Some Xbox Live Gold Subscribers Are Having Trouble Downloading Hydro Thunder Hurricane

gamerant.com:

Released in 2010, Vector Unit’s Hydro Thunder Hurricane brought a classic arcade franchise to then-modern consoles. The over-the-top boat racer saw respectable success on the PC and Xbox 360 and is free-to-play as part of Xbox Live Games with Gold until May 15th.

Unfortunately, it seems that many Xbox Live Gold subscribers cannot download their free game. This is a major annoyance for many interested in this retro throwback to an even more retro racing game. Fortunately, a workaround can help players download Hydro Thunder Hurricane despite the problem.

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Xbox Live Gold subscribers pay $10 a month for access to online play and four free games every month through the Games with Gold program. Thus, some players were surprised when they tried to download the game only for the marketplace to inform them that Hydro Thunder Hurricane is unavailable. The problem affects players regardless of region, with Xbox players from the US, Canada, the UK, and Europe reporting the same issue. The glitch also didn’t care whether players were on consoles, browsers, or the Xbox mobile app.

A Reddit user eventually discovered that the problem appears to originate from a mistake on Microsoft’s part. The company lists two separate but identical versions of Hydro Thunder Hurricane. Xbox Live Games with Gold was supposed to give players the standard Xbox 360 version, and that’s what the Games with Gold page linked to. However, it’s the Xbox Live Arcade version that is free. It’s unclear precisely how this mix-up happened, but it seems there may have been some crossed wires behind the scenes.

Fortunately, there is a way that Xbox Live subscribers can get their free game despite this problem.