Free Games with Gold for Xbox One

Microsoft has announced that the Xbox One will see the return of the Games with Gold program, which gives Xbox Live Gold subscribers two free games per month.

Larry “Major Nelson” Hyrb, Director of Programming for Xbox Live, tweeted that Microsoft’s latest console would be eligible for the service, but would only see its return sometime in 2014.

Nelson made no mention of an expected date for the service to go live and it’s unclear if Xbox One owners who get their consoles before the launch of the free games service will have the freebies retroactively given to them.

Major Nelson announces Games with Gold for Xbox One

Games with Gold was launched by Microsoft following their E3 2013 conference. The promotion applies to South African gamers and several AAA titles and indie games have been given away for free every month. Due to region restrictions some games are only available in overseas markets and the bundles are typically tailored for the local market.

Games that have been given away include Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers, Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts, Halo 3, A World of Keflings and Iron Brigade. Locally, Games with Gold has been plagued with delays in games being available on the store as well as some titles not receiving certification from the Film and Publications Board (FPB) of South Africa.

Microsoft’s Xbox One will be launching overseas on 22 November in 13 countries at a starting price of US $499, Euro €499.99 and £429.99 British Pounds Sterling. A local launch date and price has not been determined by Microsoft South Africa.