Major Nelson: No Xbox Live Gold Needed For Online Multiplayer On Windows 10

With this reveal, it's crystal clear that Microsoft is playing nice, and that means good things for gamers who pick up Windows 10 on whatever device.

[Fro_xoxo]

I was thinking about this.. good thing it's cleared up. They kno' folks on PC won't pay anyways lol

How about dropping that fee on Live for console.. far fetched huh? ^_^.

[freshslicepizza]

they tried it before with windows gaming and it failed miserably. for whatever reason (I know it's about milking consumers for money) they will not offer a free alternative on the xbox. they really should as this would give them back much needed credibility

[Fishy Fingers]

Certainly won't drop the console fee, especially with Sony following suit. There's just too much compitition on PC for them to charge for a service others already do for free.

It's not like they have the PC catalog of their own software to command it.

[badz149]

LOL

playing nice? more like they don't have a choice.

[deadpoolio316]

They do offer a free alternative....It's called a silver account and you just don't play online...

[DLConspiracy]

You get what you pay for. People think it's all cozy on the side of free, but truth be PC gamers pay to have voice chat on quality services. Sure you can use free services, but it's not always cracked up to be what it sounds like. The preferred method on PC is Team Speak. That costs a lot more than XBOX live for a year. You have to pay for a server to use that.

[IrishSt0ner]

Oh really, false stereotype much....

http://www.extremetech.com/...

PC is where it's at, already taken over console, and well, you can see the trend for yourself.

OT: Good, I stopped my subscription so now I'll get my achievements moved over and get to play for free. Cross buying games will help their cause too. It'll be hard to match Steam sales though.

[VforVideogames]

You have to have Live on youre XBO in order to play multi on any other device like pc or tablet.

[IrishSt0ner]

@VforVideogmaes - What now? I have LIVE on my XBO, just not GOLD anymore so what I said remains true going by this statement:

"Xbox Live Gold will not be required for online multiplayer gaming using our service on Windows 10 PC"

That's fairly clear cut to me anyway.

Also LOL at the salty disagrees at pure fact.

[deadpoolio316]

Oh Jesus, they NEVER said that cross buy was going to be a thing....They simply stated that they wanted all the 1ST party games available on Xbox One to also be available on PC, not that you would get the PC/Xbox One version every time....And you can bet that ain't gonna happen with 3rd party multiplat games when they do throw out a cross buy here and there.

[xDHAV0K24x]

what they CAN do is drop it to $40

[dcbronco]

You're never going to see them drop it to $40. Because then it wouldn't be considered a deal when you see it on sale for $40 every other week. Nobody pays $60.

[PONTIAC08G8GT]

Go on eBay, they are for sale under $40 frequently.

And just to break it down since people think $60 is outrageous

$60/year = $5.00/month
$50/year = $4.17/month
$40/year = $3.34/month

[awi5951]

Wont fall for it windows live's game saves are linked to live. If you dont have live your game saves are corrupted and wont load so you cant download game saves or tranfer them very easily.

[IGiveHugs2NakedWomen]

I wouldn't go as far as saying what you're saying, but there will definitely be some sort of "catch" with this Windows 10 upgrade. Microsoft is really pushing this upgrade and there has to be a reason for it, a reason that they probably won't mention until after people upgrade.

[dcbronco]

Yeah, there's a catch. You move the vast majority of people away from older OS so that you can innovate, have one OS across every platform, one store, bring new developers into the fold because of easily monetary opportunities, move towards dropping increasingly expensive support of legacy software........

Their are a ton of reasons for them to offer it for free. And it pretty much all benefits the consumer.

[Pogmathoin]

Bronco, he is praying for a catch.... Even though he will never own an Xbox and does not game on PC, it consumes his life more than his precious PS3

[DLConspiracy]

@Igivehugs

Do you even own a MS product?

[Bobby Kotex]

Only a console gamer would think this was even remotely possible.

[DLConspiracy]

There are things on Xbox Live you don't get on PC. Like voice chat. People underestimate the cost of running many servers to use voice chat often. Look at the prices it cost to run Team Speak. All the other free services tend to go down often.

