Microsoft stopped selling 12-month long subscriptions to the Xbox Live Gold service, so what does this mean for the future of it? And what could be coming in instead?

There are rumours that the Xbox Live Gold service could potentially be discontinued altogether, and instead, online multiplayer could be free. However, it is still very early and this could simply be conjecture and opinion. This would see Xbox Gold Live coming more into line with with services offered by PlayStation 4 and Switch, where free to play games do not need a subscription at all.

We will just have to wait and see what Microsoft’s plans are. If they do take this approach, Sony could feel the pressure to stop charging for online game play as well. But it all still hangs in the balance, as Microsoft could simply be changing the terms and service of the Xbox Gold Live option.