Beginning in October, Games with Gold will no longer offer Xbox 360 games to download, Microsoft has confirmed with GameSpot. Word of the change first surfaced in an email sent out to Dutch Xbox Live Gold subscribers (via Wario64). Xbox One games, however, will still be available each month.
“Beginning on October 1, 2022, we will no longer release Xbox 360 titles on a monthly basis as part of the Games with Gold benefit,” a Microsoft spokesperson said. “We’ll focus on continuing to deliver Xbox One titles through the Games with Gold program. No other Xbox Live Gold benefits will be impacted by this change.
“We’re always looking at ways to evolve the Xbox experience based on community engagement, feedback and shifting company priorities. We have reached the limit of our ability to bring new games to the catalog from the past due to licensing and technical constraints. We will continue to focus on providing Xbox One titles through the Games with Gold program.”
Starting in October, Xbox Games With Gold will no longer include Xbox 360 games (Microsoft has reached the limits to adding new X360 games to GWG). GWG will continue to offer Xbox One games.
Any claimed Xbox 360 GWG titles can be redownloaded regardless of membership pic.twitter.com/WHuuVniqBn
— Wario64 (@Wario64) July 5, 2022
Xbox 360 Games with Gold titles will still be available for a redownload regardless of membership, as in the past. The program was originally introduced in 2013 for Xbox 360 consoles, and extended to Xbox One consoles in 2014 as a bonus for Xbox Live Gold subscribers.
Xbox 360 titles began appearing on Xbox One when the backwards compatibility program kicked off, although that particular effort to preserve classic Microsoft games officially concluded in November 2021.
Xbox Game Pass has also seen the appeal of Games with Gold somewhat diluted over the years, as that subscription program has regularly offered newer and bigger games within its own library. To see what’s on the horizon, you can check out the updated list for all the Xbox Game Pass titles arriving in July.
Source: Gamespot
