Xbox Games with Gold starts the year off with a fizzle

Ever since Microsoft chose to focus on growing its Xbox Game Pass subscription service, the quality of games being offered as part of the console manufacturer’s Games with Gold program has seen quite a decline. January’s free games have now been announced – proving that the service will not be improving with the new year.

Making the announcement on their blog, Dan Hickey, the Marketing Program Manager at Xbox said “Kick off the new year with two great January Games with Gold! On Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S, adventure through light and shadow in Iris Fall, and then set worlds in motion in Autonauts.”

As mentioned, the two games being offered are Iris Fall and Autonauts: two relatively unknown indie titles, with the former offering a “dreamlike, stunningly designed world of puzzles and adventure” – and the latter having you “Find uninhabited planets and transform them,” setting “the world in motion through automation.”

Just because these two titles are not the most popular doesn't mean that they are not worth trying, but there has been a clear and noticeable decline in the tier of titles on offer as part of Games with Gold – if nothing else based on the RRP value of the games alone.

Previously, Microsoft’s Games with Gold offerings would include 4 titles in total: 2 Xbox One games; an OG Xbox title; and an Xbox 360 game. Unfortunately, Microsoft has dropped support for these older titles, meaning that you should only expect 2 free games a month. Some fans were hoping that this would result in fewer but higher quality titles – though this does not seem to be the case. Hopefully Games with Gold gets overhauled sooner rather than later.

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KitGuru says: What do you think of January’s Games with Gold? How does it compare to PS+ Essential? What should Microsoft do with Games with Gold? Let us know down below.

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