What you need to know
- Brad Rossetti of the Xbox Preview Program has announced that the removal of the Xbox Live Gold paywall on free-to-play multiplayer games like Fortnite and Call of Duty: Warzone is being tested in a new Xbox Insider flight. It's also being tested for Looking 4 Groups and Xbox Party Chat.
- Specifically, the flight is being deployed to Xbox Insiders in the Alpha and Alpha Skip-Ahead rings.
- The flight also includes various fixes to the Xbox UI and other services.
In a new Tweet accompanied by an official blog post, Brad Rossetti of the Xbox Preview Program has announced that the removal of the Xbox Live Gold paywall on free-to-play multiplayer games like Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone, and Apex Legends is being tested in a new Xbox Insider flight. It's also being tested for Looking 4 Groups and Xbox Party Chat. The flight is being deployed to Xbox Insiders in the Alpha and Alpha Skip-Ahead rings, so if that's you, make sure you check your Xbox Insider app on your console.
This news comes two months after Microsoft promised that it would remove the paywall "as soon as possible in the coming months." Considering this paywall is currently one of the worst things about the Xbox multiplayer experience, it's great to see the feature entering testing so soon. Hopefully there aren't too many bugs with it so Microsoft can make the change official sooner rather than later. This also bodes well for Halo Infinite, as we know that its multiplayer will be free-to-play.
Are you excited to be able to play free multiplayer games on console without having to pay a fee? Let us know. Also, make sure to check out Xbox Game Pass Ultimate if you're looking for a way to play paid Xbox games online with your friends in an affordable manner.
Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Live Gold in one
Xbox Game Pass gives you access to over 200 games for one monthly fee. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate also adds Xbox Live Gold to the package so you can play online with your friends. You also get access to EA Play.
