xbox live gold xbox live gold

It seems like everyone is starting their own premium gaming service these days. It can be tough for parents to be able to tell the difference between Xbox Live, PlayStation Plus, and all the others. We can’t let that stand here at EFG so we wrote up a big ol’ guide for all of the premium services so our readers can tell them all apart and understand the costs and benefits of each one.

Take a look below for our guide to Xbox Live Gold!

The Pitch

Xbox Live Gold is a subscription service for Xbox that is required in order to play online multiplayer games over Xbox Live. The service also includes periodic discounts on digital purchases through the Xbox Marketplace. It also includes a suite of free Xbox One and Xbox 360 games that are available for free each month.

How Does it Work?

Xbox Live Gold is a subscription service that must be maintained in order to keep using it. The service grants its members access to the following:

  • Online Multiplayer gaming using the Xbox Live platform
  • A suite of free games available for download each month for the Xbox Series X, Series S, or Xbox One. Typically, the suite of free games will include two for each system, but all of the Xbox 360 games released for the service will also be available on Xbox One and Xbox Series via backwards compatibility. These games can be downloaded to the your hard drive at any time, but you can only play them if you have an active Xbox Live Gold subscription.
  • Periodic discounts on digital games sold on the Xbox Marketplace. The games you purchase using a discount made available during a Xbox Live Gold subscription will remain playable even after the subscription expires.

How Much Does it Cost?

Xbox Live Gold can be purchased yearly, every six months, every 3 months, or monthly.

Parental Controls

The Xbox One has comprehensive parental controls that allow you to set age limits on the games your children can play. This age limitation will even block the downloads for free games purchased through this service. It will be useful to keep that in mind if you purchase Xbox Live Gold on your child’s account as it can reduce the value of the subscription. A workaround for this would be to purchase Xbox Live Gold on your account with your child set up as a Microsoft Family Member.

Xbox Game Pass vs Xbox Live Gold

Xbox Game Pass has only been around for a year or so, but it is often confused with Xbox Live Gold by people who don’t pay a lot of attention to games.

They are not interchangeable services. Xbox Live Gold is a subscription that provides access to Online Multiplayer gaming and a limited suite of free games each month. Xbox Game Pass gives access to a large list of games for free for the duration of the subscription. Game Pass does NOT, however, give access to online multiplayer gaming on those free games.

It is worth mentioning that Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game pass are both included in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

Advice

There isn’t much advice to give. If your family owns an Xbox One console then this is required for online play. It is, however, a pretty good value because over the course of a year the free games available through the program will add up to a significant value.

Other Guides

There are a ton of other premium video game services out there so we wrote guides for all of them.  Take a look below:

A Parent’s Guide to the Xbox Game Pass

A Parent’s Guide to PlayStation Now

A Parent’s Guide to PlayStation Plus


Make sure to keep your eyes on Engaged Family Gaming for all of the latest news and reviews you need to Get Your Family Game On!

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By Stephen Duetzmann

Editor in Chief Founder/EiC EngagedFamilyGaming.com Blogger, Podcaster, Video Host RE: games that families can play together. Editor@engagedfamilygaming.com

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