Microsoft is now out with its Games with Gold list for June 2021, and wow, you are going to be blown away by this one! What’s funny is, you are either genuinely shocked right now, or you already know I’m not being honest with you. I’m not being honest. This month’s Games with Gold are the same as they’ve ever been — blah.
There is one pretty solid title you should be happy is showing up for June. By taking a look at the lineup below, you’ll probably find it pretty quickly. (The header also might give it away.)
- The King’s Bird (Xbox One) – 6/1 to 6/30
- Shadows: Awakening (Xbox One) – 6/16 to 7/15
- NeoGeo Battle Coliseum (Xbox 360) – 6/1 to 6/15
- Injustice: Gods Among Us (Xbox 360) – 6/16 to 6/30
Injustice is a legitimately good fighting game, and an even better video game representation of the DC universe. But wow, does its back hurt. It is doing a lot of work to carry the rest of this lineup, which is comprised of titles that may not be bad games by any stretch, but also may not be the kind people are excited to have their subscription paying for.
Contrast the above list with the PlayStation Plus games for June 2020, and you can see how Microsoft is getting positively shellacked.
PlayStation Plus for June 2021
- Star Wars: Squadrons
- Virtua Fighter 5 Ultimate Showdown
- Operation: Tango
Star Wars: Squadrons came out last fall. Both VF5 and Operation: Tango will be new releases when they appear on PS Plus. Microsoft’s best Games with Gold entry is an Xbox 360 title that originally dropped in 2013.
I really think Microsoft should try a bit harder to compete here. I also think one avenue to do this is to just kill Xbox Live Gold entirely and stop fussing with the free games. Drop the paid multiplayer and push as many people toward Xbox Game Pass as possible. One can dream, right?
The above Games with Gold titles will be free starting at the beginning of June.
