xbox Live” did a couple of years ago. The basic service itself will not be going anywhere (though the free games every month may be vanishing), and the pricing will remain the same as well. However, to bring its naming in line with Game Pass terminology, Xbox Live Gold will reportedly be rebranded as Game Pass Core beginning on September 1, 2023. It will be the lowest tier of the Game Pass subscription service, with the others being Console, PC, and Ultimate.
This rumor originates from Xbox Info Cafe, a Korean gaming website that shared an image of the new naming scheme that seems to have come from the Xbox website. According to the Cafe, existing Xbox Live Gold memberships will be converted to Game Pass Core and all games previously acquired via Games With Gold will remain in the user’s library. Core will apparently also come with a catalog of 25 console games, including Fallout 4, Dishonored 2, and DOOM Eternal. Of particular note, however, is the fact that there is no mention of Xbox Live Gold's free monthly games among the bullet points, meaning Microsoft may finally be eliminating that perk from the subscription.
This potentially imminent rebranding of Xbox Live Gold to Game Pass Core may explain the recent disappearance of Game Pass and Game Pass Ultimate from the Microsoft Rewards options. For years, gamers have been able to use their accumulated points to essentially get Xbox Live Gold, and later Game Pass, subscriptions for free. Recently, however, some of the options have been removed from the rewards list. Of course, the recent price increase of Game Pass Ultimate and the need to subsequently adjust the number of points required to unlock that reward might also account for this presumably temporary disappearance.
Source: Xbox Info Cafe (via VGChartz)