Update: Xbox Live Gold fee changes reversed

Microsoft has decided to make a u-turn on their decision to increase the subscription fees to their Xbox Live Gold service. The decision came as a reaction from the gaming community to the news that fees would be going up on the service’s monthly, quarterly, and bi-annual subscriptions. Much like the announcement about the changes, the announcement about the u-turn also came from an Xbox Wire update.

Microsoft official channels are now reporting of a reversal to their announcement yesterday. This is undoubtedly a response to the reaction from yesterday’s announcement. They are now acknowledging error in their part, and have announced that they are no longer going through with the changes.

On top of this announcement, the Xbox Wire update also revealed that users will no longer need Xbox Live Gold to play free-to-play games. Previously, players needed a Gold membership to play online, even games that were downloaded for free from the store such as Fortnite and Call of Duty: Warzone. This was already a matter of contention amongst the Xbox user base, as users of Xbox’s main competitor PlayStation did not require a membership of any kind to play the same games. Yesterday’s news further aggravated this issue, as users were being told to pay more to play these free games, but the matter seems to have met its end with the latest announcement.