14 DAY TRIAL // With the upcoming launch of the Xbox One, Microsoft has detailed the special Home Gold system that will allow owners to share their Xbox Live Gold subscription with other members of the house, whether they're friends, family, or both.
Microsoft's ambitious plans for the Xbox One and its Xbox Live online service have gone through several revisions since their reveal earlier this year, but one thing the company is keeping is the option to let Xbox Live Gold users share their subscription with other local accounts on the Xbox One.
The system is called Home Gold and will be available only on the Xbox One. It basically means that, if there's one Gold-subscribed account on the console, all other local accounts can enjoy Gold benefits, from multiplayer to entertainment apps.
There are a variety of possible scenarios and Microsoft has detailed some of them below, via Xbox Wire.
At Home with Xbox One
- If you’re an Xbox Live Gold member, an unlimited number of people can enjoy many benefits of Xbox Live Gold while they are using your Home Xbox One console. Friends and family will simply create their own account and gamertag and be able to enjoy Xbox Live online multiplayer gaming and access to entertainment apps. - Friends coming over to play? No problem. They can log in with their own gamertag and play online multiplayer. Even if you sign off, your friends and family can enjoy multiplayer gaming while they are playing on your Home Xbox One console.
At a Friend’s House with Xbox One - On Xbox One if you are an Xbox Live Gold member, you will be able to go to a friend’s house and play co-op multiplayer– even if your friend is not a Gold subscriber. Once you log in with your Xbox Live Gold account, everyone using that console can access multiplayer and entertainment apps for as long as you are logged in.
At Home with Xbox 360 and Xbox One
- If you are an Xbox Live Gold member today, you are already set for Xbox One. Your Xbox Live Gold membership for Xbox 360 will seamlessly become an Xbox Live Gold account on your Xbox One and you will be able to enjoy Xbox Live Gold features on either console. You can even be logged in to Xbox 360 and Xbox One at the same time. Home Gold benefits are exclusively for Xbox One.
The Xbox One will be released in November and Microsoft plans on making new announcements until then.