XBOX will no longer charge you to enjoy multiplayer gaming on some titles.
The Xbox Live requirement has been scrapped for free-to-play titles.
Microsoft charges £7/$10 a month for Xbox Live.
Buying it means you get access to online play for a wide variety of games, as well as group party chat and some other perks.
Now party chat will be totally free without an Xbox Live membership.
And any free-to-play games won’t require a membership.
Previously, you’d still have to pay for Xbox Live even if you were playing something like Fortnite – which has no upfront cost.
Now you can just buy an Xbox console and play Fortnite without paying any additional costs.
Of course, Xbox Live isn’t a bad purchase.
For a start, you’ll still need it to play premium online games like Halo or Call of Duty Cold War.
And you get access to Games with Gold, which is a monthly offering of premium games made free for members.
- Xbox Live Gold for £6.99/$9.99 – buy here
But this latest change means some people will be tempted to cancel their Xbox Live subscriptions for good.
It comes in the same week that Microsoft killed off the Xbox Live name for good.
Xbox Live launched way back in 2002, and has been a staple of Microsoft’s console offering.
But this week, Xbox Live was rebranded to Xbox Network.
Microsoft didn’t detail exactly what this means, but it looks like changes are beginning to creep in.
The gaming giant recently debuted the next-gen Xbox Series X (£449) and Xbox Series S (£249), which hit shelves worldwide November 10.
All prices in this article were correct at the time of writing, but may have since changed. Always do your own research before making any purchase.
In other news, HOAR’s favourite alternative to a games console is the Oculus Quest 2 VR headset.
Check out the wildly impressive Panasonic 65HZ1000 TV, which makes most tellies look rubbish.
And Dell’s Alienware R10 Ryzen Edition is a gaming PC powerhouse that crushes both the new consoles.
