In a very interesting move by Microsoft, the 12-month Xbox Live Gold memberships are coming to an end. This means you will no longer be able to pay for a 12-month membership via Microsoft’s own store, leaving you with just 1-month or 3-month memberships to choose from (6-month is also still available via digital code here).
Microsoft has not yet released why this move has occurred, but it is likely due to their push toward cloud gaming surrounding Project Cloud and the Game Pass Ultimate subscription.
This means they are likely pushing to convert the 12-month subscribers toward Game Pass Ultimate subscriptions to increase both revenue and function of these accounts when it comes to the upcoming Xbox Series X console. Either that or a complete overhaul on how all of these subscriptions interact with the new console and consoles to come.
They have no commented on what will happen to the currently subscribed 12-month memberships and if they will continue out their life or be converted to modern or new subscription plans. There are still plenty of 12-month membership codes circulating the market both digitally and via gift card-like formats. So if you want to take the gamble of getting your account automatically converted at the current rate, you might want to snag one these codes available via other markets like Amazon while you still can, so that you can guarantee an active subscription before these other sources dry up.
Clearly, something is about to go down at Microsoft when it comes to their available subscription services. Have a better theory you’d like to share? Feel free to use the comments below.
