It is probably just me but Xbox Game Pass hasn't been hitting with games like it did in the past years. Like good games are coming to Game Pass, but the buzz is missing. From 2019 to 2021, Game Pass was on a different level with big additions and surprises added consistently. Sure, High on Life was a massive hit for Game Pass, as everyone was either playing or talking about it (I myself wasn't a fan of the game). Hi-Fi Rush (this one I adored) was another massive hit for Game Pass. However, those were just two games released within 45 days. I'm talking about new releases and some relatively new AAA games added to the library every month or so.
In 2019 we had big games like Metro Exodus, Devil May Cry 5, Gears 5, and The Outer Worlds all added to the service. All those games were released that same year but Gears 5 and The Outer Worlds were added to Game Pass on the same day of their release. We also had Middle Earth: Shadow of War and The Witcher III: Wild Hunt, Batman Arkham Knight, Borderlands Handsome Collection, and Hollow Knight added to the Game Pass library that same year. Sure at that point games like The Witcher III and Batman Arkham Knight were four years old, but both of them are such amazing games (still today) that could have been enjoyed by gamers who were just recently introduced to the gaming world. In that same year, we also had Crackdown 3 as the first game to be launched on Game Pass day one. There was hype around that game as a lot of gamers really enjoyed the first two Crackdown games on their beloved Xbox 360. However, Crackdown 3 was not good and it somewhat ended up being a flop for Xbox and gamers.
Then in 2020, Xbox didn't slow down and continued adding some more incredible new/old games to Game Pass. The year started with a bang as Grand Theft Auto V was added to Game Pass on New Year's Day. There was no report or any marketing done to promote GTA 5 to Game Pass. Xbox surprised all their fans and added one of the greatest games of all time to their monthly subscription service. Then came some more incredible games to Game Pass like Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Gears Tactics, Yakuza 0, Streets of Rage 4, Destiny 2: Beyond Light, Doom Eternal, and then my two all-timers in Red Dead Redemption 2 and Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order. RDR2 was a thing of beauty to play and explore on Xbox One X, and yes I was introduced to that game via Game Pass. I'm sure a lot of gamers who didn't play RDR2 in 2018 and/or in 2019 due to various reasons, also got to try it out for the first time with Game Pass. The game was magical and I bought it twice (physically and digitally) right after it left Game Pass. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order on the other hand, I had already played it earlier that year, but I was glad to see other gamers try it for the first time and fall in love with it.
In 2020, playing brand new games with Game Pass wasn't only the cool thing about the service. Another subscription became part of the Xbox Game Pass and that was EA Play in November 2020, on the release day of Xbox Series X/S consoles. All of the games that were part of the EA Play library, including Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, they were all now available on Game Pass. To be clear, it wasn't available to all the Game Pass subscribers. There are two types of Game Pass subscription services, Xbox Game Pass for $10 a month and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for $15 a month. EA Play was part of the latter. So if you had Game Pass Ultimate, your library of games went up by another hundred games. I was just shocked to see so many incredible games on Game Pass for such a low price. Right in front of me, I had access to playing Titanfall 2, Anthem, Mass Effect, all the FIFA games including FIFA 20, Madden games, Star Wars games, Battlefield games, Need for Speed games, and so many more.
2020 could definitely be considered the best year for Game Pass. However, there was more to look forward to in the year 2021. So 2021 was the first year for next-gen consoles and Game Pass was bringing some brand new games to be played on those consoles, including a next-gen-only game, The Medium. The game was not that great, but it was solid and give us a glimpse of what next-gen consoles are capable of. Xbox then did an awesome announcement for Outriders, a brand new action-adventure shooter coming to Game Pass day one. Then came one of the biggest surprises of the year. It was announced that a former PlayStation exclusive series, MLB The Show will be coming to other consoles, including Xbox. Gamers were pleased with that news, but we just lost it when we found out that the brand new MLB The Show 21 was coming to Game Pass day one. I myself don't really follow baseball, but I was excited for MLB The Show coming to Xbox and Game Pass, and I couldn't wait to play it.
The year 2021 started off really well for Game Pass and its subscribers with the additions of The Medium, Outriders, and MLB The Show 21, but big games were still on the way. After those three, the Xbox Game Pass library grew with games like The Ascent, Psychonauts 2, Microsoft Flight Simulator, Hades, It Takes Two (game of the year winner in 2021), Octopath Traveler, Scarlet Nexus, Back 4 Blood, and then the big guns in back to back months with Forza Horizon 5 and Halo Infinite to conclude the year. I was a very proud member of Game Pass in 2021 as I enjoyed almost all the new additions while playing solo and sometimes playing multiplayer with my friends. Then came 2022 and it wasn't the same for me.
