We think August 2021 may well be the best month for Xbox Games With Gold freebies for a good old while. With Darksiders III and Lost Planet 3 both having already been stripped of their price tags for the month, it’s now time for 2 new titles to emerge with the free love attached. It just so happens that one of those is the utterly brilliant Yooka-Laylee.
Any Xbox gamer worth their salt will already know that the middle of any month is when things get interesting, all because the Xbox Games With Gold scheme switches things up a little, pushing out two additional games for download. And those downloads just so happen to not have any price tag attached to them either, and so if you’ve got a valid Xbox Live Gold subscription in hand, will be treated to a couple of goodies.
August 2021 is no different and now that we’ve reached the hump of the month, those two additional games have arrived – Yooka-Laylee and Garou: Mark of the Wolves.
We’ll be honest, we’re not overly fussed by the free download of Garou. A native Xbox 360 title that first released way back in 2009, it’s most definitely the weakest of August’s Games With Gold freebies. If you do wish to download it though – and we guess you should because, free – you’ll find yourself saving on the usual £6.79 asking price. You’ll also find access to a game straight out of the Fatal Fury series as you rock and roll with some new ideas (new for 2009!) and embark on a tale which pushed out extreme battles and more.
If you wish to pick up Garou: Mark of the Wolves for free, you’ve got until the end of August to visit the Xbox Store.
But admit it, you’re not here for Garou. You’re here for Yooka-Laylee – and nicely that’s also now free to download. And better still, this one sits without a price tag until the middle of September.
An utter classic which arrived via the Team17 and Playtonic Games teams back in 2017, Yooka-Laylee introduced us gamers to Yooka and Laylee, a buddy-duo who went off on an adventure of a lifetime. This revolved around trying to stop the corporate creep Capital B, giving the chance for us to utilise a whole range of new special moves, ideas and features. Very much playing on the puzzling aspect, we absolutely loved Yooka-Laylee when it released – and still do to this day. In fact, we highly advise you give our full review a read whilst you wait for your free download to kick in.
It goes without saying that you’ll need that valid Xbox Live Gold subscription in place prior to being able to gather up the free download you desire, but from there the Xbox Store will sort you out. We reckon you should be downloading this immediately, but if you’re one of those who love leaving things to the last minute, you’ve got until mid-September to get yourself in gear.
With the switch in Games With Gold focus for August, your time to download one of the previous free titles – Lost Planet 3 – is now over. You can however still grab Darksiders III for nothing – make sure you take that home sooner rather than later.
And as always, let us know what you think of the latest set of free titles coming about via the Xbox Games With Gold scheme. Is it really the best month for freebies for a while?