author: Bart Woldanski
12-month Xbox Live Gold Subscription Disappears From Microsoft's Offer
Microsoft has officially stopped selling a one-year Xbox Live Gold subscription in its store. The reasons for this decision were not provided.
The option to purchase the 12-month Xbox Live Gold subscription plan disappeared from the official Microsoft store. From now on, we can only purchase access for one month (for $9.99) or three months (for $24.99). We did not learn the reasons for canceling the annual Xbox Live Gold subscription plan - the official announcement only revealed that "for the moment" it was decided to remove this plan from the offer. It is not clear whether these words could mean its return in the future.
It is possible that the removal of this subscription is due to the fact that it was cheaper to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, which normally costs $13.99 per month and brings much greater benefits. The subscription gives users access to the Xbox Live Gold service and enables them to use the Xbox Game Pass on both Xbox One and PC. In addition, from September this year Microsoft will introduce significant changes, as the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will include Project xCloud, a service for streaming games from Xbox on Android-based smartphones and tablets at no extra charge.
The success of the Xbox Game Pass subscription has led Microsoft to focusing its attention mainly on it, trying to tempt players to buy it. Xbox Live Gold itself only allows for multiplayer gaming on Xbox consoles and access to monthly Games with Gold and special discounts.