Xbox Free Play Days Adds Borderlands 4 and Madden NFL 27, Free Through Sunday
Xbox Free Play Days has opened six games this weekend, and the two that matter most are free under different rules. Borderlands 4 is playable in full from Thursday 10 September until Sunday 13 September, but only for Game Pass Ultimate, Premium and Essential members. EA Sports Madden NFL 27 is free for every Xbox member over the same window, subscription or not.
That distinction is the whole story. Every previous run of this promotion put the entire line-up behind a subscription tier, so a lapsed member could see the banner and get nothing. This week Madden sits outside that wall.
Which games are in Xbox Free Play Days this weekend
Four titles need an active Game Pass membership at the Ultimate, Premium or Essential tier. One is open to all Xbox accounts. One is a capped trial rather than a full unlock.
- Borderlands 4 — full game, Game Pass tier required
- F1 25 2026 Season Edition — full game, Game Pass tier required
- Surviving Mars: Relaunched — full game, Game Pass tier required
- CarX Drift Racing Online — full game, Game Pass tier required
- EA Sports Madden NFL 27 — free for all Xbox members, no subscription
- Dustborn — two-hour trial, open to all
Dustborn is the odd one out. It is not a weekend unlock but a hard two-hour cap, which is enough for the opening road-trip chapter and not much else.
What the discounts actually save you
Microsoft has paired the trials with store cuts that run alongside them, and the Dustborn one is the steepest on the list by a wide margin.
- Borderlands 4: $69.99 down to $34.99, a 50% cut
- F1 25 2026 Season Edition: $49.99 down to $34.99, a 30% cut
- Dustborn: $29.99 down to $4.49, an 85% cut
Microsoft did not publish percentages for Surviving Mars: Relaunched or CarX Drift Racing Online. Prices are the US store figures; regional storefronts differ, and the discount is tied to the promotion window rather than to whether you played the trial.
Borderlands 4 is the one worth timing. The game just took a substantial patch — update 1.10 raised the level cap to 70 and added a paid story pack, so the version you download this weekend is the current one rather than a stale launch build. Progress carries into the full game if you buy it.
How to start the trials
There are two routes and neither one auto-installs anything. On console, open the Xbox Store, go to the Subscriptions tab and scroll to the Free Play Days collection. On the web, open each game's individual product page on Xbox.com and install from there.
The games are full downloads, not cloud sessions, so budget the install time before Sunday. Borderlands 4 in particular is a large install, and a Thursday-evening start leaves more room than a Saturday one. Your saves and achievements persist after the window closes, and unlock again if you later buy the game.
Where this sits against Game Pass this month
Free Play Days is separate from the monthly catalogue rotation, which is why a game can appear here without ever joining Game Pass proper. September's catalogue moves were their own thing — the first September wave added Black Ops Cold War with departures dated separately.
Madden NFL 27 turning up free for all members is the notable part. The game only launched last month, and its global unlock time was a fixed 2 p.m. ET across PS5, Xbox, Switch 2 and PC. A full-weekend open trial this early in the cycle is unusual for an annual sports release.
Two of the six are driving games, which makes this a decent weekend for the genre on console. On phones the equivalent is a very different catalogue — our round-up of the best racing games for Android covers what actually holds up on a touchscreen. And if you are running an Xbox pad on a phone, the Android games with proper gamepad support are worth a look while the console downloads.
The window closes Sunday 13 September. Nothing here rolls over.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Borderlands 4 free on Xbox this weekend?
Yes, but only if you have an active Xbox Game Pass membership at the Ultimate, Premium or Essential tier. It is playable in full from Thursday 10 September until Sunday 13 September. Without one of those tiers you cannot start the trial, though the game is discounted to $34.99 during the same window.
Do I need Game Pass to play Madden NFL 27 free?
No. Madden NFL 27 is open to all Xbox members for this promotion, with no subscription required. That makes it the only full game in this week's line-up that a free Xbox account can play. The window is the same, closing on Sunday 13 September.
How long is the Dustborn trial?
Dustborn is capped at two hours rather than being unlocked for the weekend. Any Xbox member can start it between 10 and 13 September. The game is also cut from $29.99 to $4.49, the largest discount attached to this promotion.
Does Free Play Days progress carry over if I buy the game?
Yes. Saves and achievements earned during a Free Play Days trial are kept on your account and become available again if you purchase the full game later. This applies to the weekend unlocks and to the capped Dustborn trial alike.
When does this Free Play Days window end?
All six games stop being playable after Sunday 13 September. The games are full downloads rather than cloud streams, so install time counts against the window. Nothing in this promotion carries over into the following week.
