Microsoft extends Xbox 360 Games with Gold promotion

Microsoft’s Games with Gold promotion will no longer come to an end on December 31, the company announced today. Instead, Games with Gold will be offered “as an ongoing benefit for Xbox Live Gold members on Xbox 360”.Games with Gold was originally announced as a limited-time promotion offering every Xbox Live Gold member two free Xbox 360 game downloads per month until the end of 2013.

It kicked off in June with Fable 3, which was followed by Defense Grid: The Awakening and Assassin's Creed 2 in July. August’s free games were Crackdown, Dead Rising 2 and DR2 prologue Case Zero, while September's offerings were Magic 2013 and Rainbow Six Vegas. Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes was offered in the first half of October and Halo 3 is currently available until the end of the month.

Microsoft said today that Xbox 360 owners have spent more than 120 million hours playing Games with Gold titles since the promotion began.

While Xbox One will launch on November 22, exactly eight years after Xbox 360 first hit store shelves, Microsoft said last month that it has no intention of halting support for the older console. Xbox chief marketing and strategy officer Yusuf Mehdi expects Xbox 360 “to go for another three years” and for Microsoft to “ship over 100 new games” on the console.