Xbox announces 50 free games in massive new initiative

Xbox Game Pass subscribers just got treated to an extra 50 bonus free games outta nowhere, as part of Microsoft’s new initiative focusing on “game preservation and backwards compatibility”.

From today, as in right now, Xbox owners now have access to a library of 50+ classic Activision titles as part of their subscriptions.

“We’re thrilled to announce the launch of Retro Classics, a collaboration between Xbox and Antstream Arcade, available to play for Game Pass members globally,” Microsoft revealed on the official Xbox Wire blog.

“Starting today, Game Pass members can dive into a collection of 50+ classic Activision games from the ’80s and ’90s… This initiative is a step in our commitment to game preservation and backwards compatibility, allowing players to experience many timeless games on modern devices.”

Over on the r/Xbox subreddit, fans are thrilled to hear about what’s included in the surprise announcement.

“What a weird lineup and I mean that in the best way,” commented user GINTegg64. “This is a great opportunity to introduce a ton of older titles, from iconic to oddball, to new audiences.”

“This just continues to make Game Pass a more compelling product. Neat stuff," replied user Mister-Nash-Ketchum.

Now, as cool as this all is… I do have a little bit of a problem with the new “Retro Games” service.

This is doubtlessly Microsoft’s fault, and is entirely to do with Antstream Arcade themselves, but it’s kind of weird to me that these retro titles are cloud-based.

You could probably stream games like these on a dial-up connection from the 90s, so that’s not my issue. It’s more that it’s just odd this is the only way you can play these titles on an Xbox system (legally).

It sort of flies in the face of the whole “game preservation” thing if you need an active subscription and you always need to be online to actually access these titles.

Still, I’m not gonna complain (too much) about some random freebies. Can’t wait to boot up Pitfall! for two minutes and then remember why I hate that bloody game.