Update: Microsoft has officially reversed the Xbox Live Gold Price Increase mere hours after making the change. The news was officially announced in an updated Xbox Wire post from earlier today with a statement from the Xbox Live Gold Team.
We messed up today and you were right to let us know. 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.
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.Xbox Live Gold Team
If you are an Xbox Live Gold member already, you stay at your current price for renewal. New and existing members can continue to enjoy Xbox Live Gold for the same prices they pay today. In the US, $9.99 for 1-month, $24.99 for 3-months, $39.99 for 6-months and $59.99 for retail 12-months.
Thank you.
Xbox Live Gold is similar to that of a PlayStation Plus or a Nintendo Switch Online. If you have the service, you’ll get the ability to play online multiplayer games, get free games monthly, and obtain exclusive discounts.
As with all the other console online services, you’ll have to pay a fee. The original pricing for Xbox Live Gold was:
- $9.99 for 1 Month
- $24.99 for 3 Months
- $39.99 for 6 Months
As of today, that pricing structure is obsolete as Microsoft has just announced a new pricing plan for Xbox Live Gold. The new structure in place ups the price for all three subscription options, going forward the new cost will be:
- $10.99 for 1 Month
- $29.99 for 3 Months
- $59.99 for 6 Months
Existing 6-month or 12-month Xbox Live Gold Members will have their subscription renew at the price they were paying before this change.
In an Xbox Wire post, the Xbox Live Gold Team explained their reasoning for the price update.
Since we launched Xbox Live (18 years ago!), we’ve been working to make it the most advanced multiplayer network available, for the greatest community of gamers — and there are a lot of you. Millions of people come together on Xbox to play with friends and discover great games. We invest in our community by strengthening the digital safety of our players, enabling new ways to share, communicate and play with your friends, and delivering industry leading reliability across our network.
Xbox Live Gold Team
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.
This move seems to be an approach to get more subscribers to Xbox Game Pass, but the timing and overall tone are completely off. We’re in the middle of a global pandemic and tons of people have had a rough time over the past 10 months. Many people won’t feel the need or simply can’t put more money than they already might be for Xbox Live. When you compare $119.98 for a full year of Xbox Live to other services such as PlayStation Plus where a yearly membership is $59.99 and Nintendo’s service is $19.99 yearly, it doesn’t feel like the change is appropriate.
The response online has seen tons of resentment and whether or not Microsoft listens and makes a change is yet to be seen.
GamebredMatrix 
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