Skip to main content

‘Grow Up’ and sail the seven seas with July’s Xbox Games With Gold

The sun is shining, public pools are open, and the allure of the outside world might be drawing you out of your game room, but worry not! Xbox’s Games With Gold program has four new free games arriving to Xbox One and Xbox 360 owners in July, and it is an eclectic mix of titles.

Beginning on July 1 and running through the end of the month, Xbox One owners will be able to download Ubisoft’s Grow Up for free. A sequel to Grow Home, it sports a cute, polygon-filled art style and clever open-world platforming. Though it was criticized for failing to innovate, Grow Up received praise for its changes to the game’s overall mission structure.

Recommended Videos

From July 16 through August 15, Xbox One owners will also be able to download Runbow. With support for up to nine players both locally and online, each contestant must race against the clock, carefully avoid obstacles and take advantage of new platforms whenever the game’s background color changes. Runbow was previously released on PC and Wii U. If you don’t have an Xbox One or Xbox Live Gold, you can pick it up on Steam for about $5 right now. It also just released for Nintendo 3DS, if you haven’t put your old handheld into storage.

From July 1 through July 15, Xbox 360 players can download Kane and Lynch 2. The violent crime game can be played both solo and with a friend on Xbox Live, and like all Xbox 360 games released through the program from now on, it is fully playable on Xbox One, as well. Kane and Lynch 2 might be the perfect game to tide you over until Hazelight’s cooperative thriller A Way Out releases.

Disappointed with the recent film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales? Perhaps a video game will help ease the pain. From July 16 through July 30, Xbox 360 and Xbox One owners can grab Lego Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game. Featuring all of the films’ major characters and contents from the first four movies, the game also supports local cooperative action. It isn’t Sea of Thieves, but it should keep us satisfied for now.

Which game are you most looking forward to playing from July’s Games with Gold lineup? How do you think it compares to last month? Let us know in the comments?

Gabe Gurwin
Gabe Gurwin has been playing games since 1997, beginning with the N64 and the Super Nintendo. He began his journalism career…
3 new Xbox Game Pass games to play this weekend (April 18-20)
Patrick using an umbrella to parachute.

Last week was a major one in terms of big day one Game Pass games, and next week is arguably even bigger with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 joining the service. But there are way more titles joining the catalog besides that one upcoming Xbox Series X game, and this is the perfect time to give some smaller, lesser-known games a chance. We're not going to burden you with a massive RPG that you won't be able to finish before Expedition, but a smattering of smaller titles that are the perfect size to give you a weekend of fun before wrapping up. Why not try something a little out of the ordinary this weekend with one of these games?

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Patrick Star Game

Read more
3 new Xbox Game Pass games to play this weekend (April 11-13)
A wide shot of Hazel and Shakin Bones in South of Midnight.

While the news is starting to die down about the Switch 2, one conversation is only gaining steam. Game prices have been thrown into question with Nintendo breaking the $70 barrier on many upcoming Switch 2 games, which makes the already incredible value of Game Pass even more appealing. This week in particular saw not one, not two, but three day-one additions to really show its worth. We still have Clair Obscur to look forward to soon, but each of these games is perfect for filling a dead weekend.

South of Midnight

Read more
Xbox to give The Outer Worlds 2 the Starfield treatment at Games Showcase 2025
A person on an alien world in The Outer Worlds 2.

This year's Xbox Games Showcase will be streamed on Sunday, June 8 at 10 AM PT/1 PM ET and immediately followed by The Outer Worlds 2 Direct. If you've been waiting for more information on the sequel to Obsidian's 2019 quirky space RPG, this is your chance.

Xbox says this showcase will follow the pattern of its 2023 and 2024 showcases, giving a deep-dive on the biggest game of the show — in this case, Outer Worlds 2 — and will "bring you inside the walls of Obsidian Entertainment, revealing new gameplay, details, and developer insights."

Read more