Xbox Games with Gold lineup for August 2017 revealed

The Xbox Games with Gold games for August have finally been revealed. August’s lineup consists of Bayonetta, Trials Fusion, Slime Rancher and Red Faction: Armageddon.

Bayonetta should need no introduction for Games with Gold fans – it’s the excellent Platinum Games action game with absolutely no rival bar Bayonetta 2 on Wii U. Unfortunately this isn’t some super-secret Xbox One remaster – it’s part of Xbox One’s Xbox 360 backwards-compatibility catalogue. Red Faction: Armageddon also falls under the same designation.

The Xbox One games on offer are Trials Fusion, RedLynx’s follow-up to the Xbox 360 hit Trials HD, and Slime Rancher, an indie life sim about feeding and caring for slimes. No, I don’t get it either.

Slime Rancher will be available from 1 August for the entire month, while Trials Fusion is available from 16 August. Bayonetta is free from 1 August until 15 August and then Red Faction becomes available from 16 August until the end of the month.

If you haven’t already picked up July’s Xbox Games with Gold titles, you have until the end of the month to snap up Grow Up and Lego: Pirates of the Caribbean the Video Game. Runbow will be available until 15 August.

What is Xbox Games with Gold?

Xbox Games with Gold is Microsoft’s version of PlayStation Plus, a monthly collection of free games for Xbox Live Gold subscribers. Once a game has left Games with Gold, you’ll still get to keep the games and play them whenever, so long as you maintain an active Xbox Live Gold subscription.

How much is Xbox Games with Gold?

Games with Gold is technically free – it comes part and parcel with an Xbox Live Gold subscription.

Picking up a subscription to Xbox Live Gold costs as little as £6 per month, but can be bought as a three-month package for £15 or 12 months for £40. For that price, you’ll get access to online play for Xbox 360 and Xbox One, as well as exclusive deals on the Microsoft Store, cloud saves, capture editing suites and free games via Games with Gold. Not too shabby.

Xbox Live 3 Month Gold Membership (Xbox One/360) [Xbox Live Download Code]

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How often is Xbox Games with Gold updated?

Technically, Xbox Games with Gold changes every first of the month. However, Microsoft actually has a staggered system for releasing its Games with Gold titles. Unlike Sony, who releases all six of its free games in one go, Microsoft tends to release two titles for the first half of the month, with another two replacing them for the second half.

Xbox Games with Gold also gives you one Xbox One game and one backwards-compatible Xbox 360 title at the same time. Those are then replaced with another Xbox One and Xbox 360 title mid-month. Sometimes Microsoft allows for indie titles to go via Games with Gold for an entire month, so you could end up with five games instead of four.