Here are the free Xbox Games With Gold titles for May 2016, including two smaller Xbox One titles and two Xbox 360 titles headlined by racing sim GRID 2.

If anyone was expecting a big ramp-up in Games With Gold Quality for May, leading into E3 in June, sadly that does not seem to be the case. Consider May to be the calm before the storm then, for while the Games With Gold line-up is without a doubt high quality it isn't as blockbuster rich as some would have liked. Two Xbox One indie titles headline May, with two larger Xbox 360 that should scratch some niches.

Starting May 1, Defense Grid 2 will unlock for Xbox One and GRID 2 will unlock for Xbox 360 (with Xbox One Backwards Compatibility). One's a popular tower defense game from Hidden Path Entertainment, an unsuccessful Kickstarter project that was saved by an angel investor, and the other's a racing simulation from Codemasters offering a variety of different street and off-road options. Two vastly different grids, though their pairing is likely no coincidence. Someone at Microsoft is giggling. Just that one person.

On May 15 two more Games With Gold titles will unlock. On Xbox One, there's Double Fine's tribute to all things trick or treat related, Costume Quest 2. Twins Wren and Reynold have to save Halloween, again, by donning a myriad number of costumes which imbue them with unique RPG powers. On Xbox 360 comes an old staple, a game that everyone should have played by now -- if not own already: Peggle! PopCap's claim to fame from before Plants vs. Zombies was ever a thing.

Just to recap, May 2016's Games With Gold include:

  • Xbox One
    • Defense Grid 2 (May 1 - May 31)
    • Costume Quest 2 (May 16 - June 15)
  • Xbox 360
    • GRID 2 (May 1 - May 15)
    • Peggle (May 16 - June 31)

Note that each Xbox One game will be available for at least 30 days, a full month, but that the Xbox 360 titles are only available for 15 days as part of Microsoft's rotating schedule of Games With Gold titles. Both Xbox 360 titles in May will be backwards compatible.

[HTML1]

In past years Microsoft has typically ramped up Games With Gold prior to E3, though Xbox One support in the program has only scaled up over the past year. But for example, 2015's Games With Gold in May included both Mafia 2 and F1 2013, escalating into a Just Cause 2 and Thief June (all Xbox 360 of course). 2014's June had Dark Souls! No disrespect to GRID 2 or this May's Xbox One titles, but hopefully Microsoft's got something exciting lined up for June to build some hype going into E3. Well, not that it needs any more hype.

Blockbuster games or not, May's line-up may be one of the most downloaded months in some time. That's because May will see the release of a couple of major online multiplayer titles for the Xbox One. Both Gearbox's Battleborn and Blizzard's Overwatch will be released in May, which will absolutely be bombarding Xbox Live with multitudes of online gamer players. Then, on top of that, there will be Doom, Homefront: The Revolution, and several other games with multiplayer too. It's a good month to be subscribed to Xbox Live.

Moving out of the Games With Gold rotation this month will be Saints Row IV on Xbox 360, out April 30, The Wolf Among Us on Xbox One, out April 30, and Sunset Overdrive on Xbox One, out May 15. Make sure to go and download those games right now. There are still a few days left to pick them up before they're gone.

Just to summarize, May's Xbox  titles will be Defense Grid 2 and Costume Quest 2 on Xbox One, and GRID 2 and Peggle on Xbox 360 -- each with Xbox One digital Backwards Compatibility.