Introduction
The new year kicked off at a great start with the unveiling of the new Xbox Games with Gold January 2023 free games lineup. Xbox Live Gold members will be able to access these games for a limited time while Xbox GamePass Ultimate members can also access these games exclusively. On the normal ground, Microsoft randomly selects two free games to add to the Xbox games with Gold monthly. In October 2022, Microsoft announced that there are no more Xbox 360 games, all the games now have Xbox One titles.
You may be a little confused with the terms here, so let’s do a little breakdown.
Xbox Live Gold is a premium online service for the Xbox community. Accessing Xbox Live is free, but a subscription fee is needed to access Gold. Xbox Live members can download and access the Twitch live streaming application for free but to access features like online multiplayer, game recording, and media shares require a Gold subscription. Subscribers are granted exclusive access to Games with Gold as well as exclusive access to Deals for Gold. The subscription comes at $9.99/month.
There is also the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Subscription. This subscription grants you access to multiple game titles whether for PC or console. You will also have exclusive access to free in-game content and Xbox Live Gold.
What are Games with Gold?
Games with Gold is a program in which downloads of games digitally are free to Gold subscribers. Games with Gold was launched for Xbox 360 in July 2013 while that for Xbox One was in June 2014. As said earlier, Games with Gold no longer offer Xbox 360 games as Microsoft said “We have reached the limit of our ability to bring Xbox 360 games to the catalogue”. All Games with Gold now have Xbox One titles. Xbox One Games with Gold titles need an active Gold subscription to use. Two titles are released a month. Normally, the first game is free to download from the first of the month until the fifteenth, then the second, from the sixteenth to the end of the month. Now, since Microsoft has removed Xbox 360 from the series, the first game is available throughout the month, and the second is from the sixteenth of the month to the fifteenth of the second month.
List of Games free with XBOX Gold in 2022
January: NeuroVoider (Jan 1 – Jan 31) and Aground (Jan 16 – Feb 15).
February: Broken Swords: The Serpent’s Curse (Feb 1 – Feb 28) and Aerial-Knights Never Yield (Feb 16 – Mar 15)
March: The Flame in Flood (Mar 1 – Mar 31) and Street Power Football (Mar 16 – Apr 15).
April: Another Sight (Apr 1 – Apr 30) and Hue (Apr 16 – May 15).
May: Yoku’s Island Express (May 1 – May 31) and The Inner World – The Last Wind Monk (May 16 – June 15).
June: Aven Colony (June 1 – June 30) and Project Highrise: Architect’s Edition (June 16 – July 15).
July: Beasts of Maravilla Island (July 1 – July 31) and Relicta (July 16 – August 15).
August: Calico (Aug 1 – Aug 31) and ScourgeBringer (Aug 16 – Sept 15).
September: Gods will Fall (Sept 1 – Sept 30) and Double Kick Heroes (Sept 16 – Oct 15).
October: Windbound (Oct 1 – Oct 31) and Bomber Crew Deluxe Edition (Oct 16 – Nov 15).
November: Praetorians – HD Remaster (Nov 1 – Nov 30) and Dead End Job (Nov 16 – Dec 15).
December: Colt Canyon (Dec 1 – Dec 31) and Bladed Fury (Dec 16 – Jan 15).
Iris Fall
Iris Fall which will be available from January 1 to 31 is a challenging puzzle adventure game that plays with lights and shadows. In this game, a young girl named Iris follows a mysterious black cat into a world of light and dark. The deeper she goes, the more she realizes that the whole world is kind of connected to her. The game as a whole is filled with smart mechanics and challenging puzzles in light and dark themes combined with a great soundtrack that all leads to an unforgettable adventure. Players can switch between the light and dark theme to uncover everything Iris Fall has in stock.
Autonauts
In this game, players are creative builders. Players find uninhabited planets and transform them with the help of robots. The robots are to be trained with artificial intelligence to perform menial tasks. The game provides various tools to manage the automation process. The game also has an embedded, easy-to-learn visual programming language to teach robots how to complete tasks.
To access these games, you need an Xbox Live Gold subscription or an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription.
- Xbox Live Gold: $6.99/month.
- Xbox Game Pass: £10.99/month.
Once you have either of these, you have exclusive access to these games.
To download these games, just head to the store on your Xbox. Navigate to the membership page. On this page, you’ll see a link that will take you to the Xbox Live Gold Section. Once you’re on that page, you can click the game you want to download and choose “Download”. Your downloaded games can be found in the “My games and apps” section.
Once you’ve downloaded the game, you can play the game anytime. Even if you delete the game, you can download it again as part of your subscription. If you own an Xbox One and you cancel your Xbox Live subscription, you won’t be able to access Xbox Games with Gold until you subscribe again.
Download these games today and make this month memorable.
