Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Gaming
  3. Deals

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Best Xbox Live Gold deals for January 2023

By

While a subscription to Xbox Live is technically optional, gaming without it is missing so many core elements of the experience: multiplayer, free games, and more. So if you’re a proud owner of the Xbox 360, Xbox One, or the new Xbox Series X, you should definitely sign up for an Xbox Live Gold membership. Since it can be expensive, and to help you enjoy savings and keep your video game budget intact, we’ve scoured the web and rounded up all the best Xbox Live Gold sales in one place, including Xbox Live Gold 1-Month, Xbox Live Gold 3-Month, and Xbox Live Gold 6-Month subscriptions. You should also check out the 12-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, which offers more benefits beyond Xbox Live Gold membership.

Best Xbox Live Gold deals

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate 1-month membership — $13, was $15

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate logo and a collage of featured games
Microsoft

Play brand new titles like Starfield on day one, when they launch, or access iconic titles from Xbox Game Studios, Bethesda Softworks, and much more. You can also play online, access online Xbox Live features, and get exclusive member discounts. This digital code offers 1-month of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate 3-month membership — $38, was $45

Games on Xbox Game Pass.
Xbox

With this digital bundle you’ll get 3-months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to play and access the available library, whenever and however you want.

Related

What is Xbox Live Gold?

Xbox Live Gold is a subscription membership that is required if you want to play games online with Xbox One, Xbox 360, or Xbox Series X. Regularly, a subscription for Xbox Live Gold costs $10 per month or $60 per year. Xbox Live Gold also gives members access to additional benefits such as free games every month and discounts on selected digital games.

Whether you’re playing solo, with a single friend, or as a part of an online cooperative with a bunch of strangers, you need Xbox Live Gold to do it. Your subscription also gives you access to the party system and voice chat so you can communicate with your cohorts while you play.

Every month, Microsoft offers free games to Xbox Live Gold members through its Games with Gold program. These games are only available for a limited time (two weeks or one month) and can be redeemed via the website on your Xbox console. You can then download and keep the game for free. The good news about this feature is that if you let your subscription lapse, you get the game back when you renew your subscription, though you cannot play the game while the subscription is inactive. 

If you have an Xbox 360 and have games that you redeemed via Games with Gold, you don’t have to worry about losing those games if you decide to upgrade to an Xbox One. Microsoft has guaranteed that all Xbox 360 games that have been released through Games with Gold will be playable on the Xbox One via backward compatibility.

Your Xbox Live Gold membership also includes Deals with Gold, which gives subscribers exclusive deals on digital Xbox One, Xbox 360, and Xbox Series X games. The deals change every week, and you can view the current deals on the Deals with Gold website. If you purchase a game through Deals with Gold, it is yours to keep, even if your subscription lapses or expires.

It should be noted that Xbox Live Gold is different than Xbox Live Silver (now called Xbox Live Free). The free version has limited features that allow you to create a friends list, create a profile and Gamertag, preview games, stream video content from the Zune network, download games and add-ons from the Xbox Live Marketplace, send and receive messages with other Xbox Live users as text or voice, and make video calls to friends using Video Kinect (if you own a Kinect). The glaring difference between the two services other than the price is that you cannot play online with Xbox Live Free.

More Unmissable Deals

Topics
Kelly Kaliszewski
Kelly Kaliszewski
Content Writer
Kelly's work has appeared in blogs and on websites. She enjoys writing about all things kitchen and food. When she's not…
Best Buy Memorial Day sale: Save $50 on the Xbox Series X
A black Xbox Series X and controller against a black background.

We don’t see many Xbox Series X deals, so it’s great to see $50 off the Microsoft Xbox Series X at Best Buy at the moment. It normally costs $500, but right now you can buy it for $450, a small but useful price cut for anyone considering buying a new console. Pair it up with one of the best Xbox Game Pass deals and you can’t go wrong. If you’re keen to find out more about the console, keep reading and we’ll explain all.

Why you should buy the Microsoft Xbox Series X
Considered to be one of the best gaming consoles for Microsoft fans, the Microsoft Xbox Series X may have divisive looks but it’s supremely powerful with a wealth of games. The console provides 12 teraflops of power with support for DirectX ray tracing, 4K gaming, and even has a custom 1TB SSD for storage so it doesn’t skip a beat anywhere. It has lightning-fast load times with gameplay of up to 120 FPS ensuring everything looks fantastic. Arguably its best feature though is Quick Resume. That means you can easily leave where you left things even after turning the console off. It’s hugely useful and it’s quick too so your console is always ready for you to return.

Read more
Best gaming chair deals: Save on Corsair, Razer, and more
Razer - Iskur Gaming Chair.

Playing video games for hours can be pretty brutal to your back and body, especially if you're an older gamer; as such, buying yourself a purpose-made chair can certainly help keep you healthier. While gaming chairs won't compete with chairs that are made specifically to take your health into account, they do offer better padding and a more hugging feeling than you'd find with your average low-end office chair. To that end, we've gone out and found some of our favorite gaming chair deals out there to make your life a little bit easier.

That said, if you're still in the shopping phase and haven't fully built your gaming setup yet, be sure to check out these gaming PC deals, gaming monitor deals, and gaming console deals to deck yourself out with the best stuff.
Homall Massage Gaming Chair -- $80, was $170

Read more
Best Xbox Game Pass deals: Upgrade to Game Pass Ultimate for cheap
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate logo.

Pretty much all consoles require some form of subscription service to be able to access multiplayer online, and the Xbox Series X and Series S are no different. Just like PS Plus, Xbox has the Game Pass system, which not only gives you online access it also provides you with a bunch of different games to play as well, so it's not all that bad. Not only that, but there is a tier that unlocks the full Game Pass game library on PC as well and lets you stream games if you don't have a powerful gaming PC. Also, be sure to check out these great Xbox Series S and X deals while you're here.
Xbox Game Pass Core -- $8, was $13 per month

Game Pass Core is the cheapest tier of Game Pass, but it still lets you access important features, including online multiplayer. Game Pass Core was launched with access to 36 games off the bat, and you can get exclusive discounts on certain downloadable games. If you're on Xbox and need access online, this is the way to go.
1-month subscription -- $8, was $13

Read more