GoldenEye 007 is finally launching on Xbox Game Pass and the Nintendo Switch Online Expansion Pack Friday, January 27. Despite being one of the most critically-acclaimed video games of all time, GoldenEye 007 has been trapped on the Nintendo 64 since its release in 1997 due to complicated licensing issues.
Rumors have persisted for years that Xbox was looking to release a remastered version of GoldenEye 007, but it was never able to solve the game's complex licensing problems. GoldenEye 007 was originally developed by Microsoft-owned Rare, but published by Nintendo, and the 007 video game rights have bounced from one publisher to another. Now, 26 years after the game was first released on the Nintendo 64, the stars have aligned for GoldenEye 007 to make a comeback in a big way.
GoldenEye 007 will be available to play on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X come its re-release on Friday, January 27, with key differences between the different versions of the game. The Xbox Game Pass version of GoldenEye 007 will have some modern improvements that take advantage of Xbox's beefier hardware, including 4K resolution and achievement support. It will also be added for free to the Rare Replay collection. The Switch version of GoldenEye 007, available exclusively to those who are signed up for the Switch Online Expansion Pack tier, will be the only version that has online multiplayer support.
It's great to see GoldenEye 007 make a long-awaited comeback on modern hardware, though it does seem like the game would have benefited from a matchmaking system for online multiplayer matches. It's likely that the lack of online multiplayer support for Xbox was part of the concessions that had to be made for Xbox to get the game at all, though finder details about the contract are not public knowledge, and so that's just speculation at this time.
While it would have been nice to see GoldenEye 007 get a full-blown remaster with online matchmaking, the game making the jump from the Nintendo 64 is still a significant event. GoldenEye 007 is the kind of popular, nostalgic game that could very well drive subscriptions for the services it's coming to, and perhaps it will be enough to convince holdouts to finally sign up for the Switch Online Expansion Pack. We'll find out if GoldenEye 007 is able to make as big a splash as it did in the 90s when the game hits Game Pass and the Switch Online Expansion Pack later this week.
GoldenEye 007 is available now for Nintendo 64 with Switch, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X versions coming January 27.