Microsoft has plans to drop Hulu and Netflix from behind the Xbox Live Gold pay wall, at least that is if recent reports paint an accurate picture of the company’s plans for this year Electronic Entertainment Expo.
Arstechnica included the tidbit in a report with other predictions about Microsoft’s plans for gaming’s biggest event of the year early this afternoon. Citing “multiple sources within Microsoft,” the report says that Microsoft will stop requiring that Xbox One and Xbox 360 users subscribe to Xbox Live Gold before they’re able to access “streaming media apps.” Allegedly, Netflix and Hulu are included in the changes though there’s no word on what other apps will be. Today, every entertainment app outside of Xbox Video requires an Xbox Live Gold subscription.
Nintendo & Sony already allow PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Wii and Wii U owners to watch video content without a subscription to their respective services. There isn’t currently a single thing to confirm these reports, however it is interesting that rumors of Microsoft dropping the requirement should surface now. Microsoft announced that the first batch of the shows produced by Xbox Entertainment Studios would arrive in June. Microsoft could be preparing to realign the benefits of an Xbox Live Gold subscription ahead of this content’s launch.
An Xbox Live Gold subscription costs $9.99 a month or $60 a year.