Microsoft recently announced that Outriders, a new looter shooter from developer People Can Fly, will arrive on the Game Pass service at launch. This move brings one of the first big third-party releases of the year to Game Pass subscribers. Microsoft also added Octopath Traveler, Undertale and other games to the service this past week, bringing more value to Game Pass. Not only does this help cement the impact that Microsoft is having on how gamers spend money on new games, but it also brings the game to many users who might not have been able to purchase it at full price when it launched. “Many Xbox users rely on their Game Pass subscription in order to play games,” Bishal Biswas, the CEO at Word Finder, told Lifewire in an email. “A game as popular as Outriders should be available in all formats for maximum users to access it easily.”
Building Reliance
Biswas, who has worked on and created multiple gaming blogs over the years, says that Game Pass has opened up new ways for users to access the games that matter to them. With Outriders joining the fray, Microsoft not only is adding value to the subscription, but it’s also further building the trust and reliance that users have put in the service as a whole. “Mind blown, the value I’m getting from #GamePass at the moment is incredible,” one user wrote on Twitter in response to the announcement. “I’ve never had a subscription service that I’ve been so happy with.” Other users shared their approval of the move, with some even commenting that they probably wouldn’t have tried the game otherwise. “This was one of those games that I kinda wanted to try but didn’t want to spend the money on it yet. Game Pass continues to be amazing,” another user by the name of Matt wrote on Twitter. Of course, some are disappointed by the latest move by Xbox to bring Outriders to the Xbox Game Pass, but it isn’t because they think the move is bad. Unfortunately, Outriders is only available on the console version of Xbox Game Pass. This means that not everyone will be able to participate in the fun, thanks to their Game Pass subscription. Instead, PC players will still need to pre-order or purchase the game at launch to play. While some are disappointed, this isn’t the first time that Game Pass’s console version has received a game that PC hasn’t. Other titles like The Elder Scrolls Online and, more recently, Fallout: New Vegas only have appeared on the console version, and many users hope that Outriders will make the jump to PC not too long after its release on April 1. Biswas says that speculation about the game’s arrival on Game Pass also has been a topic of discussion for months. So, many users—though not all—probably were not expecting to be able to dive into the game and play it at launch. “Many Xbox users pre-ordered the game over speculations that it wouldn’t be released on Game Pass. This would have limited its access and availability, as not all users can afford to buy the game [at launch],” Biswas explained.
Increasing Value
Outriders, which launched a demo at the end of February, has garnered quite a bit of love for its unique approach to the looter shooter genre. According to the developers, instead of relying on the live services aspect that has made games like The Division 2 and Destiny 2 so long-standing, Outriders’ entire story is playable from beginning to end. This means you won’t need to wait months or possibly years to see the complete narrative play out. Instead, you can simply jump into the game and start collecting loot, similar to popular games like the Borderlands series. When you also consider that Microsoft just added over 20 of Bethesda Softworks’ most popular video games, like Fallout 4, Dishonored and Dishonored 2, Doom Eternal, The Evil Within, and more, the value for Game Pass continues to grow. More and more users are taking notice.
