According to a recent Windows Central report by Jez Corden, Microsoft is planning to remove the paywall for online multiplayer in future Xbox consoles and from Game Pass. “Right now, I’m told the current plan is for the next Xbox specifically to have no paywall for multiplayer,” said Corden. “It wouldn’t make a lick of sense for a ‘PC’ to have paid multiplayer, particularly since it would create a strong incentive for players to simply install Steam instead of using the Xbox ecosystem on that device for online games.”
He also claims that PC Game Pass will likely be rebranded, similar to the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate tier or deprecated due to Microsoft’s plan of merging Xbox and PC ecosystems for its future consoles. “I wouldn’t be surprised if we see this deprecated in the future,” he continued. “Given that Xbox Game Pass Standard and Premium both now include some PC games.”
During a past interview with Mashable, Xbox president Sarah Bond revealed that the next Xbox console will be a premium class console that will have some similarity with the recently released ROG Xbox handhelds. “The next-gen console is going to be a very premium, very high-end curated experience,” she said. “You’re starting to see some of the thinking that we have in this handheld, but I don’t want to give it all away.”
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