Microsoft makes multiplayer of free-to-play games free on Xbox consoles

Microsoft will make free-to-play multiplayer playable for free on Xbox One and Series X and S consoles starting Wednesday. Previously, players needed an Xbox Live Gold subscription for this, but that is no longer the case.

Microsoft announced the change in a blog post on Wednesday, where the company also publishes a list of several free-to-play multiplayer games. Currently, seventy free-to-play Xbox games have free multiplayer. The multiplayer of popular titles such as Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone, Rocket League, Destiny 2, Warframe and World of Tanks will be playable without an Xbox Live Gold subscription. Microsoft will continue to update this list as new free-to-play games are released.

Players will still need an Xbox Live Gold subscription to play the multiplayer of paid games after the change. A subscription is also required for multiplayer paid games that are temporarily free on a trial basis, for example during free-to-play weekends. Demos of games do get free multiplayer, if applicable.

The arrival of free multiplayer for free-to-play Xbox games comes as no surprise. Microsoft already announced this in January, although the company did not disclose when it would make this change. In March, the adaptation was tested with Xbox insiders. Sony and Nintendo have long offered free multiplayer of free-to-play titles on their respective consoles.