Xbox Live Gold Members are getting more than they paid for.
Eleven days ago many of you may have heard from Microsoft’s E3 press conference that the company decided to release games for Xbox Live Gold members to download for free. Microsoft announced that all Xbox Live Gold members will be granted downloads to two free Xbox 360 games every month until the end of the year. At first it wasn’t totally clear how long the games would be downloadable for, when the games would release each month, or if you even got to hold on to a game after your membership came to an end. Most of the uncertainty around free downloads for Xbox Live Gold members has since been cleared up.
Xbox Live Gold
In an official statement, Microsoft says:
“As our way of saying thanks, we’re giving all active Gold members two bonus Xbox 360 games each month for the rest of the year. Each specially selected, fan-favorite game will be available to download only for a limited time, so grab them before they’re gone and keep them no matter what.”
The bit about “no matter what” supported my assumption that you can keep the titles even if you don’t renew your Xbox Live Gold membership. Microsoft said that a new game will become available for download on the 1st and another on the 16th of each month. They did not actually clarify whether the two monthly games would be available through the end of the month or really what the term would be. It could be implied that the term for download will last only until the next download begins, in which case you get about a two week window to grab each game. This Xbox Live Gold member exclusive offer will only run from July 1st through December 31st.
The first two games announced for next month will be “Halo 3” and “Assassin’s Creed II.” And the Microsoft press release states that, “…to celebrate E3 in the month of June, Xbox Live Gold will receive a free download of ‘Fable III.’” Given that there will be two games per month for six months, we’re looking at 12 total games and if you add Fable III that makes for 13 free game downloads (someone wanted to be clever and match the total number of titles to the current year). The average price for the games that they are giving away is about $15. In total you will be given the opportunity to snag around $195 of free games assuming that they don’t throw in a couple pricier titles. At nearly $200 of free games, I feel that Microsoft is being exceptionally generous to anyone who missed out on any of the older major titles.
For the icing on the cake…
Game developer “Wargaming” announced at the same conference an exclusive Xbox 360 console version of their wildly popular free-to-play PC game “World of Tanks”. Even better yet, it will be optimized for the controller and it too will be free for Xbox Live Gold members. The beta officially began accepting applicants and you can get to the application page from here.
Microsoft also mentioned a couple of other titles that will be free-to-play for Xbox Live Gold members:
“Fans of action games can wage war for their god as a brutal Caos warrior in “Ascend: Hand of Kul,” a Free-to-Play with Gold third-person action-RPG featuring innovative single and multiplayer gameplay. In addition, poker fans will be able to take their game to a whole new level with “World Series of Poker®: Full House Pro,” which lets players build their in-game bankrolls as they compete against opponents from around the world.”
It’s a good time to be an Xbox 360 owner and an even better time to have an Xbox Live Gold membership. If you’ve been on the fence about buying a new subscription, this should give you the needed push. I’ve neglected my console for all too long with the recent boom of great free-to-play games on PC, but I can assure you I’m renewing my Xbox Live Gold membership now.
If you haven’t renewed your Xbox Live Gold subscription and need to pick up a new one to get onboard, you can purchase a digital key off of amazon for $50. Not too shabby considering all the free swag.
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