Quickly becoming the ace up Microsoft's sleeve, Xbox Game Pass has gone on to become one of the company's biggest assets, amassing millions of monthly subscribers through its consumer-friendly, pay-per-month model. Over the last few weeks, the service has brought on board tons of new titles from huge developers, such as Resident Evil 7, Wasteland 3, and, for PC players, Crusader Kings 3.
Sadly, for all these games to make the jump to Game Pass there have to be some that depart, and Microsoft has just announced six games that will seemingly not be making the cut. On September 30, Bad North, Dirt Rally 2.0, Dishonored 2, Panzer Dragoon Orta, Westerado: Double Barreled, and Yooka-Laylee will all leave Game Pass for good.
The biggest loss out the bunch is likely Dishonored 2, with Arkane Studio's gritty, stealth-action follow-up managing to make a huge splash upon release. While sales expectations were below what Bethesda intended, the critic scores for the acclaimed sequel were astounding, seeing Dishonored 2 pull in an admirable 88 on Metacritic. Luckily, the game isn't too long, so players looking to experience the title before it leaves in two weeks' time will likely be able to conquer its roughly 16-hour campaign in no time. Dirt Rally 2.0 is also a rough loss for the service, with the Dirt franchise having a fairly significant cult-following who will be disappointed to see it depart.
Yooka-Laylee has also established a niche following over the last few years, with the game originally being slated by critics at launch. Looking to rekindle the days of retro mascot platformers like Banjo Kazooie, the title was accused of being a buggy mess when it debuted. The devs took note of these criticisms and went on to release a sequel titled Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair, which was a dramatic improvement upon its predecessor. Those interested in seeing what the first iteration of the series was like could probably smash through the title before it leaves the service.
Alongside that, Panzer Dragoon Orta is an absolute classic and easily beatable within two weeks, while Westeradoes: Double Barreled is a very well-received indie open-world action game that's definitely worth a play. Bad North, on the other hand, is a real-time strategy title that received mixed reviews when it debuted back in 2018. While it's a shame to see this great slate of titles leave the platform, players still have a decent amount of time to get stuck into them before the end of September. It could be hard for players to temp themselves away from Microsoft Game Pass' other offerings, however, with the company unloading the likes of Halo 3 ODST, Night In the Woods, and Warhammer Verminitide 2 in the next few weeks.
Source: PureXbox