Does MW2 Require Xbox Live Gold?

Does MW2 Require Xbox Live Gold?
Images via Microsoft

Written by 

Daniel Hollis

Published 

1st Nov 2022 13:07

Online gaming has grown astronomically in recent years, with it slowly becoming easier and easier to jump into multiplayer gaming, no matter what your platform is. Modern Warfare 2 is perhaps the biggest online game to release this year, and with the looming Activision/Blizzard deal undergoing at Microsoft, Xbox fans are eager to check it out.

However, with many subscription services to balance these days, players have been wondering whether they need an Xbox Live Gold membership to experience everything Modern Warfare 2 has to offer. If you’re on the fence about picking up the game, and wondering if you need to fork out for an additional subscription, let’s find out if Modern Warfare 2 requires Xbox Live Gold.

Do You Need Xbox Live Gold To Play MW2 Online?

Click to enlarge

The answer to this is perhaps not as simple as you may think. But to kick things off with the main question, the answer is yes. You cannot play Modern Warfare 2 on an Xbox system without Xbox Live Gold. However, this does come with one caveat.

 

On November 16th, Warzone 2.0 is set to launch, which is the new free-to-play battle royale set in the Call of Duty universe. As it is free-to-play, Xbox Live Gold is not needed to check out this multiplayer experience. However, the game will cross over with Modern Warfare 2, which may cause some confusion, as it shares one singular battle pass between the two, but it will only be the Warzone 2.0 segment that will be free.

Just to quickly recap: Xbox Live Gold is required to play Modern Warfare 2, but the soon-to-be-released Warzone 2.0 will be free-to-play for all players. Hopefully, this clears up some confusion for you and puts to bed the question many fans have had on their mind.

Daniel Hollis
About the author
Daniel Hollis
Daniel is a former Guides Writer for GGRecon. Having originally focused on film journalism, he eventually made the jump to writing about games in 2020, writing for sites such as NME. Eurogamer, GamesRadar, Tech Radar, and more. After a short stint in PR, he is back in the world of games media writing about his favourite games, including Bioshock, Fable, or everything Fortnite and Xbox Game Pass related.
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