Microsoft is ready to reveal Xbox Live Gold's free Games With Gold for August 2019. Four new free games will be available to subscribers of Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in August, with two games unlocking on August 1 and the next two following on August 16. As ever, two of the games will be Xbox One games and two will be Xbox 360 titles supported on Xbox One with backward compatibility.
Headlining August's games are two popular first-party exclusives. August 1's Xbox One game will be Gears of War 4, the first franchise title from Microsoft's homegrown Gears studio The Coalition. Gears of War 4 coming to Games With Gold will be the perfect opportunity to revisit the franchise prior to the launch of Gears 5 on September 10. Available August 16 is Forza Motorsport 6, the middle child of the three Forza Motorsports available on Xbox One. Forza 6 reintroduced rainy weather and night racing to the franchise.f
On Xbox 360 are two great games that will diversify August's Games With Gold lineup. Torchlight from the now-defunct Runic Games becomes available August 1 and offers a multiplayer ARPG experience, perfect for fans of Diablo looking for something new. August 16 sees the release of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow, the action-adventure reboot of the iconic franchise.
The full availability schedule for August's Games With Gold is identical to previous months, with Xbox One games being unlocked for a full month and Xbox 360 games lasting only 15 days:
- Gears of War 4 - August 1 through August 31
- Forza Motorsport 6 - August 16 through September 15
- Torchlight - August 1 through August 15
- Castlevania Lords of Shadow - August 16 through August 31
As previously noted, both Torchlight and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow are fully playable on the Xbox One via backward compatibility.
On one hand, Microsoft making available Gears of War 4 and Forza Motorsport 6 to Xbox Live Gold subscribers in a single month is an impressive offering. Both games are of high quality and critically acclaimed. On the other hand, this is the first time that Microsoft is encroaching on Xbox Game Pass territory with Games With Gold. Gears of War 4 is already available for free to Game Pass subscribers, so August's Games With Gold offerings effectively have one less game for Xbox's most dedicated fans.
Xbox Game Pass subscribers likely won't be too frustrated with the crossover, being that they have plenty of great games being added to the Game Pass library month to month anyway. Still, the crossover does show an issue with Microsoft pitching Xbox Game Pass Ultimate as the premier Xbox subscription service, only to having one part of the subscription devaluing the other. It's a complicated issue for Xbox that's likely to crop up again.
The new Xbox Games With Gold start releasing August 1. Make sure to download the remaining July Games With Gold titles, including Inside and Big Crown Showdown, before they disappear.