Tip: Get an Xbox Live Gold Subscription for Just $40

This is just a temporary offer, so you’ll need to act fast, but the Microsoft Store is currently selling one year of Xbox Live Gold for just $39.99, a $20 savings over the normal price. So this is a good time to renew, or even stack your subscription.

You can find this offer—available in both physical card and digital code forms—on the Microsoft Store web site, so you can get one (or more) for yourself (digital) or for gifts (card). I’m guessing it’s US-only, sorry.

But I do know from experience you can stack these up and extend your subscription out a few years. Normally, I’d say you should go for it, if you’ve been using the Xbox Live Gold benefits. But given how Microsoft has scaled back Xbox Live Gold, this isn’t the slam dunk it used to be.

So what do you get with Xbox Live Gold? Most of the benefits are game-related (rather than entertainment related as in the past). They include:

Games with Gold. Each month, you get free games for Xbox 360 and Xbox One through Games with Gold. This month, for example, Microsoft provided free copies of Worms Battlegrounds and It Draws a Red Box (#IDARB) to Xbox One users and Brothers: A Tale of Two Sons and Sniper Elite V2 (which I’m literally download as I write this) for the Xbox 360. Next month looks even better: I’ll have a write-up about that later today.

Deals with Gold. Throughout each month, Microsoft also offers some amazing game deals through its Deals with Gold program. There was an absolutely amazing sale earlier this month, but right now you can save big on Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag, Thief and Sleeping Dogs Definitive Edition for Xbox One (50 to 67 percent off) and Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag and more on Xbox 360.

Multiplayer features. Game players with Xbox Live Gold can take advantage of unique features like Smart Match functionality, which better matches you against other players with similar skills and styles. You can broadcast your game playing exploits on Twitch. And you can upload your best moments using Upload Center on Xbox One.

Put simply, if you’re a game player, it’s worth it: For the price of one retail game (or, currently, just $40) you can get at least 12 free games a year (Xbox One) or 24 games a year (Xbox 360), or even 36 if you use both consoles. It’s kind of hard to argue with that.