Xbox Live is being officially retired after 21 years, and the service is now being merged with the Xbox Game Pass service.
Xbox Live is a subscription service that allowed you to play games online on Xbox consoles, but it came with a few other benefits too. The Games with Gold system allowed you to download and keep a selection of free games every single month as well as discounts on select titles.
Since its launch in 2002, the industry has evolved significantly, and Xbox has put a lot of time and effort into building its Game Pass service, which allows you to play a huge selection of games as much as you want for as long as you’re subscribed.
It’s no real surprise then that, as of September 2023, Xbox Live is being officially merged with the Game Pass system, and will now be known as “Xbox Game Pass Core”. This tier will cost $9.99 a month, allow for online play, and give you access to 25 games.
If you currently subscribe to the Console or PC versions of Game Pass, then it’s important to note that online play will not be included in those tiers, and you will need to either purchase Core as well or upgrade to the Ultimate tier, which does include online play.
Microsoft has said that more games will be added to Core in the coming months, but here are the games available for the tier right now:
- Among Us
- Descenders
- Dishonored 2
- DOOM Eternal
- Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited
- Fable Anniversary
- Fallout 4
- Fallout 76
- Forza Horizon 4
- Gears 5
- Grounded
- Halo 5: Guardians
- Halo Wars 2
- Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
- Human Fall Flat
- Inside
- Ori at the Will of the Wisps
- Psychonauts 2
- State of Decay 2
Written by Ryan Woodrow on behalf of GLHF.