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Microsoft has confirmed the price of its Xbox Live Gold subscription will increase in the UK from next month to “address changing market conditions”.
According to emails sent out to some Xbox Live Gold subscribers, the 12-month subscription – which currently retails for £39.99 – will increase to £49.99. Monthly passes will increase from £5.99 to £6.99, whilst three-month subscriptions will jump from £14.99 to £17.99. Interestingly, the six-month sub will remain the same at £29.99.
“To ensure gamers have consistent pricing for Xbox Live Gold across Europe, we are making changes to UK pricing from May 8th,” Microsoft said via a press statement (thanks, Eurogamer). “This new pricing is aligned to the changes we made in the region in 2016 as we strive to offer our members premium gaming and entertainment services at a fair price.”
Players who subscribe between now and August 7th will pay the current price of £39.99. Subscriptions “stack”, which permits players to extend their subscriptions for several years at a lower price should they so wish.
The price hike brings Microsoft’s subscription service in line with Sony’s similar PlayStation Plus service, which increased in 2017.
In other Microsoft news, the company is rumoured to be opening pre-orders for its new disc-less Xbox console next month. Rumours of a disc-less Xbox One first surfaced last November, when it was thought this console would join Microsoft’s line of existing current-gen hardware rather than be a next-gen launch. It was expected to release as early as spring/Q2 2019, and as it would only be able to play digital games, it could cost as much as $100 less than the present system.
In order not to dissuade sales to those who are interested but already own physical Xbox One games, Microsoft is thought to be considering a “disc-to-digital” program that will permit players to trade in their physical games for a digital code instead.
