Testing for Xbox Live Gold paywall removal for free games has begun

A new blog post from Xbox Wire reveals Xbox Insiders, specifically the Alpha Skip-Ahead group, will be able to test the new features Xbox has planned, including the removal of having to pay for an Xbox Live Gold membership in order to play multiplayer on free-to-play games.

Some of these games include Fortnite, Call of Duty: Warzone, Apex Legends, and many others.

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Along with being able to now play these games on multiplayer without a membership, you will also be able to use Looking 4 Groups and Party Chat without a membership.

This news comes not too long after Microsoft initially raised the price on Xbox Live Gold memberships, which came with a lot of backlash. This prompted them to reverse the price raise, while also adding that they would be removing the need to have an Xbox Live Gold membership in order to play multiplayer on free-to-play games.

This is certainly good news for Xbox fans, as it was always annoying to have to pay for a free-to-play game, which essentially just meant that the game was never actually free for Xbox players.

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This update will be available to Xbox Insiders starting today, but we are not sure how long it will be until the paywall is removed for the rest of the general public. Considering they are already going into an early testing stage, though, means that it most likely isn’t too far away for the rest of us.

Once this does become available to everyone, it means you will be able to play these free games without a membership, and will include any other upcoming games, like Halo: Infinite, which is said to have free-to-play multiplayer.