Why does xbox live gold need to exist?

Xbox live/online play started on the original xbox long before the xbox 360 even existed.

The xbox servers cost money to run & they're a lot more secure than other platforms.

I remember when the Playstation/PSN servers were free & trust me,it was terrible.

A years live isn't expensive & if Microsoft rewards is available in your region then you can pretty much get live/ultimate for free.

I've not paid for a gold sub in ages thanks to rewards.

Microsoft don't make any money on selling consoles either so they need another way to make a profit.

Gold isn't preventing you from playing games online with friends,not buying a gold sub is. If you buy an online only game knowing that you need a gold sub in order to play that game then that's down to you.

F2P games don't need gold now so if paying the small fee for a gold sub is too much then maybe stick to the F2P games.

You gotta remember the difference between pc and console

Consoles are sold at a loss espeically the current gen

You really don't expect a 2000 dollar computer made in bulk to cost 700 dollars do you,? The gpu is 500-700 dollar alone based on rdna 2 cards that came out in December

Pcs are sold at profit and game manufacturrers don't subsidize hardware even though steam has the steam box but that money goes to them

When sony operated psn for.free and Nintendo the online divisions were posting losses in the billions

2billion per year for sony due to the fact t ps3 were sold at a 400 dollar loss and not enough psn plus subscribers to make up the losses

That's why both nintendo and sony charges for current gen consoles online access

You don't need to buy online only games thata is upto you

If 5 bucks a month is expensive for you you need a better hobby

Hello there,

It does seem like everyone is transitioning to all or nothing for gamepass ultimate but there are lots of people that still use gold only. However, it is true that if you use the Microsoft Rewards program, then the subscriptions are very easily renewable without spending as much if anything at all. If you're not already part of the Rewards program then I'll leave the link below should you feel like signing up. Hope this helps!

https://account.microsoft.com/rewards/rafwelcome?rh=512742A6&ref=1000

I believe you will need to upgrade to Xbox Live Gold. That previous service you had of Silver does not exist anymore.

https://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-360/xbox-live/connecting-to-xbox-live

Also for a little more info on the prize. Nowhere does it stipulate that you cannot use the One Month Code with an existing Microsoft Account Which already has Gold. When looking at the xbox.com/usagerules , No where does it state that a "Xbox LIVE Prepaid
1 month Gold Membership Card." cannot be added to an existing gold account.