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Elder Scrolls Online, free-to-play games still require Xbox Live Gold
One of Microsoft's big announcements today was the restructuring of Xbox Live Gold; the company will now allow Xbox 360 and Xbox One owners to use entertainment apps like Netflix and HBO Go without requiring a paid Xbox Live subscription. As Microsoft's Phil Spencer clarified to Joystiq today, the latest in a series of "Xbox One-80s" doesn't apply to free-to-play and subscription-based online games. "Right now we haven't changed the policy on MMOs and free-to-play games," Spencer said. While not getting into specifics, he noted that with some games there are "engineering constraints, policy constraints and partner constraints in each one of these scenarios," so the decision to keep games behind the Xbox Live paywall reportedly doesn't rest solely in Microsoft's hands. Bethesda's latest MMORPG, The Elder Scrolls Online, will still require a Gold subscription on top of the developer's own monthly fees. For the time being, at least; Microsoft has "about six months" to consider changing its policies, as the game was recently delayed for consoles. The developer was in talks with Microsoft back in August to cut the extra fees for The Elder Scrolls Online, which won't be enforced by Sony via PlayStation Plus for PS4.
Year of Xbox Live Gold $20 off through Amazon
Prepare for Titanfall with $20 off Xbox Live Gold on Amazon. The 12-month membership card is currently $40. The rub? It's only available in, like, card form. A physical card. Like you're a rube. A rube! Remember that these cards do stack, so inputting two is two years' worth. Also, the Xbox Live family plan no longer exists, so if you've got multiple accounts to to tend to in the house, keeping an eye out for deals like this is the best in a bad situation. [Image: Microsoft]
Happy Wars removes Gold restriction for some free-to-play cheerful warring
Happy Wars developer Toylogic issued the eleventh update for the game today, allowing all Xbox 360 owners to play it regardless of their Xbox Live subscription level. As the platform's first free-to-play game, it was previously locked to those with a Gold level subscription. Instead, unpaid Xbox Live users can play every facet of the game save for multiplayer, missions and the treasure map sections, which remain locked to Gold subscribers. The update also adds a new game mode called Bounty Hunters, in which players earn bounties by defeating enemies, Big Towers and conquering other towers, adding to their team's total. The mode is available today until January 29. The title update also fixed issues that prevented progress in the Castle Defense mode, adjusted the item leveling system and changed the game's training mode into "Skirmish Mode." Happy Wars first launched in October 2012 and exceeded six million downloads one year later.
Xbox One Game DVR, Skype, Smart Match are for Gold subscribers
Xbox One Game DVR, a feature that will allow players to record gameplay directly through the console, will be exclusive to Gold subscribers, as will Skype and Smart Match matchmaking. These features are in addition to the established parameters of Xbox Live Gold set on Xbox 360: Premium entertainment apps like Netflix will still require it, as will online multiplayer and those coming live NFL broadcasts. Microsoft hasn't said if self-publishing will require Gold. The Xbox One is slated to launch this November for $500 in North America, €500 in Europe and £430 in the United Kingdom. The Xbox One will initially be available in 21 different markets.
Deal: Renew Xbox Live now, get some MS Points
Twitter user Prov_Sez tipped us off to a Dashboard deal offering 24 months of Xbox Live Gold for $84, complete with a 1600 MS Point kickback. However, our own sleuthing around on yielded an additional deal: one year of Xbox Live Gold for $45, with an additional 800 MS Points as incentive -- not too shabby! Oh, and before you think you'll spend those Points during the Game Feast promotion, stop and check the fine print. It'll take six to eight weeks before you'll see 'em on your account.
Year of Xbox Live Gold and free Halo Avatar item for $30
You may have noticed the above advertisement on the Xbox 360 dashboard -- we've yet to encounter this ourselves, but we've been assured it's there. Engadget writer @rjcc first tipped us off on the deal, which adds a year to your Xbox Live Gold membership, along with the pictured Halo: Reach helmet above. Get 'em both for $29.99, because we all know Xbox Live won't be that cheap for long.
Pachter predicts $100 'Platinum' Xbox Live membership
The bump in cost for a Gold membership on Xbox Live is just the tip of the iceberg, according to game industry seer Michael Pachter. Predicting a $100 plan as the next evolutionary step in subscription options soon to be available to Xbox Live consumers, he told IndustryGamers reports that while the initial extra $10 "translates to around $100 to 150 million per year in additional revenue for Microsoft," the company will "reinvest at least this much in developing other new applications, and will roll out a premium service with $100 to 200 million worth of enhancements. If they can get 2 million users to switch from the $60 plan to the $100 plan, they'll make an extra $80 million a year, and can keep investing to try to grow that business." It makes sense: Xbox Live is easily one of the biggest draws of the console and consumers have already shown they're willing to pay a premium for it. But even if Microsoft were to offer a "Platinum" service, what could justify what is comparably such a heftier price tag? "For all I know, the Platinum plan might include virtual goods credits for various Microsoft games," Pachter posits. "If members could get specialized Halo armor or weapons worth the extra $40, they might be more willing to sign up, and it doesn't really cost Microsoft anything to offer things like that." You know what? We may know a few people willing to pay for something like that. [Thanks, Mark]
Dealio: Xbox Live 12-month card for $40
Xbox Live is the frosting inside the Xbox 360's Oreo cookie. Sure, the two chocolate wafers are delicious alone, but it's that sugary stuffing that makes it an Oreo. The only problem is that the frosting costs $50 annually -- so, it's nice to see that it's only $40 for a 12-month Xbox Live gold membership card on Amazon at the moment.As far as we can tell, a similar deal is not available for the downloadable version of the card. If you're already a gold member, the subscriptions should accumulate. We're more than happy to save $10 on that renewal, 'cause Xbox 360's are just better stuffed with frosting -- wait, what?[Thanks, Ganung]
