An era is coming to an end: From October, Microsoft will no longer be offering games for the Xbox 360, which was introduced in 2005, via Games with Gold, which is part of Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate provide more. There will then only be games from the Xbox One generation.
No more new free titles for the Xbox 360
< p class="p text-width">Each month, Games with Gold gives Xbox Live Gold or Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers the choice to add two of four titles selected by Microsoft to their library permanently at no extra charge – two of which only run on Xbox One, while two also run on Xbox 360 .
Get two free games per month, including backward compatible Xbox 360 games.
October only from Xbox One
As always in such cases, the Xbox 360 titles that have already been purchased remain in the library. All games redeemed before October 2022 are still downloadable. This is also the case when the subscription ends, Microsoft writes in an email to customers.
The offer is “exhausted”
In the text published on Reddit, the company justified the move by exhausting the offer: “We have reached the limit of our ability to add Xbox 360 games to the catalog”. This can either mean that no further backwards-compatible games can be found that an Xbox One can also play, publishers are no longer interested in such releases, or the demand for partly moderately aged games is simply too low and the costs involved are not longer seem justifiable. This is supported by the fact that the games are not replaced by a rotation of games already included.
Because the successor console, the Xbox One, is no longer manufactured. However, games for this generation of hardware can still be played well in 2022 and, thanks to the same architecture, can be played back effortlessly on a current Xbox Series S or Series X. The announcement does not reveal whether the number of games included per month will drop from four to two from October.
Upgrade for Xbox Game Pass
It is speculated that Microsoft will also take this step wants to make the Game Pass offer more attractive. The live gold games in recent months have not been very convincing, it is said on the net. The offer for July is also taken as evidence. There is Thrillville: Off the Rails and Torchlight for the Xbox 360 and Beasts of Maravilla Island and Relicta for the Xbox One, while the Game Pass was able to add Yakuza 0 to 2 to the offer.