More than 50 games on Xbox Series X are now totally free-to-play

More than fifty games on Xbox Series X are now totally costless-to-play

(Image credit: Microsoft)

Microsoft's refusal to allow free-to-play games to be played online without an active Xbox Live Gold membership has long been a point of contention with gamers. Just earlier this year, the gaming behemothic announced information technology would be removing this restriction.

That day has finally come for Xbox players. Starting today, gratis-to-play games on Xbox Series 10, Xbox Series Southward, and Xbox One volition exist completely free to play online with friends, equally announced via Xbox Wire. This is a big shift in Microsoft's handling of its online service and is a well overdue change as none of Xbox'southward competitors place similar limits when it comes to free-to-play titles.

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It'll as well come as something of a accident to Sony's PS5 and PlayStation Plus service, which always had unrestricted access to free-to-play games equally a meaning advantage over Xbox Live. Now both services offer gamers the power to play a range of free-to-play titles without needing to fork over a monthly subscription fee. The same is true on Nintendo Switch and, of course, PC.

This change will affect more than 50 free-to-play titles, and while the full listing tin can be found on Xbox.com, the almost significant games include heavy hitters like Fortnite, Noon Legends, Rocket League, Roblox and Call of Duty: Warzone. For gamers obsessed with these titles, it'll surely be a relief that they tin now cancel their Xbox Alive subscription (and probably funnel that money into more V-Bucks!).

It'south worth remembering that this consumer-friendly change hasn't necessarily come about for purely altruistic reasons. Microsoft appear a significant toll increase for Xbox Live Gilded back in Jan this yr, which would have seen the service effectively double in price.

Information technology was believed this move was in an effort to persuade gamers to opt for an Xbox Game Pass subscription instead, however, the proclamation was met with a violent backlash and the proposed pricing modify was rapidly walked back some 24-hours later with the change to free-to-play games announced at the same time.

This Xbox Live policy change definitely feels like a calculated olive co-operative from Microsoft later on overstepping the mark, but nevertheless, it's nonetheless a great addition for consumers. It also moves Xbox Live Gold a step closer to parity with PlayStation Plus, which was but announced to be nearing 50 million agile subscribers before today.

More: PS5 doesn't need its own Xbox Game Pass — PlayStation Plus nears 50 meg subscribers

Rory is a staff author at Tom's Guide based in the Uk. He covers a wide range of topics including tech news, deals, gaming, streaming and more. When he'southward not writing hot takes on the latest gaming hardware and streaming shows, he can exist found watching a borderline unhealthy corporeality of movies and existence thoroughly disappointed by his terrible football team.