Want to take your favorite Xbox One game for a spin without having to pay for it? An upcoming new Microsoft program appears to be paving the way.
The software giant is testing a new feature called "Free Play Day with Gold" that would unlock select Xbox One titles for you to download and play for a certain period of time, presumably 24 hours, Eurogamer.net reported on Thursday. The program was apparently first mentioned in a Reddit Xbox One discussion thread by someone who said that the game "Max: The Curse of Brotherhood" had already been unlocked as a free download.
Microsoft currently provides some freebies through its Games with Gold program, which offers two Xbox One games for free each month with a $60-per-year Xbox Live Gold subscription. Exposing Xbox One users to even more games via yet another program isn't a bad idea.
Sales of the Xbox One console themselves haven't been as hot as expected, especially when compared with those of Sony's PlayStation 4. Earlier this month, Sony said its PlayStation 4 has sold more than 10 million units worldwide since its November 2013 launch. In April, Microsoft announced it had shipped 5 million Xbox One units to retailers but has remained silent on sales figures. Microsoft needs all the help it can get to drum up interest in the console and its still limited but growing array of titles.
How will the new program work? That remains to be seen.
Responding to a tweet asking for information, Microsoft's Xbox support Twitter account initially expressed surprise about the "Free Play Day with Gold" feature, according to blog site Neowin. The tweeter asked if "Free Play Day" is a new thing or not. In response, the Xbox support team said: "Looks like it is actually. We'll be in touch here shortly."
