If you’re an Xbox Live member, you already know that Microsoft gives free Xbox games away to members every week. The Xbox games vary week to week, but free demos are always available for download for non-Xbox Live members. Now that Microsoft has announced it will be making newer-model Xbox One’s backwards compatible with Xbox 360 games, there is a greater range of options available to those who don’t have or want an Xbox Live subscription.
Gamespot discovered that action RPG Lords of The Fallen is available for download by Xbox One users until April 15, while Xbox 360 gamers can grab the original Borderlands for free until March 31. Microsoft recently cut the cost of an Xbox Live Gold subscription from $60 to $40 per year, so now is a great time to purchase the subscription if you’re interested. In addition to free games, Xbox Live Gold members also get benefits such as ad-free music streaming on their mobile devices and access to online multiplayer modes, popular in games such as the Call of Duty franchise.
In addition to the games themselves, Xbox One can also play the Downloadable Content (DLC) that is added to Xbox 360 games, as The Inquisitrmentioned. This makes the Xbox Live Gold games you can get for free even more valuable, regardless of whether you’re on an Xbox 360 or Xbox One user. Additionally, Microsoft is reportedly moving to make their consoles more directly tied into the Windows 10 platform, so in the future, Xbox 360 games may play smoothly on Windows 10 PC and smartphones as well.
If RPG’s aren’t your thing, Sherlock Holmes: Crimes And Punishments is also available as a free Xbox Live Gold download until the end of this month, as Express noted. The adventure game has the player focus on finding suspects and then deciding whether each is guilty or innocent, bringing to mind similarities with Playstation’s L.A. Noire. There will also be new Xbox One and Xbox 360 games coming in April, though those titles haven’t been named just yet.
If you don’t have Xbox Live Gold and don’t plan on getting it, there’s no need to fret. There are still plenty of Xbox demos available for free, and some whole games can be downloaded free as well. Among others, Minecraft, Dynasty Warriors Strike Force,and Telltale Games’ Game of Thronescan all be downloaded as free demos if you don’t mind being kicked back to your Xbox dashboard every now and again when the demos time out. If you don’t want to experience the timeout functions, you can still purchase these games from the Xbox store without the need for a Gold membership.
If you want to purchase an Xbox Live Gold membership, there are also other ways to go about it. Microsoft’s Bing search engine rewards searchers with points called “credits,” and 699 credits can be redeemed for a one month membership to the elite world of Gold. An Xbox Live Gold membership also offers discounts on other games, early peeks at game betas, and the ability to keep free games on your console even after you obtain them from the store. The best part? Xbox One and Xbox 360 users can back their game saves up to cloud storage without needing Xbox Live Gold, so they can have an emergency fail safe if their hard drive crashes.
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