After rumors were followed by an official reveal, today the change has arrived; free to play games on Xbox no longer require an active Xbox Gold subscription to play multiplayer. The news comes via an official Xbox Wire post which revealed further details and shared the full list of affected games.
"Today, we are sharing more details on our plans to make online multiplayer in free-to-play games available on Xbox without an Xbox Live Gold membership. As part of listening to your feedback, this change will take place starting today, and all Xbox players will be able to access online multiplayer at no charge for a library of over 50 free-to-play games that support online multiplayer."
The full list is as follows:
- 3on3 FreeStyle
- Aegis Wing
- APB Reloaded
- Apex Legends
- Armored Warfare
- Battle Ages
- Battle Islands
- Battle Islands: Commanders
- Bless Unleashed
- Brawlhalla
- Call of Duty: Warzone
- Crackdown
- Crackdown 2
- Crimson Alliance
- Crossout
- CRSED: F.O.A.D.
- Darwin Project
- Dauntless
- DC Universe Online
- Dead or Alive 5 Last Round: Core Fighters
- Dead or Alive 6: Core Fighters
- Defiance 2050
- Destiny 2
- Doritos Crash Course
- Dungeon Defenders II
- Enlisted
- Eternal Card Game
- Family Game Night
- Fishing Planet
- Fortnite
- Galaxy Control: Arena
- Gems of War
- Happy Wars
- Harm’s Way
- Hawken
- Hyper Scape
- Killer Instinct
- Korgan
- Minion Masters
- Neverwinter
- Outriders (Demo)
- Paladins
- Path of Exile
- Phantasy Star Online 2
- Phantom Dust
- Pinball FX2
- Prominence Poker
- Realm Royale
- Rec Room
- Resident Evil Revelations 2
- ROBLOX
- Rocket League
- Rogue Company
- Skyforge
- SMITE
- Spacelords
- Spellbreak
- Star Trek Online
- Techwars Global Conflict
- TERA
- The Four Kings Casino and Slots
- Too Human
- Trove
- Vigor
- War Thunder
- Warface
- Warframe
- World of Tanks
- World of Warships: Legends
- Yaris
Mind you, an active Xbox Network subscription or Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription is still needed if you intend to play multiplayer games that aren't free to play, such as Gears 5, Call of Duty Black Ops Cold War, or Forza Horizon 4, among many others. Still, this move brings Xbox in line, albeit rather late, with PlayStation and Switch, which have never required a subscription to play games that are already free.