As of October 2022, Microsoft will stop offering free Xbox 360 titles through Games with Gold. The company announced the change in an email sent out to Xbox Live Gold subscribers in the US, Canada and other parts of the world. “We have reached the limit of our ability to bring Xbox 360 games to the catalog,” the company states in the message. “However, Games with Gold will continue to include exciting Xbox One titles and exclusive savings each month.”
The email adds that Xbox users can redownload any 360 titles they claimed through Games with Gold regardless of whether they continue to subscribe to Xbox Live Gold.
“No other Xbox Live Gold benefits will be impacted by this change,” a Microsoft spokesperson told Engadget. “We’re always looking at ways to evolve the Xbox experience based on community engagement, feedback and shifting company priorities. We have reached the limit of our ability to bring new games to the catalog from the past due to licensing and technical constraints. We will continue to focus on providing Xbox One titles through the Games with Gold program.”
Introduced in 2013, Microsoft added Games with Gold to Xbox Live Gold in response to the success of Sony’s PS Plus service, which was the first to offer free monthly games to customers. Microsoft later extended the perk to include the Xbox One. In recent years, the allure of the bonus has waned with the introduction of Xbox Game Pass. After Microsoft recently dropped the Xbox Live Gold requirement to play free-to-play games online, it felt like the company was preparing to reconfigure the service, and this announcement adds to that. See the full email from Microsoft above.
Update 12:47PM ET: Added comment from Microsoft.