Since the announcement of the Xbox One, many have wondered, rumored and speculated on what applications will require an Xbox Live Gold subscription (which runs about $60 a year) and what will require a Silver (free). Well, for those expecting a Playstation like experience that allows you to watch Netflix and others for free, you’ll be disappointed.
The news makes me wonder, though. Is this a tactic to bring in more Gold subscribers for those that want an Xbox and Netflix, or is there more to it? Does Netflix, Hulu and others require the Xbox Live service and servers, or is it just forwarding everything through to the media servers with no middleman? I really have no idea, myself. I know it’s very doable to access the Netflix servers without a third party service (Roku, PS3, PC’s, iOS, etc. do it). Perhaps it’s part of the contract, or they do get a significant amount of revenue from media viewers on the service…. For me, it doesn’t matter. I use Gold for the multiplayer gaming. Netflix, Hulu and others are there as an added bonus. For others, paying $60 a year on top of the $8 a month for Netflix is a bit too much. Paying twice to access the service.