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Xbox Games With Gold December 2021 free games

Find out the full Xbox Games With Gold December 2021 line-up of free games for your Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Xbox 360.

Xbox Games With Gold December 2021: Frank can be seen walking through a burning theatre with zombies around him.
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Xbox 

 The Xbox Games With Gold program has been discontinued and replaced by the Xbox Game Pass Core subscription, which is functionally very different.

Xbox Games With Gold December 2021 games featured four games for subscribers to pick up. Two games took us back to the 2000s thanks to backwards compatibility, while the other two gave us a nice Christmas treat with games from the Xbox One era.

While all four of these games were playable on the new Xbox Series X|S consoles, thanks to Microsoft’s commitment to backwards compatibility across generations, the service wasn’t known for the best selections. Ultimately, that resulted in the Games With Gold program being discontinued. Now, most of Microsoft’s big plays come from Game Pass. If you’re looking at picking up its replacement, take a look at all the Xbox Game Pass Core games that you can enjoy instead.

Xbox Games With Gold December 2021 free games

The Xbox Games With Gold December 2021 games were as follows:

  • The Escapists 2 – 1 December to 31 December (Xbox One)
  • Tropico 5 Penultimate Edition – 16 December to 15 January (Xbox One)
  • Orcs Must Die! – 1 December to 15 December (Xbox 360)
  • Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet – 16 December to 31 December (Xbox 360)

Although these games were far from bad, with the likes of The Escapists 2 and Orcs Must Die! being small but enjoyable experiences to dive into, there wasn’t anything all that eye-catching. All of these free games were either niche or older titles that could be bought for cheap if you wanted them. For many players, there ultimately wasn’t anything interesting for them through Games With Gold in December 2021.

That covers all the Xbox Games With Gold December 2021 free games. If you are looking for more great games to play on your new Xbox Series X|S, why not browse our list of the best Xbox games or the best Xbox Game Pass games?

Echo has years of experience writing about PS5, Xbox, and the best games and franchises that console players love. They joined The Loadout in 2021 as a staff writer and worked their way up to be the site's guides editor, before departing in 2023. They've written hundreds of guides on games such as Call of Duty, XDefiant, Spider-Man 2, Starfield, and many more. They were also the custodian of The Loadout's various PS Plus games and Xbox Game Pass games lists, informing subscribers about any new, departing, or interesting games that they could play. In their time writing, they have attended industry events like Gamescom and WASD. Additionally, they have conducted interviews with the teams behind Lords of the Fallen, Blue Protocol, Dying Light 2, and more since beginning their writing journey at university.