Two years ago, I wrote that it was obvious Microsoft wanted to stop Xbox Live Gold and instead put all its focus on Game Pass, so we've waited a long time for this.
Because it seems like Windows Central made a mistake and published an article confirming that Xbox Live Gold will be turned into a new Game Pass tier called Xbox Game Pass Core on the 1st of September before removing it very quickly, but not before cafe.naver.com managed to grab the information.
This won't just be a change of name, as Games with Gold will finally be put to rest as a part of this. Instead, Xbox Game Pass Core subscribers will get access to a small selection of the games available with the regular/higher tiers of Game Pass, starting with more than 25 games, including:
Among Us
Descenders
Dishonored 2
Doom Eternal
Fable Anniversary
Fallout 4
Fallout 76
Forza Horizon 4
Gears 5
Grounded
Halo 5: Guardians
Halo Wars 2
Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice
Human Fall Flat
Inside
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Psychonauts 2
State of Decay 2
The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited
Games you've already acquired as part of Games with Gold will still be available as long as you have Xbox Game Pass Core, so it makes sense that existing Xbox Live Gold members will automatically be converted to Core. Then it shouldn't be a surprise that the pricing will remain the same and that Xbox Game Pass Core is required to play multiplayer games that aren't free-to-play.
Expect to get an official confirmation and more details about this either later today or later this week depending on if Microsoft wants the acquisition of Activision Blizzard King to get all of the spotlight or not.
How does Xbox Game Pass Core sound to you?