Xbox Game Pass was peaking in the years 2020 and 2021 but I didn't know that. I honestly thought 2022 was going to be a massive year for Game Pass with Starfield and Redfall, but both of them were delayed to 2023. Game Pass didn't start slow in 2022 and it wasn't until May 2022 when we found out that Starfield and Redfall were delayed to 2023. In the first six months of 2022, Game Pass added games like Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction, Hitman Trilogy, Mass Effect Legendary Edition, Death's Door, Crossfire X, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, Tunic, Weird West, MLB The Show 22, Life is Strange: True Colors, and few more solid games. However, Rainbow Six Extraction and Crossfire X were hot garbage according to most gamers, and MLB The Show 22 wasn't bad but it was pretty much the same game as the last one. The second half of the year was pretty solid too as gems like A Plague Tale: Requiem, Deathloop, Ninja Gaiden: Master Collection, TNMT: Shredder's Revenge, Persona 5 Royal, Return to Monkey Island, Chained Echoes, Pentiment, Metal Hellsinger, High on Life, and a few more were added to Game Pass. Yes, the list looks pretty amazing but for me personally, the only game that really blew me away was A Plague Tale: Requiem. The rest I didn't like or didn't even try because they weren't for me.
Overall for most gamers, 2022 was a solid year as a Game Pass subscriber but for me personally, there were only three amazing games. A Plague Tale: Requiem, Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy, and Life is Strange: True Colors. Sure, there was Mass Effect: Legendary Edition and Hitman Trilogy, and both of them are adored by their fans for storytelling, the characters, and the gameplay, but for both games, the gameplay was really not that satisfying for me. Deathloop at first seemed cool to me, but I was getting lost a lot in it, so I had to give up on it. I think Game Pass in 2022 could have been much better had Xbox made a deal with Capcom to bring in Resident Evil Village or if they had made a deal with CD Projekt RED to bring in Cyberpunk 2077. Game Pass in 2022 really needed at least one more relatively new AAA game to go along with the games they actually added to its library. I was actually surprised that Xbox didn't add Evil West to Game Pass day one. Xbox has a really good relationship with Focus Entertainment, as they have made Game Pass deals before, including a deal for A Plague Tale: Requiem that same year. Evil West would have been a pretty good addition for Game Pass.
So now we are here in 2023. I believe Xbox found out that I was not that impressed with their lineup of games in 2022. So they went for a hot start in 2023 as the first three months for Game Pass were amazing. They added big-time games like Monster Hunter Rise, Hi-Fi Rush, Atomic Heart, Soul Hackers 2, Wo Long Fallen Dynasty, and Guilty Gear Strive. I'm not a fan of Monster Hunter Rise, Atomic Heart, and Soul Hackers 2, but the other three games were made for me. They all have excellent gameplay. Since the end of March, things have slowed down a bit as we have only received Ghostwire: Tokyo which has solid gameplay. I mean Ravenlock and The Last Case of Benedict Fox are fun and they visually look impressive, but they are not that good in my opinion. Let's not talk about Redfall! Overall, the first five months for Game Pass in 2023 have been pretty good, and we know some action-packed games are on their way.
We know Starfield is coming on September 6th. Then there is a possibility of the new Forza Motorsport releasing in October. We also have Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn, Replaced, Lies of P, Ereban: Shadow Legacy, Hollow Knight: Silksong, and maybe Stalker 2, all coming out later this year. So even with Redfall failing miserably and if there are no delays, 2023 is going to be a better year for Game Pass than 2022 was. However, Game Pass in 2023 needs some buzz like it had in 2020 and 2021. Like right now, everyone is waiting for the Xbox showcase on June 11th. So we are okay with no updates, no major surprises, and no massive AAA games for another twenty-five days or so?
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In 2020 and 2021, the Xbox team wasn't just waiting for the summer showcase to deliver big gaming news. They did it throughout the year. For example, they surprised us all by releasing GTA V on the first day of the year in 2020. They surprised us again later in April when they announced RDR2 was coming to GamePass in the first week of May. EA Play coming to Game Pass was announced sometime between August and September. They did a cool tease for Doom Eternal coming to GamePass in October 2020. Then in March 2021, they had a major announcement for Outriders coming to Game Pass. Later that same month, they had the most exciting announcement of the year with MLB The Show series coming to Game Pass day one. Scarlet Nexus was announced for Game Pass in September of 2021. Xbox and Game Pass were doing magic with game announcements in all of 2020 and 2021. We did get one really cool announcement this year and that was Hi-Fi Rush during the Xbox Direct show in January.
Xbox should consider maintaining the momentum for Game Pass. I know there is a lot going on with the Activision Blizzard King acquisition, but Game Pass is the most important thing right now for Xbox. In order to keep the momentum, they need to do those surprise major reveals like they did in 2020 and 2021. Bring in big games to the service like Hogwarts Legacy, Resident Evil Village, Cyberpunk 2077, or if Xbox really wants everyone to talk about Game Pass throughout the year, then launch Street Fighter 6 day one! Can you imagine how wild it would be for one of the best fighting games of all time to launch on Game Pass day one? I doubt it's gonna happen, but Xbox has done some crazy things with Game Pass before.
I just want Xbox Game Pass to continue adding great games and keep gamers excited with their awesome reveals throughout the year. When Game Pass is doing great, Xbox does great. When Xbox is great, it is a win for all gamers!
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