Xbox Games with Gold for December includes Escapists 2, Orcs Must Die and more

What you need to know

• Microsoft has unveiled the latest lineup for its Games with Gold program, available via its Xbox Live Gold subscription.
• The Escapists 2, Tropico 5 – Penultimate Edition, Orcs Must Die!, and Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet are all set to join the service, marking the last offering for the year.
• You get the usual offering of two Xbox 360 Games and two Xbox One titles with the subscription.

Xbox Live Gold has been dwarfed following the explosive growth of Xbox Game Pass, but the free games are still something fans can look forward to every month. Microsoft's usual promise of two Xbox 360 games and two Xbox One games continues, and with the last games for 2021 now here, the offering is very modest.

Microsoft has announced the four games that will be ready to download for Xbox Live Gold users on their respective dates. Below is a breakdown of when you can grab the games you're looking for.

The Escapists 2 for Xbox One will be available for the whole month of December (Dec. 1 - Dec. 31), while Tropico 5 – Penultimate Edition will be available from the middle of December until the middle of January (Dec. 15 - Jan. 15, 2022. Orcs Must Die! for Xbox 360 will be available for the first half of December (Dec. 1 - Dec. 15), and lastly, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet will be available from the second half of December (Dec. 16 - Dec. 31) on the console. The two titles are also playable on Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S consoles via backward compatibility.

Xbox Live Gold subscriptions start at $9.99 per month on Xbox consoles, while also available via Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscriptions, available from $15 per month on console and PC.