Xbox Live Silver users have it rough. They don’t get the preferential treatment that gold users generally see. They don’t get access to the wonderful sales that are featured on Xbox Live. They can only sit by and watch as their friends enjoy their games online. They have to wait a week, A WHOLE WEEK, to try out demos. It’s a rough life. Much like Commander Shepard swoops in to save the day, Bioware is here to help out! If Xbox Live Silver members download the demo of Mass Effect 3 they will automatically be upgraded to gold until March 6. With the demo launching February 14th that’s a whole three weeks of gold status for free! PC and PS3 gamers can download the demo on valentines day as well.
An official update from the Bioware forums:
Chris Priestly of Bioware
“Many people have asked whether a gold Xbox Live account would be required in order to play the upcoming Mass Effect 3 multiplayer demo and the answer is Yes, a gold xbox live account will be required to play the Mass Effect 3 multiplayer demo.
Now, before you start ranting and crying and burning me in effigy…The demo of Mass Effect 3 will include a limited time Gold access when you download the demo.
Here is the word I was just sent from our friends over at Microsoft:
In celebration of ME3, Xbox is pleased to provide fans access to ME3 demo multiplayer for the time leading to launch. Xbox LIVE Gold gives you exclusive benefits including multiplayer gaming, member-only deals & previews, and access to entertainment with Netflix, ESPN, Hulu Plus and more.”
This is not quite correct. They are not giving users access to Gold services. They are simply giving Silver users access to the demo at the same time as Gold users. This has been clarified by Bioware on their official forums.