Whilst the news this morning that the Xbox Live service Games With Gold will be extended indefinitely certainly makes us happy, a closer look at some of the terms and conditions suggests that Microsoft has put a price cap on that happiness - £30 per month, to be precise.
"Every month, our members can download two games to keep, exclusively with Xbox Live Gold," says the blurb on the Games with Gold info page on the official Xbox site. "That's up to £30 worth of top titles to add to your digital collection each month. But make sure you don't miss out, as they're only available to download for a short space of time."
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It seems, then, that our monthly freebies cannot surpass the combined price tag of thirty quid. Among other games, this would rule out the possibility of receiving a free copy of Halo 4, which is currently going for £39.99 via Games on Demand.
There's no indication of how that £30 is split, but the division seems to be fairly even. Look at this month's offerings, for example - Halo 3 usually sells for £14.99 via Games on Demand, Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes can be downloaded through the service for £9.99.
Now, we're not ones to look a gift horse in the mouth - a free game is a free game is a free game after all, and once downloaded each game is yours forever. But the price ceiling is worth bearing in mind when pondering what the next batch of offerings might be. Also worth thinking about - the extension to the service makes no mention of it being available on the Xbox One, though Microsoft's Pav Bhardwaj has elsewhere suggested that it could "evolve" into something else on next gen consoles.