[LordSane]

"There are things on Xbox Live you don't get on PC. Like voice chat."
What are you talking about, steam had voice chat feature for a long time along with taking screenshots and streaming gameplay all for free.

[DLConspiracy]

@lord

I am fully aware of that. I tend to use them but nothing beats team speak. Sorry... Its preferred and definitely better. I try to use group chat in steam but it often disconnects the group chat. You get what you pay for. The point I was making is that xbl is not some obligatory charge like it used to be.

I game mostly on PC. So I am fully aware of every way possible.

[awi5951]

There are hundreds of free voice chat options on pc. STeam, skype, the new curse voice chat. Free teamspeak and mumble,ventrillo. Also GSC gives you free 200 player dedicated voice servers. So you have no idea what you are talking about.

[DLConspiracy]

@awi

Did I not just say you can use it but you get what you pay for? Or did you completely skip over that part?

I wasn't being rude when I said it. You were.

[awi5951]

There are lots of quality voice servers out there for free with better voice quality than xbox. GSC is one that will give you a free 200 player dedicated voice server.

[DarkOcelet]

It would be awesome if they made XBL gold just for free games and premium stuff and not for multiplayer gameplay. That will attract alot of people. They should seriously think about that.

However this is good news indeed.

[hello12]

To be honest an x box live subscription service isn't viable on x box 1 if PC can access the same features and play the same exclusives for free there is know why x box gamers will just accept that.

There is still lot of unknowns how this will affect x box 1 today more videos from GDC should be released hopefully learn more.

Moldybread@ I have the Windows 10 app already i can post a screenshot if required! I am using the Windows 10 technical preview OS

All those features you mentioned are already there in the Windows 10 x box app.

I am a PC gamer the majority of people who own a PC don't buy AAA exclusives they play games that cost very little they don't want to pay for anything.

[freshslicepizza]

xbox live is viable on the xbox platform because it's a walled garden meaning all of your friends, achievements and every game that comes out is integrated within the service. on the pc front it doesn't happen that way. it isn't a closed platform.

as for exclusives, tell me again why games that are also available on the pc sell well on consoles like the ps4? if fact many sell better than most exclusives and the online is free on the pc. there is astill a huge market out there for people who prefer gaming on the console. sony also has games that are on their handheld that are also on the console, why is that viable?

[SteamPowered]

The PS4 has only been out a year. Console Gamers dont have much choice right now. There is a reason why mediocre games sell on current gen consoles- lack of content. My Pc catalogue is already at 98 games. Because Pc is also Backwards compatible, I am able to play any game past or present in 1080p/60fps.

I have so many games still not installed that Im not going to jump on a preorder or "Day One" on any game in the near future, save Arkham Knight.

So to compare console sales with Pc sales isnt really accurate. There are a few factors that must be accounted for.

[TheRedButterfly]

You do know that Achievements/Friends/etc actually are NOT tied to a Gold subscription, right? Do you even know that XBL "Silver" exists?

[freshslicepizza]

@SteamPowered,

the best selling games last generation also saw many pc games sell well on the console, even late in the generation. call of duty is a prime example.

@TheRedButterfly,

that still doesn't explain how microsoft is able to put online gaming behind a paywall on the console but not on the pc. all of your xbox games are synced with xbox live and the matchmaking for online gaming also ties with all xbox games. invites and friend lists and requests all work under xbox live. that is not something microsoft can do on the pc as it's an open platform. i am not saying that means they should charge but it's an easy way for microsoft to explain why they can on the console and not the pc.

[Volkama]

"I am a PC gamer the majority of people who own a PC don't buy AAA exclusives they play games that cost very little they don't want to pay for anything."

Eh? PC gamers buy plenty of AAA games. They don't pay as much for them as console gamers do, but that doesn't mean "they don't want to pay for anything".

PC gamers are quite comfortable not paying to play online though, you're right about that. And I agree that if Microsoft offer all of the best features of Gold to PC players for free then the Xbox gamers with their heads screwed on will question why they are being asked to subscribe for those same services.

But realistically, Microsoft aren't in the business of offering services for free. Every play they make has the end goal of making them more money. We'll see how this fits before long.

