‘Spelunky,’ ‘WWE 2K16’ among August’s free ‘Games With Gold’ titles for Xbox

By Gabe Gurwin July 26, 2016

Xbox’s Games With Gold program has seen a noticeable leap in quality over the past year, with such titles as Sunset Overdrive, The Wolf Among Us, and The Banner Saga 2 being offered recently. August continues that trend after a slight stumble in July, with a nice mix of AAA and smaller-scale games to satisfy nearly any player.

For the entire month of August, Xbox One players will be able to download Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate for free. The updated game originally launched in 2014 and received fairly positive — if not glowing — reviews from critics and fans alike. From August 16 until September 15, WWE 2K16 will also be free on Xbox One. The wrestling game featured Arnold Schwarzenegger as a pre-order bonus, but it’s not clear if he will be included in the free version.

For Xbox 360 owners, platforming gem and friendship destroyer Spelunky will be free from August 1 to 15, followed by Beyond Good & Evil HD for the remainder of the month. As with all Xbox 360 games offered through the program recently, they are also playable on Xbox One through backward compatibility.

The latter game, which originally launched on the original Xbox, GameCube, PlayStation 2, and PC back in 2003, became a cult hit and calls for a follow-up rival only those for Half Life 3, but director Michel Ancel’s work on the independent adventure Wild make any chance of a sequel materializing very, very slim.

This month’s Games With Gold offerings should keep you busy for a long time, but we’re hoping Microsoft begins giving away more of its first-party Xbox One library in the future. Halo: The Master Chief Collection and Dead Rising 3 would both be welcome additions, especially with new entries in both games’ series scheduled to launch in the not-so-distant future.

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Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…

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