Xbox Game Pass continues to grow in popularity, in large part thanks to Microsoft ensuring that the service has a constant stream of brand new games for subscribers to check out. In recent weeks, these new games have included triple-A looter-shooter Outriders as well as the Sony-developed MLB The Show 21. One of the biggest new video game releases on the horizon is Resident Evil Village and, naturally, some fans are wondering if the game will be on Game Pass.
Unfortunately for anyone hoping to play Resident Evil Village on Xbox Game Pass, it doesn't seem as though that's going to happen - at least within the game's first year of release, anyway. Some unverified documents reportedly detail an exclusivity deal between Sony and Capcom that ensures Resident Evil Village will not come to Xbox Game Pass within the first year of its launch. Reputable leakers have vouched for the documents' legitimacy on Twitter by re-tweeting them, but the tweets have since been deleted.
Fans should take this information with a massive grain of salt, but it wouldn't be hard to believe. Both Microsoft and Sony have signed limited-time exclusivity deals, with some recent examples being the Bethesda games GhostWire Tokyo and Deathloop on PS5. Both of those games are going to be exclusive to the PlayStation 5 for a certain amount of time, and once that window of exclusivity is up, they will have the potential to be ported to other systems as well.
There have been rumors that Sony has an answer for Xbox Game Pass, but if so, it has yet to play its hand. While Microsoft's main strategy this generation seems to be bolstering Xbox Game Pass and getting as many subscribers as possible, Sony seems to be sticking to its guns, focusing on big budget, critically-acclaimed exclusive games instead. And while Sony is producing plenty of its own first-party content for PlayStation, it's also penned a variety of deals with third parties to pad its exclusivity lineup.
For these reasons, it's not hard to believe at all that Sony has some kind of deal in place with Capcom to keep Resident Evil Village off Xbox Game Pass. After all, Sony and Capcom already do have deals in place in regards to Resident Evil Village, as PlayStation has been the lead platform for marketing and has had some exclusive demos. This includes the Resident Evil Village Maiden demo, as well as the Village and Castle demos, with the latter two releasing on PlayStation first before eventually coming to other platforms.
It's also worth stressing that this doesn't mean that Resident Evil Village was ever going to be coming to Xbox Game Pass anyway. This deal, if it's real, is basically just a guarantee that it won't happen within the next year, and doesn't mean that a Resident Evil Village Xbox Game Pass release was ever considered or discussed.
Resident Evil Village launches May 7 for PC, PS4, PS5, Stadia, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.
Source: Twitter