For me March/April have been the best Game Pass months in history. Not only because personally I have been really enjoying Outriders from day one, but particularly for what this month means for the future of the service. Knowing that huge AAA titles in the future will launch into the service from day one is a game-changer, and completely switches the perspective on the service. Before we were sure to get all Microsoft first-party games day one with the service, along with the ocasional AA and indie game as well. Now we at least know some AAA third-party games can and will end up in the service day one. It’s open season now, the floodgates are open and the imagination runs wild.
Which ones will end up day one on the service, in your opinion? And which ones are your personal wish?
Looking in the short-term, Hood: Outlaws and Legends is launching in May and looks to be a multiplayer-only game that is not gathering as much fanfare as it probably wished, and could very well use that Game Pass boost, much like Outriders. Not placing any bets, but in my opinion it’d be a great game to have day one on the service, although if it is indeed an AAA game, that is open to question.
I’d like for them to get a big Japanese game on Game Pass day 1. Scarlet Nexus is my “realistic” choice as Xbox has the heavy marketing deal anyway. I would prefer Tales of Arise as that looks far better, and I think Xbox has a marketing deal (they had the E3 announcement anyway, hard to tell because there isn’t a marketing campaign for it yet). Game Pass has been working wonders at building up a fanbase for Japanese games on Xbox and I think getting a big one like one of these day 1 would get a lot of attention from fans of games like these.
Battlefield 6. I don’t know if I want to spend 60 on this since I’m already buying so many games this year, but I’d be hella hyped if this was a day one release on Game Pass. Either way, it’s definitely going to hit EA Play at some point. It’s just whether it’ll be a day one release or not. I hope the third-party AAA FPS that may most likely hit Game Pass day one is indeed Battlefield 6.
It’s highly unlikely as Capcom and Resident Evil are on fire right now but this would be great for me as I have no interest in their DLC and will be buying it day one for Series X so to save another $50 sounds great to me!!!
Long term wise -
Far Cry 6
I have had my fill of COD/BF over the last several years but I love Far Cry for the most part and would love to see Far Cry 6 hit Game Pass day one. Even if it’s Ultimate once Ubisoft+ gets added to the service. That’s fine as $15 is better than $60.
Second this, I find it’s easier to get a group of friends together for these co-op games if they are in gamepass, only roadblock I see is if it’s releasing too close to Darktide they may not want to have those clashing, so hopefully there’s some space between those. I’d also happily take Battlefield if the rumours are true. Looking at the list of stuff coming this year, there’s not much. I’ll happily take anything that comes though really, I’ve got plenty to keep me going from the service for the next year already within 3 months.
I’m of the opinion this practice is great but probably largely a thing only in quarters with droughts for first party and third party ecosystem exclusives.
In terms of upcoming games, I think Scarlet Nexus and Back 4 Blood are pretty safe bets. In terms of what I’d like to see, there are a couple of games like Elden Ring and Gotham Knights that I can’t justify paying full price for but at least have some interest in.
Here’s a bold prediction by me which is dying light 2 a pay out by Microsoft would cover some of the long development costs as we know development has been trouble some to say the least and more people get to play it day 1 it’s a no Brainer do I expect it? Probably not but I could be wrong
You could give people Series X for free and a copy of FIFA and Europeans would still buy it on Playstation. Apart from Germany and UK every other Euro country doesn’t give a shit about Xbox.
Just look back on the PS3/360 gen. Europe is Sony Land. Basically like Japan except xbox does a bit better.
Nah.Sony Land is in your head. This goes for every region. They’re not against Xbox, Sony just does a better job marketing their games over there and invest heavily there. Once MS does the same we will see a change. Even in the 360 era MS never really took those markets seriously enough. Just my 2 cents. I fully believe that the landscapes in Europe and Japan and even other regions will change in favor of Xbox. With Phils leadership, MS is going to take those markets really serious (for the first time) and things will change.
