Friday 12 March 2021

Many Bethesda games join X-Box Game Pass

An anticipated following the completion of the recent acquisition of Bethesda by Microsoft, a whole slew of Bethesda games have joined Microsoft's flagship X-Box Game Pass service. Despite the name, the service - best-described as a "Netflix for video games" - is available on PC and Android platforms as well the X-Box family of consoles.


The package of games joining the service contains both newer and older titles alike:
  • Dishonored Definitive Edition
  • Dishonored 2
  • Doom (1993)
  • Doom 2
  • Doom 3
  • Doom 64
  • Doom Eternal
  • The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
  • The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
  • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
  • The Elder Scrolls Online
  • The Evil Within
  • Fallout: New Vegas
  • Fallout 4
  • Fallout 76
  • Prey
  • Rage 2
  • Wolfenstein: The New Order
  • Wolfenstein: The Old Blood
  • Wolfenstein: Youngblood
There are a few oddities: the original Doom and its sequels and even a port of the Nintendo 64 version are on the list, but not the 2016 reboot game, although its recent sequel Doom Eternal is present. The Evil Within 2 is also MIA, and the slightly older set of Wolfenstein games, along with Fallout 3 and the original Rage. The absence of these games seems to be down to compatibility issues (possibly the reason that New Vegas is console-only for the time being) or the fact they are licensed to other services. These games are likely to move to the service in the coming weeks and months.

Microsoft have also clarified that future Bethesda titles will likely debut on Game Pass-compatible platforms, but Microsoft will also try to cater for fans of the franchises on other platforms. This is a hint that games like The Elder Scrolls VI and Fallout 5 (the former is confirmed to be in development, the latter is not) may debut on PC and X-Box and will only make their way to PlayStation and Nintendo much later, if at all.

No comments: