Microsoft lifts Xbox Live Gold restrictions for free-to-play title

Microsoft may be lifting its restriction barring non-Xbox Live Gold members from free-to-play games if its stance for Project Spark is anything to go by.

The platform holder’s community Mike Lescault confirmed on Reddit: “You will not need a Gold subscription to play Project Spark for free on any platform.”

Free-to-play titles previously released on Xbox 360, such as Happy Wars and Ascend: Hand of Kul, have required an Gold subscription even to access offline modes.

Upcoming game-creation title Project Spark is coming to Xbox One first, with 360 and PC (Windows 8) versions to follow.

In the game, players can use Kinect and Xbox SmartGlass to build environments such as mountains, rivers and towns. Users can also create events such as inter-character battles, while user-created items and objects can be shared with other players.

An Xbox One beta is set for January 2014 and the game expected to be almost complete by then.

Based on Kodu Game Lab, Microsoft’s own crack at a consumer-facing, game-creation package differentiates itself from Sony’s own LittleBigPlanet by claiming to give users the means to control the game design down to minute in-game object actions.