Xbox Games With Gold cutting free Xbox 360 games this fall

Xbox 360 games will be removed from Xbox LIVE's free monthly Games With Gold lineup starting this fall, Microsoft has confirmed.

Microsoft recently sent out emails to Xbox LIVE and Game Pass subscribers letting them know of big changes coming to monthly freebies. Xbox 360 games will no longer be offered because it appears Microsoft has run out of backwards compatible 360-era games to offer on the service.

"From 1 October 2022, the monthly games provided to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and Xbox Live Gold members via Games with Gold will no longer include Xbox 360 titles. We have reached the limit of our ability to bring Xbox 360 games to the catalogue," the email says.

In 2021, Microsoft confirmed that it will no longer add any more Xbox 360 games to its backwards compatibility functionality on Xbox One and Series X/S consoles.

Given that all Xbox 360 games offered on Games With Gold are fully backward compatible on the Xbox One and the newer Series X/S, the announcement seems to indicate Microsoft simply has no more games to offer--at least games that it still has licensing rights in which to do so.

October 2022 will mark the end of an era for Games With Gold, but let's be honest, there aren't that many good Xbox 360 games typically offered on a month-by-month basis anyway. Still it's a sad time considering I can still remember when the Xbox 360 was brand new.