Microsoft makes Xbox Party Chat free as part of its Xbox Live free-to-play changes

Microsoft is announcing today that Xbox Party Chat will be free for Xbox owners soon. The software maker has started testing a new Xbox dashboard update with testers today that unlocks Xbox Party Chat, multiplayer in free-to-play games, and the Looking For Groups (LFG) feature.

Xbox Party Chat is a surprise addition to Microsoft’s announced plans to remove the paywall for free-to-play multiplayer games. The removal came after Microsoft was forced to reverse a price hike to its Xbox Live Gold subscriptions earlier this year. Microsoft is also renaming its Xbox Live service to just Xbox network, which is part of dashboard changes the company is currently testing.

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