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No, You Don't Need to Pay for Xbox Live on Windows 10

Microsoft confirms an Xbox Live Gold subscription is not required to play games online using the new Xbox app for Windows 10.

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It might not come as much of a surprise, but Microsoft has now officially confirmed that you will not need an Xbox Live Gold subscription to access online multiplayer when the service comes to PC via Windows 10 later this year.

An Xbox Live Gold subscription ($60/year) is required on Xbox 360 and Xbox One to play games online and to take part in some sales and other promotions.

No Caption Provided

Microsoft's Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb confirmed the news this week. On Twitter, Hryb said: "Not charging. Xbox Live Gold will not be required for online multiplayer gaming using our service on Windows 10 PCs and Phones."

Xbox Live for Windows 10 was announced during a January Microsoft event. Many of the Xbox Live features already available Xbox, including chat, friends lists, and the Activity feed, will also be available on PC. In fact, some PC gamers can already try out these features, provided they are part of the Microsoft Insider testing program.

When it launches later this year, Xbox Live for Windows 10 will also support Xbox-to-PC streaming, cross-platform play with Xbox One, and GameDVR. Windows 10 is set to launch sometime this fall, though a specific launch date has not yet been announced.

Got a news tip or want to contact us directly? Email news@gamespot.com

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Chr0noid

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Chr0noid

WAKE UP SHEEPLE. YOU ARE PAYING FOR P2P. YOU ARE PAYING REDUNDANTLY FOR YOUR OWN ISP. THIS KIND OF NEWS SHOULD BE SPARKING SOME SORT OF RAISED EYEBROWS FROM THE COMMUNITY. But lo and behold, people are just acting like this is business as usual.


I guess I shouldn't be surprised. I've been barking up the "Paying for Xbox Live and PSN is a scam" tree for years now and no one seems to understand nor care.

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VegasDog

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VegasDog

<< LINK REMOVED >> They bought 300,000 dedicated servers with that money, well spent. If you don't like it nobody is forcing you to pay, a couple dollars a month, lmao.

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BDRTFM

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BDRTFM

<< LINK REMOVED >> I CAN TALK WITH ALL CAPS LIKE I'M SPECIAL TOO!


Seriously dude, all you have to worry about is yourself. If you don't like paying for Live or PSN cool. If you had half a brain, you'd figure out that the free games every month pay for the sub 100 times over.

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Avatar image for Jinzo_111887
Jinzo_111887

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Jinzo_111887

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Not if you already have the ones you want, they don't. A game that doesn't interest someone doesn't hold much value to them.

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Chr0noid

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Chr0noid

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> But they aren't free. Please learn the meaning of the word free before you throw around words like it.

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BDRTFM

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BDRTFM

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> It costs $60 a year for live. They give away hundreds of dollars worth of games. Do the math.

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Jinzo_111887

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> The Atari Jaguar slogan. That didn't work out too well for them.

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Chr0noid

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Chr0noid

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Yeah, and while you've payed 60 bucks a year, I've saved up 60 bucks a year and bought a brand spankin new GPU.
And I can still play online during all that time.

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BDRTFM

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BDRTFM

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> lol, a new GPU cost $500 for a decent one. I know, I sell them. That's seven years worth of free games - 168 or so games for 360 and X1 for one GPU. Or, you know, you could pay the $60 for live and buy a GPU as well. Its the price of 1 game and you get 36-48 free games for that $60.

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Chr0noid

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Chr0noid

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> As soon as you stop subscribing you LOSE ACCESS to those games. It is not free.

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JRTexx

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JRTexx

<< LINK REMOVED >> They're free.

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BDRTFM

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BDRTFM

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Ahh, no. On Xbox live, you keep them for life.

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sainraja

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sainraja

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> No, you don't.

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Chr0noid

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Chr0noid

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Correction. As long as you subscribe to Xbox Live Gold, you keep them for life.

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BDRTFM

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BDRTFM

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> That's for Xbox One not Xbox Live.

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andmcq

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andmcq

<< LINK REMOVED >> $60 per year. $5 per month. $1.15 per week. 0.16c per day. 0.007c per hour.


What a phenomenal ripoff. Get the FBI, MI5 and the CIA onto this asap!

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Jinzo_111887

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Compared to Steam being free all year long, it is.

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andmcq

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andmcq

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Steam operates in a totally different market though.

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Jinzo_111887

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Not as far as I can tell.

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andmcq

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andmcq

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Really?

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Jinzo_111887

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Jinzo_111887

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Yes. Even if you claim the whole "Sony's selling hardware" thing, the PS4 was selling for a profit margin at launch.

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andmcq

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andmcq

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Nah, just the whole competition thing. Microsoft and Steam can't charge users a monthly fee on PC, people would just go elsewhere.

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Jinzo_111887

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Jinzo_111887

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Let's think about a few things for a bit. What did Sony say was the main reason PS3 games wouldn't be playable on PS4? The architecture is different. What other device does the PS4 and XBO share their architecture with? PC. Now for a question that regards the other two: What's keeping people from playing those games on PC?

