Xbox Live Games With Gold For July 2021 Brings Back A Crude Classic

It's very nearly July, and that means there's a new batch of Xbox Live Games with Gold right around the corner. Microsoft revealed what that next round of free games is today, and though there aren't any particularly big titles in the lineup, there is one game that's sure to please fans of a certain obscene, alcoholic squirrel.

Yes indeed, this could be one of those months where it's actually a backward-compatible game that gets the lion's share of attention from Xbox Live Gold subscribers. That game is Conker: Live & Reloaded, an OG Xbox game that is a remake of the N64 classic Conker's Bad Fur Day. Those who may not be familiar with Conker's Bad Fur Day should know that even though its graphics make it look like a game for kids, it's actually anything but. In other words, keep the kids away from this one.

On the Xbox One side of things, the free games for July include Planet Alpha, a colorful puzzle platformer, and Rock of Ages 3: Make & Break. Rock of Ages 3 is actually more recent than we'd expect most Games with Gold to be, as it only released a year ago on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Switch, PC, and Stadia.

The final backward-compatible game for the month will be Midway Arcade Classics, and some older Xbox players who were around for the arcade era could definitely get some mileage out of that one. Midway Arcade Origins originally launched for Xbox 360 and includes 30 classic Midway arcade titles, including Defender and Gauntlet. It also has Root Beer Tapper, a personal favorite of the author of this article.

Planet Alpha will be available to Xbox Live Gold members from July 1st to July 31st, with Rock of Ages 3: Make & Break available from July 16th to August 15th. As is the case every month, the two backward compatible titles will split July down the middle, with Conker: Live & Reloaded up for grabs for the first half of the month and Midway Arcade Origins available for the second half.