‘WWE 2K16’, ‘Beyond Good And Evil’ Headline Free August Xbox LIVE Games

The free Games with Gold titles for August on the Xbox One and Xbox 360 slipped out Monday. Microsoft accidentally released a YouTube video early revealing WWE 2K16, Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate, Spelunky, and Beyond Good and Evil HD will all be available for Xbox LIVE Gold subscribers at no extra cost next month.

Microsoft has now made the Xbox Games with Gold video for August private to prevent viewing. However, the email alert that goes out whenever a game is added to the Xbox YouTube channel plainly shows the upcoming line-up of games that will be available for Xbox LIVE Gold users.

Update: It is now official.

Xbox August Games w Gold: WARRIORS OROCHI 3 Ultimate #WWE2K16, Beyond Good & Evil, Spelunky https://t.co/eKAkeIAaJb pic.twitter.com/K8He2H6zpS

— Larry Hryb ?? (@majornelson) July 26, 2016

The August slate of free games kicks off next Monday, the first day of the month. Warriors Orochi 3 Ultimate will be available for free through the end of the month. WWE 2K16 will join the festivities on August 16 and be a free download through September 15.

The backwards compatible Xbox 360 games will start with Spelunky. It will be free to own from August 1 through 15. It will be replaced on August 16 by Beyond Good and Evil HD, which will hang around until August gives way to September.

Warriors Orochi 3is a hack and slash Musoubrawler that was brought forward from the last-gen consoles to the Xbox One. Players will venture across a battlefield taking on thousands of soldiers using different characters available. It comes with all the content and DLC from the original game with upgraded graphics and a fairly steady 60 fps framerate. The game received a 73 Metacritic score with the negative being the Dynasty Warriorsstyle of play and not much new innovation.

WWE 2K16takes the previous year’s release and puts a new coat of paint on it along with some new features. Some reviewers praised it for being a more complete package and being a significant improvement. However, technical issues, disappointing crowds, and the same core gameplay pinned it at a 72 Metacritic score.

Spelunkyquickly became an indie darling thanks to its randomized levels combined with colorful and fun platforming gameplay. It’s not exactly for the faint of heart, though. The game is challenging and can be infuriatingly difficult at times. Still, the solid platforming earned it a favorable 87 Metacritic score on the Xbox 360.

Finally, Beyond Good and Evil HDis actually an original Xbox title remastered for the Xbox 360 and now brought to the Xbox One via backwards compatibility. The game became a cult hit and still has fans clamoring for a sequel from Ubisoft. The HD upgrade received an 84 Metacritic score on the Xbox 360.

Some Games with Gold titles are still available to download for free. Banner Saga 2 will be available for the Xbox One through July 31 while Tumblestone will hang around until August 15. Finally, Tron Evolution will be available for both the Xbox One and Xbox 360 through the end of July.

As the Inquisitr previously covered, Xbox One manages backwards compatibility by emulating the entire Xbox 360 operating system. This allows Xbox 360 games to run on the Xbox One without any special coding or other workarounds. The major hurdles remaining are the licensing agreements with development studios and publishers to allow the games to be played on the Xbox One and listed for sale on the Xbox Store for the console.

Following that, testing to make sure the game runs correctly on the Xbox One appears to be a time-consuming task. Microsoft has to test each game from beginning to end to ensure the emulator runs the title correctly. This can take hundreds of hours depending on the title.

What do you think of August’s lineup of free games for Xbox LIVE Gold subscribers? Sound off in the comments below.