Xbox 360 games will no longer be included in Games with Gold program starting this October

The end of an era is upon us. Starting October 2022, Xbox 360 titles will no longer be included with the Games with Gold program, part of Game Pass Ultimate and Xbox Live Gold subscriptions. However, this does not mean players who have claimed Xbox 360 games will no longer be able to download what they’ve claimed. Xbox One titles will continue to be included with exclusive savings each month as well.

The Games with Gold program is one of the biggest parts of the Xbox Live Gold subscription and is still present with Game Pass Ultimate, but now part of it will be leaving come this October. Microsoft has made the decision to stop including Xbox 360 games in the monthly game drops. This notification was sent out to Xbox Live Gold subscribers that explains the situation, as it states “We have reached the limit of our ability to bring Xbox 360 games to the catalog.” In a statement to Engadget, a Microsoft spokesperson specifies the “limit of our ability” as being caused by “licensing and technical constraints” with bringing these older titles to the monthly game drops. In some ways, changes to this program could have been expected as Microsoft is focusing heavily on Game Pass, which offers an immense value when compared to Xbox Live Gold.

Now don’t panic and start downloading all those Xbox 360 games you’ve claimed over the years, you won’t lose them. While new titles will not be included anymore, anything you’ve claimed thus far up to October will be part of your collection always and be available for download at any time, even if you no longer subscribe to any service; the games are yours. Now Xbox One users who still use Xbox Live Gold, you have no reason to panic either as the Games with Gold program will continue providing Xbox One titles every month with exclusive discounts on other content.

9to5Toys’ Take

Xbox Live Gold seems to be a subscription Microsoft wants to wind down in favor of its highly successful Game Pass service. Since you don’t need Live Gold to play online anymore, it really doesn’t seem to serve that much of a purpose with the value proposition of Game Pass being vastly greater than the handful of games in Games with Gold every month. While this is an end of an era, in some ways, it is great to see that Microsoft isn’t just leaving users without any of the games they’ve claimed over years and years.

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