Microsoft has today announced that their video and voice service Skype will be offering free group video calls for Xbox One, Windows and Mac users.

According to Microsoft, group video calls will go free on other platforms "in the future." Up until this point, Microsoft had been charging Skype users $4.99 per month for video chat between more than two people; Skype supports video conferencing for a maximum of 10 individuals.

With the payment restriction now lifted, today's announcement has brought Skype in line with Google Hangouts, Google's voice and video service. Sadly despite the change, Xbox One users will still be required to have Xbox Live Gold to actually access Skype.