[BC_Master_Haze]

My steam library has 2 indies and the rest are AAA

[wannabe gamer]

speak for yourself pal ive been pc gaming for 15+ years and have a lot of friends in the same boat and what you are saying doesnt match up at all.

[TonyPT]

"I am a PC gamer the majority of people who own a PC don't buy AAA exclusives they play games that cost very little they don't want to pay for anything. "

LOL!!

[kstap33]

That's true in my experience of PC gamers. They usually spend all their money building their rig, and then ply games off steam sales or pirate copies (myself included, back in the day). My nephews call me every other week to fix their pcs from malware they picked up trying to find free stuff. They also have game consoles, but I dont think they've spent a penny on PC software (other than Office that their Mom paid for.

[Seafort]

Hmm really? I have Cities Skylines and Sid Meiers Starships on 10th March which I have preordered. Both PC exclusives.

I pay for quite a lot of games and back quite a lot on Kickstarter.

I backed Wasteland 2 along with many others so the console gamers have the privilege of playing one of the best TBS of last year.

Once a PC is built that's it. No more cost for at least 3-4 years unless you're a PC enthusiast and upgrade every time a new graphics card comes out.

The games are cheaper as there is no royalty costs from an overlord company as no one owns the PC platform, not even Microsoft.

933 games just on steam along with 15-20 games on origin and uplay. And people say PC gamers don't buy games and support our platform of choice. GTFO :)

[jairusmonillas]

They can't anyway even if they wanted to,

Steam already beats whatever Xbox Live on PC offers lol

[jbronie123]

Steam is overrated, the sales aren't even that good. For example MAx Payne for $2?? Who the hell hasn't played MAx Payne? Old games for cheap is all Steam is.

[Utalkin2me]

I totally agree. People act like steam has just great pricing. Which actually it does not. All new games are priced accordingly, and just decade old games is cheap. And their old games are still not competitive in price compared to humble bundle. I haven't bought one thing off of steam and thought to myself that i got a great deal.

[thexmanone]

Overrated? LOL. Even there new releases are cheaper then counsels.
I just can`t wait for November when Steam link and the Steam controller comes out for 49.99 each. I will be able to play all my 350 steam games on my T.V.

http://www.anandtech.com/sh...

So bring on those so called overrated sales. And Who wouldn't want to buy max pain for $2. Even if they did play it. That was a great game.

[Axonometri]

You guys are talking about Steam. The Steam here on planet Earth, right?

Steam essentially IS the PC market. WTH are you talking about? lol

[BC_Master_Haze]

Walked into EB games the other day... Alien isolation was 35 dollars used with their rewards card, Unity was 50 with the rewards card (used, again) tomb raider was 20 dollars used with rewards card.

Steam: alien isolation for 25 on Christmas sale, Unity has been 30, was 45 shortly after launch, and I picked up tomb raider for 5 bucks.

[Vegamyster]

Why would you use the original Max Payne as your example? I picked up Max Payne 3 (Little under 3 years old) for $5 a two weeks ago.

[Volkama]

Steam is good, but there are cheaper ways to buy Steam games than Steam directly.

Shadow of Mordor for £9? Advanced Warfare £16, Dying Light £19 and so on

Same applies to other PC platforms. I've already pre-ordered Battlefield Hardline for £22.50, and at £2.34 Watch_Dogs doesn't seem such a raw deal.

[r2oB]

@ BC Master Haze

So you are comparing recent pricing for console games to past sales of steam games? That does not seem fair. Steam has good sales, so do consoles... Its all a matter of timing. Its also a matter of how people have access to their games. I don't pay more than $48 for physical games on launch, and I can get any digital game on launch for either $25 or $35 by gamesharing on PS4. This is all without any sales that can make games even cheaper for me.

You can make anything seem better if you cherry pick the situation. For example if I wanted to buy AC Unity today, on steam right now it would cost me $59.99. Or, I could get the console version from Best Buy for $48.

[Volkama]

@R20b I can get the U-Play version of AC Unity for £18 right now.

But interestingly, I can get the Xbox One game digitally for £13. Unity and Black Flag are the incredibly rare exception to the rule where a console version is cheaper, because the market was flooded with CD keys when Microsoft flogged as many black friday AC console bundles as possible but nobody actually wanted the games.

