Portal 2 is the last free Xbox 360 Games with Gold title

Portal 2 is the last free Xbox 360 Games with Gold title

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

Portal 2 will be the last Xbox 360 game available free to Xbox Live Gold subscribers through Microsoft’s Games with Gold program. Microsoft announced last month that Xbox Games with Gold will no longer include Xbox 360 games in October, simply because the company has “reached the limit of our ability to bring Xbox 360 games to the catalogue.”

The Games with Gold for September, spotted by Ars Technica, lists Portal 2 for Xbox 360, the last title before the October 1st cutoff point. Valve’s classic puzzle-platform game was released more than 10 years ago on Xbox 360, so it’s a fitting end to the nearly decade-long program of free Xbox 360 games for Xbox Live Gold subscribers.

Games with Gold is a monthly benefit for subscribers of Xbox Live Gold and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Microsoft hand picks free games each month, which subscribers can download and keep forever, and all Xbox 360 titles are playable on the latest Xbox Series X / S consoles and Xbox One.

Image: Microsoft

September’s Games with Gold titles.

Microsoft has reached the limit on new Xbox 360 games through its Games with Gold offering simply due to its Xbox backward compatibility program coming to a halt. Microsoft returned with 76 new backward compatible games last year, but the company said at the time it had “reached the limit of our ability to bring new games to the catalog from the past due to licensing, legal and technical constraints.”

If you’ve already downloaded or redeemed Xbox 360 games through the Games with Gold program, they’ll still be available after October 1st. Microsoft’s change just means Portal 2 will be the last game you can claim for free with the Games with Gold offer.

Xbox Live Gold is still an incredibly popular subscription, but Microsoft has switched its focus to Xbox Game Pass. The software maker briefly attempted to double the cost of a yearly Xbox Live Gold subscription last year, but a backlash forced it to backtrack on the pricing changes and even remove the Xbox Live Gold requirement for free-to-play games.