Xbox Live Gold subscribers will have five games to download in December, including the Thief reboot, Sacred 3, and Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising.

As some may recall, October's free Games with Gold games were somewhat disappointing for those that own both an Xbox 360 and an Xbox One, as Microsoft decided to have The Walking Dead free for both systems. Furthermore, the Xbox 360 version of Metal Gear Solid 5: Ground Zeroes was also made free, despite the fact that it had already been available through the service on Xbox One months prior. With Xbox 360 backward compatibility now a reality for Xbox One, such double-dipping may irk Gold subscribers that are basically receiving the same game twice. Unfortunately, December's free Games with Gold selections suffer from similar issues.

In fact, there are two games that will be made free in December that have already been on the service previously. The first is the Thief reboot, which released to poor reviews nearly two years ago. Thief was a free Games with Gold game in June of this year, and if it becomes backward compatible, essentially players that own both Xbox systems will have two copies of what is effectively the same game. In any case, Xbox One owners can download Thief from December 16th to January 15th.

CastleStorm is the other game that should give Gold subscribers a sense of deja vu. The game was a free Games with Gold title this past May on Xbox One, and now it will be free to 360 Gold subscribers from December 1st to December 15th. This means that it's set to be one of the backward compatible games, so those that own both systems will yet again have two copies of the same game from the Games with Gold service.

To Microsoft's credit, there is actually an extra free game this month, bringing the total selection to five. The Xbox One will have two free games, with The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing debuting as a free game on the service on December 1st, and will be available until December 31st.

The Xbox 360 will have three free games in December. Besides the aforementioned CastleStorm, 360 owners can look forward to downloading Sacred 3 from December 16th to December 31st, as well as Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising in that same time frame.

While the Xbox faithful that own both systems may feel a bit slighted when it comes to December's Games with Gold offerings, there are still some decent titles made available. Even so, it would be preferable if this "double dipping" of games were to stop, especially in light of the Xbox 360 backward compatibility capabilities on Xbox One. In the meantime, be sure to download November's free Games with Gold games while there's still time!

Are you satisfied with December's free Games with Gold? Are you a little annoyed at Microsoft double dipping when it comes to titles for the program that are on both Xbox 360 and Xbox One? Which games would you like to see as the first free Games with Gold titles for 2016 in January? Sound off in the comments below.