A brief glimpse into how much better the console digital ecosystems would be if MS and Sony started selling keys through normal retail channels.

[TonyPT]

"Steam is overrated, the sales aren't even that good. For example MAx Payne for $2?? Who the hell hasn't played MAx Payne? Old games for cheap is all Steam is."

LOL!! Is kinda entertaining to read some comments around here :P

[Joda]

Yep. The only stuff that seems to go on sale is indies, Gary's mod, and valve shit. Sometimes u get $7 crysis or far cry, but ehh. They keep saying digital is cheaper because it eliminates resale and brick and mortar stores yet I go on steam and call of duty is $60. Lol, ok. Black ops 1 is $30 digital! I bought the 360 version on disc for $5 and on ps3 for $15! Not only that I get my ass kicked by some geek with a mouse cuz I prefer controller.

No thanks, aside from graphics PC is whack. And steam is whack. PC guys diss origin but at least they give away free games.

[r2oB]

@ volkama

Thats my point, deals happen everywhere. PC games aren't universally cheaper than console games like people think. There are many variables that come into play.

[Volkama]

r2ob, PC games are universally cheaper than console games. Unity is a science-defying exception to the rules of the universe.

[_-EDMIX-_]

@BC....just stop.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/of...

You can get Alien Isolation for $27 used Amazon on PS4....right now.

and it will stay that price if not keep lowering every other month or so.

Right now....Isolation is $50 on Steam....

Soooo sales are nice, but all year, low prices used that get lower every month is better.

Mind you....I have over 50 games on Steam (ON STEAM...not counting my other PC titles prior to Steam either bud)

PSN ID is EDMIX, Steam ID is Edmix_the_shogun

It is a huge misconception that Steam games are um..."cheaper"

Yes...under a sale, but even then used your likely to find it a bit cheaper. And its only for a couple days out of the year mind you vs all year round.

Sooo you just walked into a EB? No Amazon? No Ebay?

All this tells me is your just a bad shopper is all.

Steam has many good deals, lots of times, don't get me wrong, but if your looking to save money on games....console.

As a person that owns both...I can tell you my used PS3 library can be larger then my PC library at the drop of a hatch just by going on Ebay or Amazon. (any time of the year bud)

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref...

Got Mass Effect 1 for $10 off of Amazon for PC.

Got Mass Effect 2 for $5 off of a Steam sale...

Take a look at how much Mass Effect 2 is RIGHT NOW on Steam!!!

annnnnnnd

http://www.amazon.com/gp/of...

So....your week of "low prices" vs all year round off of Amazon, Ebay etc.

Love both, but only one is always cheaper for good, vs mildly cheaper for a week. Steam sales are amazing, but please don't make it sound like its "cheaper" when in fact one can find cheaper games on console used all year off of other stores.

[awi5951]

You guys dont know what you are talking about games are usually half price after a month of release on steam. The new dragon age i saw it on sale for 39 dollars i bet the console version is still at 60. I saw watchdogs for 8 bucks. I just got titanfall for 4 dollars battlefield 4 for 14 bucks. Hell my friend got battlefield 3 for 1 dollar lol. The witcher enhanced edition was 3 dollars yesterday that is a great rpg.

[jukins]

kinda sucks to be playing a game with people who will probably have better performance and also don't have to pay to play online.

[Kayant]

"kinda sucks to be playing a game with people who will probably have better performance and also don't have to pay to play online." - As supposed to what? You're acting like this doesn't happen for the majority of games on XB1/X360. XBL doesn't make a magically playing field were everyone's connection is equal.

[jukins]

What? I was talking about better performance on pc hardware with the bonus of not having to pay to play online. Maybe you your hurry to be right and correct someone maybe you should re-rear and try to comprehend what I typed. Where did u say anything about xbl creating a magically level playing field.

[Kayant]

Sorry for misinterpreting there but why would that matter exactly? If they had poor internet their performance advantage could easily be lost depending on the game and/or how bad their connection is.

[Zeref]

I don't think any self-respecting developer will put a competitive shooter on Xbox Live for PC with Cross-platform play. That's just insane.

