Microsoft has now revealed this week’s Free Play Days games, and it’s an EA Sports takeover! EA Sports FC 25, EA Sports College Football 25, EA Sports Madden NFL 25, F1 24, NHL 25, EA Sports UFC 5, EA Sports WRC, and EA Sports PGA Tour are the free Xbox games Game Pass Ultimate, Standard, and Core subscribers can play for free until January 20. Xbox Free Play Days gamesEA Sports FC 25EA Sports College Football 25EA Sports Madden NFL 25F1 24NHL 25EA Sports UFC 5EA Sports WRCEA Sports PGA TourEA Sports FC 25, EA Sports College Football 25, EA Sports Madden NFL 25, NHL 25, and F1 24 are not currently included in EA Play/ Game Pass Ultimate, so Ultimate subscribers, you may want to jump into these titles over the likes of EA Sports UFC 5, which has just joined Game Pass. For Standard and Core members, none of these games are already a part of your subscription tier, so have at it!Unfortunately, it’s currently unclear if the games included in this week’s Free Play Days are time-limited or if you’ll be able to play each game for as long as you want over the weekend. Here’s a full rundown of each game included in this weekend’s Free Play Days: Kes — EA Sports FC 25It’s FIFA FC 25! That rebrand of the biggest football sim on the planet still doesn’t sit right on the tongue, but it remains immensely popular. With a career mode where you can become a great manager or player, an everlasting gobstopper in Ultimate Team, and real fun for you and your mates in Pro Clubs — FC 25 remains a strong game.That being said, minimal gameplay changes for this year’s edition have left many hardcore players less engaged than ever before. It’s the perfect time for free play days because EA has just dropped a gameplay update to help keep things interesting in the mid-season. Enjoy!Sean — EA Sports College Football 25 Out of the two football games on offer this weekend, many consider EA Sports College Football 25 to be the better of the two. Offering a fast-paced college football gameplay that will test your strategic decision-making and a huge roster of over 130 FBS teams, EA Sports College Football 25 has a lot going for it, and it’s definitely worth checking out this weekend if you haven’t already done so. Interestingly, estimates suggest you can unlock all 15 achievements in EA Sports College Football 25 in under six hours, so you may be able to nab a cheeky free 1,000G if there are no time restrictions this weekend. Check out the EA Sports College Football 25 walkthrough for more info. Sean — EA Sports Madden NFL 25While it may not have been as well received as EA Sports College Football 25, Madden NFL 25 still offers an excellent football experience. You’ve got a new physics-informed dynamic tackling system that unlocks realistic collisions, new gameplay animations both on and off the ball, a new ball carrier balance system, physics-driven drives, trucks, and stiff arms — it’s all going on! Pair all those new innovations with a deep franchise mode, and you’ve got yourself a game worthy of playing over the weekend. Kes — F1 24 Drive to survive the F1 24 achievementsCompletion estimate: 60-80 hoursPlatforms: Xbox Series X|S, Xbox OneWe just had a superb season of F1, with those final ten races seeing Max Verstappen holding off Lando Norris in an exhilarating Driver’s Championship battle. I think that Verstappen’s performance in dangerously wet Brazil is one of the best drives of all time — how did he manage to even keep the Red Bull on track?Anyway, F1 24 is a good edition of the game with a strong single player and engaged multiplayer community. Early issues with the new handling model have been ironed out. Now, it’s a fun way to keep exploring your F1 passions outside of the sport proper!Tom — NHL 25Hockey fans can get in on the icy action in NHL 25, which introduces new systems to put you right in the skates of your favorite players. Aided by a new AI system, you can strategize with new offensive and defensive positioning, taking your powerplays to a new level with teammates feeling more responsive to the situations around them. NHL 25 isn’t currently available with Xbox Game Pass, so now could be a great time for a frosty bit of fun.Tom — EA Sports UFC 5EA Sports UFC 5 is the latest entry in the Ultimate Fighting Championship franchise and comes out the gate swinging with improved visuals for fighter likeness and arena design. With an improved damage system, your mobility, stamina, defense, and more can all be hindered when taking hits, adding a more lifelike layer to the fighting game. If you do particularly well, you can now replay your hard-fought victory via a fresh cinematic K.O. feature — go on, admire your prowess!EA Sports UFC 5 is currently included in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate via EA Play, so Ultimate subscribers might be better off checking out one of the other games on this list.Kes — EA Sports WRCRallying is a great motorsport fueled by quick hatchbacks, hair-raising close calls, and pure passion. Codemasters managed to capture that in its first game with the WRC brand, even if it is a touch light on single-player content. On the track, it’s just immense, with the different terrains really coming to life under your fingertips.Also, the development team that made this also made Dirt 5 — a racer that is, in my opinion, one of the most boring racers I’ve ever played. It’s not bad, but EA Sports WRC is a monumental improvement and a really great step forward for the team. I’m super impressed by this!Sean — EA Sports PGA TourEA Sports PGA Tour is the only golf game where you can play through all four Majors: the Masters, the PGA Championship, the U.S. Open, and The Open Championship. With its excellent ball physics, swing system, and a more fleshed-out career mode compared to its competitors, EA Sports PGA Tour is easily the best golf sim out there (though PGA Tour 2K25 is on the way!).EA Sports PGA Tour is currently included with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate via EA Play, so Ultimate subscribers may want to give it a miss this weekend. Will you be playing any of these games with Free Play Days? Let us know down in the comments. For all those with an Ultimate subscription, make sure you check out all the freebies you can claim with January’s Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Perks.
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