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suicidesn0wman

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suicidesn0wman

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> All consoles are basically PCs, they're just heavily specialized PCs. X1 & PS4 games are built to take advantage of the current hardware configuration.

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Jinzo_111887

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Maybe you aren't getting what I'm saying. Imagine something on PC that would let you play PS4 games without a PS4. Not good for Sony as it would hurt what they like to brag about.

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andmcq

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andmcq

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> What are we talking about again? :|

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Jinzo_111887

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> My point was PS4 and XBO games could probably be played on PC if you think about those two things.

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andmcq

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andmcq

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Sure, I agree, they're more like PC's than ever (well, the DC was close).

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Jinzo_111887

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Unfortunately, it can backfire in a way. Imagine if a PS4 emulator were available. That would hurt those console sales numbers Sony brags about.

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suicidesn0wman

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suicidesn0wman

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> You also should not be arguing about console hardware vs PC when you know nothing about console architecture, PCs, or emulators.

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Jinzo_111887

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Jinzo_111887

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Actually, I've read a few articles. The PS4 is supposed to be more PC like and running on a modified version of FreeBSD. It might not actually need a true emulator so much as a compatibility layer like WINE was for Linux.

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VegasDog

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> I pay $35 a year

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suicidesn0wman

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suicidesn0wman

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> When it comes to a DDoS attack like the one both networks faced on Christmas, its like using a garden hose to stop a volcano.

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suicidesn0wman

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suicidesn0wman

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> That's like saying no point in paying the police force since they can't prevent every crime.

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suicidesn0wman

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suicidesn0wman

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> You do realize that they don't get DDoS'd that often right? And that not all the attacks are as massive as the Christmas ones. If LS were to use those bots all the time, not only would they get caught by the various government cyber crime taskforce, they'd probably lose a large amount of the bots from users finding out why their PC is suddenly so slow. Like the Volcano analogy, it doesn't happen very often, and when it does, there isn't sh*t you can do about it.

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suicidesn0wman

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> You have no idea what it takes to build a botnet of that size, nor the challenge of doing so without ending up with a visit from the FBI Parytvan. Those botnets probably took years to build.

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suicidesn0wman

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suicidesn0wman

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> It's obvious you know nothing about hacking, DDoS, or networking in general. Maybe it is not a subject you should be arguing about in public.

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suicidesn0wman

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suicidesn0wman

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Then why don't you go test it. See if you even make one single user on it lag even the slightest bit.

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davem1992

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Too right I don't, sticking with Steam.

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BDRTFM

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BDRTFM

<< LINK REMOVED >> You know you pay for Steam as well right? How do you think Steam exists? They charge the game publishers and the game publishers tack that cost onto the games you buy. Just because you don't see the $ you are paying, doesn't mean its free.

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Jinzo_111887

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> I got a number of PC games for less than their console counterparts, so I highly doubt you're telling the truth.

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<< LINK REMOVED >> I see you also believe in the magic PC fairy.

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VegasDog

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<< LINK REMOVED >> NO, there's a magic PC fairy that goes around and gives it to them for free. I'm surprised you didn't know that. Just like a woman, your going to pay one way or another.

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davem1992

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davem1992

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> I don't pay for online, all I care about.

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BDRTFM

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> Yes you do. If you buy games off Steam, 30% of the game price goes to Steam.

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davem1992

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> I'm sorry what?


Do they charge me £50 yearly for a service that I don't really want?


No they don't.

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deathstream

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deathstream

They have been saying this for a long time. Why did I fall for the clickbait?

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jenovaschilld

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It might not come as much of a surprise, but Microsoft has now officially confirmed that you will not need an Xbox Live Gold subscription to access online multiplayer when the service comes to << LINK REMOVED >> via Windows 10 later this year.

Has anyone even asked this question, I mean who would even assume that you would??? Why would the next iteration of windows have anything to do with how we play pc multiplayer games any differently than we have for 25+ years. Or that just because some features of pc and consoles would suggest a payment anyways.

This is just another fluff piece or click-bait piece probably by Eddie McKunt the tro1l bait king of gaming journalism, ... after scrolling up, it is him again, no surprise.

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megakoresh

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megakoresh

Streaming games from Xbox to my 1.5K gaming rig. Now that is a feature I always asked for...

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VegasDog

<< LINK REMOVED >> Didn't know the world revolved around you. Or does everyone have a 1.5k gaming rig? Careful, your intelligence is showing or maybe not.

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<< LINK REMOVED >> If you can use your KB to play games, some would love to play Halo without using a controller.

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<< LINK REMOVED >> why would you do that? They still will be 720-900p and 30 fps O.O there is no difference if you play them on Xbox or PC, they will look and play exactly the same.

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stillstillstill

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stillstillstill

<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >> don't you see that huge puddle of sarcasm? lol, it's kinda disgusting.

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jenovaschilld

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<< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >><< LINK REMOVED >>mega, that sarcasm went right over Saidrex head. Whoosh,....

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