But Phil did say its up to the developers.

[WESKER2015]

kinda disappointed in this, so PC gamers will be playing fable legends for free while xbox gamers will be charged, i dont know man, this news kinda knocked me back a bit, sort it out microsoft, it feels like i am being punished if i buy fable legends on xbox one and rewarded if i buy fable legends on pc, very strange

[badz149]

err...so...why would you choose the route where you feel that you're getting punished for doing so? doesn't make any sense.

why would you choose "that" route for? controller? you can use it on pc too. couch? you can connect your pc to your tv too. friends? I think the friend list will be integrated between live on pc and Xbone, right?

so, if you have both a capable pc a the xbone and the game you want is available on both and on top of it, it's cross-play enable, there's almost no reason for you to choose the xbone version.

[jbronie123]

A console gamer is always going to game on console... Period.

[BC_Master_Haze]

There's such a thing as cross platform, bud. You're talking to one, and I can say that a fanboy will always play on console, a smart gamer will play on both.

[SteamPowered]

Maybe its time to make a switch and go the Pc route there friend. Especially if you own an X1, there is a pretty good chance a lot of franchises will transcend and make their way to Pc.
Maybe not halo, but Forza, Ryse, and Dead Rising 3 all made the jump so far.

[qwerty676]

boo hoo guys

you can find full year cards for 40 bucks a year online.

you're all acting like you have to break bank to pay for the service.

[WESKER2015]

its not the point, why play a F2P game on one platform and be charged to play online when you can play on another platform completely free?, and with pc gaming becoming more affordable i am just looking at it logically, and not everyone has money to burn, i only renew my gold sub when a online worthy game comes out

[Zeref]

Because you're not paying for just that 1 game anyway right? You're not paying just to play Fable Legends.

You're paying to play all Xbox games online. To get games at no extra charge and to get some good deals.

And not all Xbox exclusives are going to be on Windows 10. I think its safe to say that Halo and other competitive games won't be on Windows 10. Phil said he feels like CO-op focused games are best for cross-platform multiplayer.

[crazychris4124]

@Zeref Why cant they just just make multiplayer, access to apps and voice chat free with XBL Silver while everything else you can still pay for if you want? With free multiplayer you have more people in multiplayer which means games dont die out as fast, people that just play multiplayer are happy cuz they can use the $60 they save to buy a new game and people who want games with gold, better sales and other XBL Gold features can still buy it if they want. Gamers win with this model.

[Kayant]

@Zeref

That's a BS excuse because Sony does the exact same thing on PS4. There are called free to play games because they require no payment to access them.

On PS4 you are also paying to play MP games yet you can access F2P games without a PS+ sub. MS can do it if they wanted I mean talking from experience you can't played some playlist on Halo 3(iirc ranked games) on a trial membership but you can play social playlist fine.

Locking F2P games behind a paywall defeats the whole concept of F2P because it becomes P2A(Pay to access).

[Pintheshadows]

I have always hoped that he has a little brother called Minor Nelson.

On topic, is anyone really surprised by this? This seems normal to me.

[Volkama]

I'm genuinely surprised. They're giving some people a way to "opt out" of the subscription service that is the backbone of the Xbox offering.

If you don't need the hardware and you don't need the services then the gaming division are betting on their worth as a simple publisher.

The only reason I can see is that they are taking a further gamble on micro-transactions and the like, so that each game is essentially a service in itself. Which isn't necessarily good news for us.

[Pintheshadows]

I genuinely think that they have just gone with the nature of the platform. PC is a lot different to a console so you have to adjust accordingly. Can you imagine the uproar among PC gamers if they had gone with a subscription model.

[Seafort]

@Pintheshadows There would be no uproar we would just ignore it so Microsoft has to remove the subscription like we did last time they tried to charge us for G4WL.

I personally don't want to be linked to anything Xbox on my PC.

Microsoft have made it clear that Xbox comes first and is their only priority for the last 10 -15 years. PC platform is someone elses problem for them.

