Xbox Live Gold, Games With Gold Finally Being Phased Out In Favor Of Xbox Game Pass Core

Microsoft has announced a new version of Xbox Game Pass that will replace Xbox Live Gold and confirmed that the Games with Gold program is ending later this year.

Xbox Game Pass Core is a new offering that costs $10/month or $60/year, and comes with a collection of 25+ games on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One. The program launches on September 14 with games like Gears 5, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, Grounded, Halo 5, Inside, and Elder Scrolls Online in the library. After that, new titles will be added 2-3 times per year. You can see a list of all the confirmed Xbox Game Pass Core titles below, but note that Microsoft will announce more for the catalog before the offering goes live in September.

Xbox Game Pass Core also includes access to online multiplayer on console and various deals and discounts. It does not, however, include access to the full Game Pass library, including day-one releases like Starfield. The announcement of the Core version of Game Pass comes not long after Microsoft raised prices on Xbox Game Pass to $11/month and Game Pass Ultimate to $17/month.

Existing Xbox Live Gold members will be converted into Game Pass Core subscribers once the new service launches.

In addition to announcing Xbox Game Pass Core, Microsoft confirmed that the Games with Gold program will end on September 1. “We wanted to use this opportunity to re-imagine how to include content with this subscription,” Microsoft said. “We found that the answer to the most compelling catalog was to leverage select titles from our Xbox Game Pass catalog.”

All Xbox One games that players redeemed through Games with Gold over the years remain playable so long as their Game Pass Core or Ultimate membership is active (just as an Xbox Live Gold membership was previously required). All Xbox 360 titles redeemed through Games with Gold will remain yours, even if you don’t maintain an active subscription to any tier of Game Pass.

Games with Gold launched for Xbox 360 10 years ago, in July 2013. It offered Xbox Live Gold members free games every month to keep as long as their subscription was active. Since the launch of Game Pass, however, it played second fiddle and many remarked that it wasn’t as compelling an offering as it used to be. Soon, it’ll be gone for good. The same is true for Xbox Live Gold, which was the branding for Microsoft’s Xbox Live premium tier. Xbox Live was rebranded as Xbox Network in 2021.

Here is a breakdown of the four different versions of Xbox Game Pass:

Xbox Game Pass Core ($10/month)

• Online console multiplayer access
• Access to catalog of 25+ games
• Deals and discounts

Xbox Game Pass Console ($11/month)

• Access to Game Pass library on console
• New releases on day one
• Deals and discounts

Xbox Game Pass PC ($10/month)

• Access to Game Pass library on PC
• New releases on day one
• Deals and discounts
• EA Play membership

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate ($17/month)

• Access to Game Pass library on console, PC, and the cloud
• New releases on day one
• Deals, discounts, and perks
• Online console multiplayer
• EA Play membership

Xbox Game Pass Core Titles Confirmed So Far

As of July 17

• Among Us
• Descenders
• Dishonored 2
• Doom Eternal
• Fable Anniversary
• Fallout 4
• Fallout 76
• Forza Horizon 4
• Gears 5
• Grounded
• Halo 5: Guardians
• Halo Wars
• Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
• Human Fall Flat
• Inside
• Ori and the Will of the Wisps
• Psychonauts 2
• State of Decay 2
• The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited