To enjoy the multiplayer benefits of all kinds of games on the Xbox One and Xbox 360 consoles, you will need to purchase an Xbox Live Gold subscription. Subscription to this service will cost you the following amounts:
- 599,00 ₽ – for one month;
- RUB 1,399.00 – for three months;
- RUB 3,599.00 – for twelve months (for a year);
In addition to access to multiplayer in games, you also get access to several additional privileges, for example, you will be given free games every month, as well as decent discounts on some projects in the Store library.
Xbox Live Gold: what is the service and Gold status
What is Xbox Live Gold?
Xbox Live Gold is Microsoft’s online subscription service for the Xbox One and Xbox 360 consoles. It is required to enter multiplayer mode for all games on those consoles. If you want to play with your friend online or you have a desire to enter a crowded session of a competitive game, you will need to purchase Xbox Live Gold. Among other things, the company will provide you with free copies of games every month and huge discounts on some games from the console library.
As we said, to play multiplayer on Xbox One and Xbox 360, you will need to purchase an Xbox Live Gold subscription for one period or another. Your subscription will also allow you to have access to groups and voice chat. If you try to use online features without a subscription, you will be prompted with an Xbox Live Gold subscription to continue.
A subscription to this service is not required if you play single games, and it is not needed if you play offline multiplayer games. For example, you don’t need to purchase Xbox Live Gold when playing split-screen modes where two players are required to play the same console in the same room.
Xbox Live Gold is also not required if you just want to watch Netflix or Hulu, or use other services with similar features. For example, back in the days of the Xbox 360 – or even with the Xbox One release – you had to pay for Xbox Live Gold and Netflix to enjoy your favorite TV shows. However, Microsoft has changed the system so that users do not overpay for the functionality received – Xbox Live Gold is now used only for games.
How does Gold Games work?
Each month, Microsoft offers several games for free through their Gold Games service. These games can be available for a week or even a whole month. To access them, you all need to add them to your library on the console or do it through the website. By the way, many who have just bought the console, I think that these games will be available to them only for a certain period of time, but this is absolutely not the case: the added games will remain available to you forever, as if you had purchased them.
If you do not add these games to yourself during the free period, you will not be able to get them. It would seem that it didn’t work – next time I’ll take it. That was not the case: you will not be able to get games for free from the already ended “Games with Gold status” promotion. So yes, it’s better to try not to miss any distribution in the service.
Again, some new console owners often think that only indie games are participating in such promotions, which are not worth a dime, but this is far from true: you can often find real AAA projects of the past years in the lists of free games. If you stay tuned for the Gold Games promotions, you will eventually be able to build up a decent collection of great games.
Once you add a free game to your Xbox One, you can download and play it whenever you want, provided that you renew your Xbox Live Gold subscription regularly. If your subscription expires, you will no longer be able to play the games you received for free. However, do not worry, as you can access them simply by renewing your subscription to the service.
Among other things, if you add a free game to Xbox 360, it will remain with you forever, and you will be able to play it even after the subscription period expires, which is undoubtedly better compared to the new generation of consoles, but what can you do about it. The Gold Games list includes games from both the Xbox 360 and Xbox One. However, Microsoft has promised that all Gold Games titles will be available on Xbox One through backward compatibility. In other words, all games distributed by the company will be available on the latest version of the console, i.e. Xbox One.
You can view a list of currently available Gold Games games at the following link:
https://www.xbox.com/Ru-Ru/live/games-with-gold
In turn, you can familiarize yourself with the list of already issued games at the following link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Games_with_Gold_games
For example, at the time of this writing, the Gold Games program offers free games such as Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, Super Mega Baseball 2, and VANQUISH. As you can see, two of the three games are truly first-class projects, and the third is sure to appeal to baseball fans.
How do Gold Deals work?
Now let’s talk about the very discounts that Microsoft will give you if you subscribe to Xbox Live Gold. You can get discounts on projects from both Xbox 360 and Xbox One. You can view a list of all currently available offers at the link below:
https://www.xbox.com/Ru-Ru/live/deals-with-gold
Among other things, you can look at these offers in the Store on your console. These offers replace each other every week. As soon as you purchase a game at a discount, it will remain in your library forever, which is quite expected, and you can also launch it at any time, even after the end of the subscription period.
Should you buy Xbox Live Gold?
For the most part, it is worth subscribing to Xbox Live Gold, if only because multiplayer will be available to you in various games, and if you play mainly online projects, the subscription is quite justified. Otherwise, getting access to multiplayer is impossible, which somewhat upsets some console users.
PS4 owners are also forced to subscribe to a similar service – PlayStation Plus. Even fans of Nintendo products are required to pay extra to access multiplayer on the Switch console. If you want to play online for free, your only solution is to switch to a PC platform.
Some users argue the purchase of an Xbox Live Gold subscription by the fact that every month Microsoft distributes a set of free toys, and not some junk that is clogged with Steam, but the real AAA projects of the past. Well, this is a really good bonus to access to multiplayer, but only the list of games is limited, and previously issued games will not be repeated in the future.
Discounts on games in the Store are also a good addition, but you will often buy digital copies of old toys there. And if you prefer to buy used physical copies of games, then you can definitely find them much cheaper than the discount Xbox Live Gold. In the end, it all depends on how badly you need multiplayer and a set of free games provided by Microsoft. Only play single-player games – you don’t even have to think about buying Xbox Live Gold. Whether you love Battlefield or Call of Duty, you simply have no choice.