That's fine with me. Now fk off back to console gaming MS :)

[LexHazard79]

Funny how now this is an issue. PC multiplayer has always been free. Xbox Live has always been a paid service. So whats the problem? I'm paying for Xbox Live and PSN and I dont even game online. If gamers don't want to pay for console multiplayer they can always sell their console and build a gaming rig.

[WESKER2015]

i will pass on fable legends, all will be forgiven if you release fable 4 :)

[Reefskye]

Because they know PC gamers wont pay as they already tried it once before.

[NarooN]

Exactly. They tried it years back with GFWL and it backfired horribly. No way they'd try it again, as the results would be the same.

[Phoenix76]

I see a lot of ppl here want to complain that its not fair that console users have to pay to play, but not PC users. So my question is..... How many console only players that are here, right now, who would be up for finding the several hundred pounds that will be needed for a good enough pc, in order to play for free on a PC?

Its swings and roundabouts guys.

[iTechHeads]

Like like anyone would pay for XBL Gold just to play some crappy apps anyway.

[OC_MurphysLaw]

Its funny how this industry evolves:
* MS creates Live for Xbox and a sub fee to play online...it works pretty well.
* MS launches Live for Windows with a pay model it fails.
* Sony launches PSN with free multiplayer it struggles
* Sony creates PSN+ with free games and PSN takes off but kees MP free
* MS offeres up free games on Gold for console, Live continues to thrive. MP still locked to subscription.
* Sony quietly locks PSN MP behind paywall but continues to offer free games...PSN continues to thrive.
* Sony backs off some of the PS+ MP requirements for some games
* MS announces Live for Windows 10 with no paywall but no free games either...

I think the key to both PS+ and XBLG success moving forward is the offering of games being included. I suspect the MP requirement will go away soon for both.

[Seafort]

The only reason Live failed on PC and succeeded on Xbox is because PC gamers have a choice and Xbox gamers don't.

Simple as that.

What's Xbox gamers going to do if they don't pay up? Not play Halo or Gears online? Not a chance so they succumbed to their masters and paid up :P

[N4GJD]

And why people continue to willingly pay (at least so much) for Xbox Live Gold on consoles all these years is beyond me!

[Joda]

It's a really good service. Very organized. Polished. Solid. Everything psn is not. Sending an invite on a sony version(ps3) of call of duty is a very unpleasant experience, not to mention the final kill kill cams not matching up with the dude being shot while on the xbox versions the gun is aiming at the guy when the bullet hits.

Cod4 was the first game I had on both consoles and the ps3 version's lagginess was evident within seconds. Mw2 & world at war weren't as bad. Mw3 and black ops1&2 were laggier though. Ghosts on ps4 looked better than x1 but again more lag.

Been getting more error messages on ps4 than ps3, but mainly in kz shadowfall, kz2 gave me some trouble but not nearly as much. If sony ps4 would make online free again I would shut up., but until then I'm gonna keep giving appropriate feedback until it's as good as live or at least not so Fischer Price like. Still missing damn voice/text messages incoming AND outgoing.

[Reefskye]

Why compare to PSN? this is about Xbox live and PC.

[TXIDarkAvenger]

Heh, if they actually did. No way in hell would I pay for online. Smart move.

[KontryBoy706]

of course it's not needed. The PC community stood up against Xbox Live (Games for Windows Live) years ago. We gave Microsoft a big middle finger and they had no choice but to stop that BS then. They know not to bring it back now.

[ArtificiallyYours]

This could very well solidify their place in the generation. Free Halo multiplayer? Yeeeees. I just prefer a controller pad, is all.

[Perjoss]

Attempting to charge PC gamers for playing online would be the very best way to push gamers over to Steam OS.

[CyberSentinel]

Ok so let me get this straight, Windows 10 will be a free download for the first year of release, windows 10 will get all of XboxOne exclusives, and now all online play will be free with Windows 10. Why exactly should I get a XboxOne?

[S2Killinit]

I really don't like this guy.

Isn't what he says sort of a given? I mean was there any questions as to whether they would charge for PC gaming?

[llMurcielagoll]

I am guessing, that it wouldn't require Xbox Live gold as long as you already have a working subscription on your xbox and therefore you won't have to have a subscription twice.

... I think

[dreamed]

What happened to windows 9??