It seems that Microsoft is meddling around with the Xbox brand. Last week, we learned that the company is looking to retire the Xbox Live Gold subscription, making multiplayer on the Xbox platform free. Today, we have yet another interesting rumor where Microsoft may be looking to rebrand the popular "Xbox Game Pass."
The official Twitter accounts of Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass on PC have debuted a new profile picture which has eliminated the word "Xbox," but continues to go with the Xbox logo, rebranding "Xbox Game Pass" to simply "Game Pass".
The accounts' header images showcase Obsidian's survival game Grounded and an updated tag line that says, "play now with Game Pass."
The two official Xbox Game Pass Twitter accounts also had a bantering exchange:
— PC Game Pass (@XboxGamePassPC) August 1, 2020
Microsoft has been doing some interesting things lately. Their exploits began with rumors claiming that multiplayer on Halo Infinite will be free, which turned out to be true, pointing to a bigger surprise. Now, there's the elimination of the Xbox from the Xbox Game Pass.
Additionally, there have been reports that Microsoft has ceased to make Xbox One X and Xbox One S All-Digital Edition consoles. With the next-gen Xbox Series X on the horizon, the company confirmed that it has discontinued the production of two of the three current-gen Xbox systems. The only current-gen system to stick around is the Xbox One S, which includes a Blu-ray drive.
"As we ramp into the future with Xbox Series X, we're taking the natural step of stopping production on Xbox One X and Xbox One S All-Digital Edition," Microsoft said in a statement to The Verge. "Xbox One S will continue to be manufactured and sold globally."
Even though Microsoft discontinued the annual subscription for Xbox Live Gold, you can still continue to buy the monthly and quarterly subscriptions. We hope that Microsoft will completely eliminate the Xbox Live Gold service with the launch of Xbox Series X.
