Speaking at SXSW, Microsoft Studios corporate vice president Phil Spencer said that Xbox’s Games with Gold program is “fundamentally different” than “other programs” because it allows members to keep the games regardless of whether they continue to pay for a subscription.
Spencer is clearly referring to Sony’s competitive PlayStation Plus program, which gives users access to a collection of free games, but locks them out if their subscription expires. Microsoft allowing you to keep the games even when your subscription expires has an impact on what games it can include in Games with Gold, Spencer said.
According to Polygon, however, Spencer said that he’s “playing a more active role in picking franchises that show up in Games with Gold, and I think you'll see something that feels at least more true to what I think Games with Gold should look like with the constraints that are there."
Games with Gold is currently available for Xbox 360 only. At the start of February, Spencer said that we could expect to hear about Games with Gold reaching Xbox One "fairly soon".
