Microsoft announces Games with Gold for Xbox One

Along with the announcement that the Xbox One will start shipping without Kinect, Microsoft also revealed the Games with Gold program for the new console. Every user that has a Xbox Live Gold subscription will receive two games for Xbox 360 and two games for Xbox One, starting next month.

The first two games that will be offered for free on Xbox One are Max: The Curse of Brotherhood, a cute puzzle game, and the twin stick shooter Halo: Spartan Assault, both digital only titles. Although the games don’t seem like much, Microsoft one ups Sony, which offers only one PS4 game each month with a PlayStation Plus Subscription.

Along with free games via Games with Gold, a new program will open for Gold subscribers. It’s called Deals with Gold, and it sounds a lot like the PS Plus discounts on PSN. Each month, Microsoft will choose games that will have discounted prices. The first titles confirmed for this program are Forza Motorsport 5 and Ryse: Son of Rome, plus “a few other surprises”. Some games will have their prices cut 50 or even 75%, according to Microsoft.

It seems that the company is taking this very seriously, talking about “a virtual VIP room exclusive to Xbox Live Gold members”, where users will be able to find all this content: free games, killer deals and other “great benefits”.

Along with all of these, Microsoft also confirmed the rumors that starting in June, the need for a Gold subscription in order to access apps like Netflix, YouTube, ESPN, Twitch or anything alike will be dropped.

So to recap, we’ve got a Kinect-less Xbox One, two free games on Xbox One (in addition to the two free games you already got on Xbox 360), discounts on games and access to apps without Xbox Live Gold. I guess the ball is in Sony’s court right now.

Source: xbox.com