Microsoft has been running its Xbox free Games with Gold program for nearly a decade now, giving Xbox Live Gold subscribers free games every month as a bonus with their subscription. There once was a time when Xbox Live Gold subscribers eagerly looked forward to the new batch of Xbox free Games with Gold every month, as Microsoft made an effort to give away popular and well-known games.

Recently, Microsoft has stopped putting quite as much effort into the Xbox free Games with Gold games, with it not being uncommon for the service to offer old and obscure games over more significant titles. Part of this has to do with the Games with Gold program still giving away Xbox 360 games when that console has been defunct for years, and part of it has to do with Microsoft having its attention elsewhere.

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2021 provided plenty of evidence that Microsoft doesn't care about the Xbox free Games with Gold program nearly as much as it used to. The Xbox free Games with Gold started the year out relatively strong, but as the months went by, Microsoft started putting up less popular and more obscure games, with multiple months facing heavy criticism from fans online and having their reveal trailers flooded with dislikes. So what happened?

Xbox Free Games with Gold for January 2021

Dead Rising promo art
  • Breakdown
  • Dead Rising
  • Little Nightmares
  • The King of Fighters 13

The Xbox free Games with Gold for 2021 started off strong with Breakdown, an original Xbox game, the enhanced version of Dead Rising, Little Nightmares, and The King of Fighters 13. All of the games earned relatively positive reviews at the time of their release, and so this month was easily one of the best months of the entire year. The inclusion of Dead Rising and Little Nightmares especially seemed to please Xbox Live Gold subscribers, but while January 2021 set a high bar, the rest of the year didn't really build on that momentum much.

Xbox Free Games with Gold for February 2021

Gears of War 5 xbox one file size
  • Dandara: Trials of Fear Edition
  • Gears 5
  • Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb
  • Lost Planet 2
  • Resident Evil HD Remaster

January 2021 got the year started off strong for Xbox Live Gold subscribers, but February took things to another level. Xbox Live Gold subscribers were treated to original Xbox game Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb, which quickly became a favorite for subscribers who were surprised at how well the game ran on modern consoles. February also saw the addition of the Resident Evil HD Remaster, generally considered one of the best Resident Evil games ever made, as well as fellow Capcom game Lost Planet 2.

The most significant game added to the Xbox free Games with Gold program for February 2021 was arguably Gears 5. In fact, Gears 5 was perhaps the biggest game added to Games with Gold for the entire year, and that's because it doubled as an Xbox Series X game. There's a native Xbox Series X version of Gears 5 available, making it the sole Xbox Series X release out of all the Games with Gold titles for 2021.

Gears 5 being a free Games with Gold game may have given some subscribers hope that there would be more Xbox Series X games to add to their collection through the program, but unfortunately, that didn't come to pass. Microsoft gave away Gears 5 as a bonus free Games with Gold game in February, but otherwise stuck to the usual two Xbox 360 games and two Xbox One games every month.

WIth Sony regularly offering a free PS5 game through PlayStation Plus since the launch of its next-generation console, one can't be blamed if they assumed Microsoft would do something similar with the Xbox free Games with Gold. However, it's clear at this point that Microsoft doesn't have much interest in supporting the free Games with Gold all that much, instead putting its efforts into Xbox Game Pass.

Xbox Game Pass is the Future of Xbox

xbox game pass logo green background

Rumors from reliable sources have suggested that Microsoft is looking to phase out Xbox Live Gold at some point, and while nothing official has been announced, the writing is on the wall. After all, Microsoft is already offering Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to its users, which gives fans access not only to Xbox Game Pass games, but to all the benefits of Xbox Live Gold as well. Someone that wants to get the most bang for their buck when it comes to Microsoft's subscription services would need to sign up for Game Pass Ultimate, as it's really a no-brainer and can basically be free if someone is vigilant about using the Microsoft Rewards program.

Microsoft saved all the big games for Xbox Game Pass over Xbox Live Gold, ensuring that the newer service had a regular stream of brand new, day one releases as well as a variety of high-quality older titles. Microsoft isn't going to change its strategy moving forward, and so fans should expect the trend to continue. Xbox Game Pass will keep getting bigger and better, while Xbox Live Gold will continue to become irrelevant.

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