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Xbox Games With Gold program showers subscribers with free games in December

Gabe Gurwin
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Xbox - December Games with Gold
If you’re low on cash after buying gifts for your family this holiday season, you’ll still have plenty of great games to play on your Xbox One. Microsoft has revealed the free games Xbox Live Gold subscribers will receive next month through the Games With Gold program, and it looks like the year will end on a very good note.

For the entire month of December, Xbox One owners will be able to download Sleeping Dogs: Definitive Edition for free. The crime adventure, set in Hong Kong, uses a great hand-to-hand combat system and a voice cast that includes Emma Stone, and serves as a successor to the earlier True Crime series.

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From December 16 until January 15, Xbox One owners will also be able to download Outlast. The horror game, which is receiving a sequel next year, was one of the bright spots during an otherwise rocky launch for the current generation of consoles, and comes close to perfecting the combat-free horror we’ve seen in games like Amnesia and Slender.

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Xbox 360 owners will have access to two very well-received games, as well, and as with all Xbox 360 games included in the program, they are fully playable on Xbox One. Outland, one of the few Xbox games made by developer Housemarque, is available from December 1 until December 15. Its gorgeous art design and combat resemble the action-platformer Strider, which saw its latest entry made free through PlayStation Plus in 2014.

Lastly, Xbox Live Gold members will be able to snag Burnout: Paradise from December 16 until the end of 2016. The racing game originally released in 2008 to rave reviews, with many praising the evolution of the series as well as developer Criterion’s take on open-world design. Since then, Criterion has also developed the acclaimed Need for Speed: Most Wanted before canceling an action-racing project this year.

What do you think about December’s freebies? Is it enough to keep you paying for Xbox Live? Let us know in the comments!

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Gabe Gurwin
Gabe Gurwin
Former Digital Trends Contributor
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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