Last updated: August 2019 with Gears of War 4, Forza 6, Torchlight and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow.

Is the quality of Xbox Games with Gold titles getting worse or better?

The idea that it is getting worse seems to be the general opinion of gamers since the launch of the games with Gold service back in the Xbox 360 days. But is it really the case?

The charts below track the quality of every release on the Xbox One and 360, using each game’s Metacritic score as a measure of quality.

Hover over the points on the chart to see the each game and respective score.

Xbox One Releases

Observations

Contrary to popular opinion, the quality of releases is currently going gradually upwards, as indicated by the red trendline.

Interestingly the consistency of the quality has also improved in recent times, possibly due to their being a greater amount of good games on the system over time for the Xbox team to choose from.

Highest rated game released: Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (95)

Lowest rated game released: Halo: Spartan Assault (53)

Average Game with Gold game Metacritic score: 75.26

You might like to check out the 10 best Xbox One games under $20 in 2018.

Xbox 360 Releases

Observations

The Xbox 360 Games with Gold releases on the other hand, are showing a downward trend in quality.

This might be in part due to a very strong start fro the service, with AAA games like Halo 3, Gears of War and Assassins’ Creed Black Flag some examples of the type of offering in the first year. In recent months the title quality has remained good, but leaned more towards indie releases.

Despite the downward trend, the average score for 360 titles is higher than that of Xbox One.

Highest rated game released: Halo 3, Gears of War and Gears of War 3 (94)

Lowest rated game released: Deadfall Adventures (43)

Average Game with Gold Metacritic Score: 78.61

You might like to check out the 10 best Xbox 360 games under $10.

This page is updated every month with the latest Games with Gold releases for each console.

If you’re interested, we’ve also done a similar comparison for the Playstation’s GWG equivalent, PS Plus, here.