The Xbox Live Gold subscription service has struggled to keep up with Xbox Game Pass, offering less titles for a lower monthly cost. However, Microsoft has decided to boost February's offerings with five games instead of four. The Xbox Live Games With Gold for February 2021 will feature titles that relate to some of the latest gaming news, and should prime gamers for upcoming releases.
The Xbox Free Games With Gold for January 2021 featured one game to get gamers excited about upcoming releases, that being Little Nightmares. That game is still available for download until January 31 and is the predecessor to Little Nightmares 2, which releases on Febuary 11. Microsoft seems to have doubled down on games that relate to current events with at least two offerings that reflect some big news in the gaming industry.
Similar to past months, not all of the games offered in the Free Games With Gold for February 2021 will be available for download the whole month, so gamers to need to be wary of the availability windows. The list for February includes Gears 5, Resident Evil, Dandara: Trials of Fear Edition, Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb, and Lost Planet 2. Both Indiana Jones and Lost Planet 2 are backward compatibility titles, while the remaining three are Xbox One releases.
Gears 5 is a third-person shooter and the fifth main game in the Gears of War series. It will be available from February 1 to February 28, along with the survival horror classic Resident Evil. Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb is a 2003 action adventure game that will be available from February 1 to 15, and the only game available into March will be Dandara: Trials of Fear Edition, which is coming to the service between February 16 to March 15. The final game is Lost Planet 2, another third-person shooter that will be available from February 16 to 28.
One interesting aspect of these announced games is how they relate gaming news this month. Just over a week ago, Bethesda announced a new Indiana Jones video game being developed by MachineGames, so gamers can potentially see the inspiration behind the Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb choice.
Yesterday, the Resident Evil Showcase livestream revealed a whole bunch of surprises for the Resident Evil series, including new gameplay footage of Resident Evil 8: Village. Whether or not Microsoft's news-related choices for February's Games With Gold were intentional or will result in more downloads remains to be seen, but there is certainly an appreciation for timely interests across the board with this Xbox Live Gold selection.
Source: Xbox Wire