Xbox Game Pass is one of the pillars of Microsoft's gaming strategy. Even CEO Satya Nadella, who wants it to slowly morph into the Netflix of gaming, has been very clear about this.
The recently acquired development studios (Ninja Theory, Playground Games, Undead Labs, Compulsion Games, Obsidian, inXile, and Double Fine) are clearly meant to be providing that much-needed variety to Xbox Game Pass. However, even with the greatly increased first-party output, the game library of a subscription service also needs a significant amount of third-party titles.
During yesterday's special Inside Xbox episode at X019, Xbox Game Pass subscribers saw a literal multitude of games available now or coming in the next months to the service. Some of the highlights include the entire Final Fantasy saga (from VII to XV, minus the online ones, though Final Fantasy XIV was also confirmed to be coming to the Xbox One platform by Phil Spencer) and the latest Yakuza titles (Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami, Yakuza Kiwami 2).
These are particularly notable given the historically complicated relationship of Xbox with Japanese developers and Japan in general. On that particular note, Square Enix also revealed that Kingdom Hearts 1.5 + 2.5 ReMix and Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue will be released on Xbox One at some point in 2020, while a new Kingdom Hearts III demo is out now (with the full game 67% off, too, on Microsoft Store).
Additionally, three months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (including Xbox Live Gold and XGP for both console and PC) can be purchased for just one dollar if you've never tried the service before. Last but not least, all Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can redeem 1 month of EA Access, 3 months of Discord Nitro, and 6 months of Spotify Premium.
Out now on Xbox Game Pass
- Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition (PC)
- Age of Wonders: Planetfall (Console, coming soon to PC)
- Hearts of Iron IV: Cadet Edition (PC)
- LEGO: The Ninjago Movie Videogame (Console)
- Rage 2 (Console & PC)
- Remnant: From the Ashes (Console)
- The Talos Principle (Console & PC)
- Tracks: The Train Set Game (Console & PC)
Coming later this year or in 2020 to Xbox Game Pass
- Carrion (Console & PC) – ID@Xbox
- Cris Tales (Console & PC) – ID@Xbox
- Cyber Shadow (Console & PC)
- Darksiders III (Console & PC)
- Double Kick Heroes (Console & PC) – ID@Xbox
- Drake Hollow (Console & PC) – ID@Xbox
- Edge of Eternity (Console & PC) – ID@Xbox
- Final Fantasy franchise (Console & PC)
- Final Fantasy VII
- Final Fantasy VIII: Remastered
- Final Fantasy IX
- Final Fantasy X: HD Remastered
- Final Fantasy X-2: HD Remastered
- Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age
- Final Fantasy XIII
- Final Fantasy XIII-2
- Lightning Returns: Final Fantasy XIII
- Final Fantasy XV
- Forager (Console & PC) – ID@Xbox
- Haven (Console & PC) – ID@Xbox
- It Lurks Below (Console & PC) – ID@Xbox
- Levelhead (Console & PC) – ID@Xbox
- Life Is Strange 2: Episodes 4 & 5 (Console)
- My Friend Pedro (Console/PC)
- Pandemic (PC)
- PHOGS (Console & PC) – ID@Xbox
- She Dreams Elsewhere (Console & PC) – ID@Xbox
- SkateBird (Console & PC) – ID@Xbox
- Streets of Rage 4 (Console & PC) – ID@Xbox
- Scourge Bringer (Console & PC) – ID@Xbox
- Supraland (Console) – ID@Xbox
- Tekken 7 (Console)
- Touhou Luna Nights (Console & PC) – ID@Xbox
- The Escapists 2 (Console)
- The Red Lantern (Console) – ID@Xbox
- The Red Strings Club (PC)
- The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt (Console)
- Vambrace: Cold Soul (Console & PC)
- West of Dead (Console & PC)
- Yakuza franchise (Console & PC)
- Yakuza 0
- Yakuza Kiwami
- Yakuza Kiwami 2
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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