As the calendar approaches the end of the year, there is one more month left of Xbox Live Games With Gold available for subscribers to download before the New Year. Available from December 1st through December 31st, is Colt Canyon. From December 16th through January 15th, subscribers can download Bladed Fury as part of their subscription.
Games With Gold is one of the original monthly programs gifting players a curated selection of titles each month. First launched in 2013, the program will soon be celebrating a 10-year anniversary. Reporting from VGC confirmed that as of October 2022, Xbox 360 games will no longer be added as part of the service, which has dropped from offering four games to only two each month. Microsoft's move to reduce the total number of games follows similar decisions by Sony when it dropped PlayStation Vita and PlayStation 3 games from its monthly offerings.
Coming this month, Colt Canyon is a 2D pixel art shooter originally released in 2020. Taking control of a cowboy or one of the many other unlockable characters, players attempt to rescue their partner from bandits. With roguelike elements and punishing permadeath, Colt Canyon is a harder journey than the art style would suggest, with random levels and plenty of upgrades to keep gamers playing. Colt Canyon is currently listed as "Very Positive" on Steam with nearly 500 reviews.
Bladed Fury, the other recently revealed free download, is a 2D action game set in ancient China with a gorgeous art style influenced by Chinese mythology. A mix of hack'n'slash with platforming elements, Bladed Fury is described by fans as reminiscent of Vanillaware titles, such as Dragon's Crown. While short with a reported 3-4 hour campaign, stylish action romps can be fun for a cold winter's day. Bladed Fury, like Colt Canyon, enjoys a "Very Positive" rating on Steam, though the hack'n'slash title is significantly more popular, with almost 3,000 reviews.
The November Games With Gold are still available for a limited time. The real-time tactical strategy game Praetorians HD Remaster is available until the end of the month. Action-thriller Dead End Job can be downloaded through December 15th.
In recent years, Games With Gold has been losing ground to its more popular, more expansive younger sibling, Xbox Game Pass. Allowing Cloud gaming with the ability to play on a PC, smartphone, or certain smart TVs, Game Pass has quickly become the industry leader for subscription services. Microsoft's premier subscription service added multiple day-one games this month, including Dune: Spice Wars and Warhammer 40,000: Darktide.