To say Game Pass has been a success for Xbox would be an understatement. Each of their showings this month heavily featured the service, and with good reason. As of January 2022, the service has over 25 million subscribers, which is a massive success for Microsoft.
The sheer volume and variety of franchises on Xbox Game Pass mean only the most seasoned of gamers will find something they haven’t played yet. From games previously thought exclusive to other platforms to long-time Xbox classics, these franchises are sure to be exciting for gamers.
10 Persona
The legendary Persona games finally make their way outside of the hallowed halls of PlayStation exclusivity. Xbox (and PC) gamers now get to enjoy one of the best JRPGs ever made. This is a huge get for Microsoft, as much like Final Fantasy or Uncharted, Persona was considered one of the least likely to be ported elsewhere.
Of course, the franchise had already dipped its toes into other platforms before. Sakurai specifically asked Atlus for permission to include him in Smash Bros Ultimate. The overwhelmingly positive feedback to the inclusion likely helped the idea of porting Persona to other platforms more appealing.
9 Dragon Age
The Dragon Age franchise is a fantasy RPG set in the world of Thedas and is one of Bioware’s most beloved franchises. And now on Game Pass, gamers get to enjoy all three base games of the franchise. Each game lets the player take control of different yet equally influential figures in the world of Thedas, at different points (although not far apart) in its history.
As is typical of Bioware games, they are all heavy on lore and character choice affecting the world around them. With the announcement of the Dragon Age: Dreadwolf, there is no better time to start the franchise and get immersed into a new world.
8 Halo
It may come as no surprise, but the premiere first-person shooter of the Xbox console was one of the first games readily available on the Game Pass service. Every single game in the franchise is available to play, and that alone spoke to Xbox’s confidence in the new service. A service that soon earned that confidence many times over.
Halo‘s influence on the gaming world is hard to summarize. Without a doubt, Halo was one of the few highly ranked exclusives that Xbox players could bring up in countless forum debates. Master Chief’s adventures through space set the tone for Xbox for over a decade and continue to do so to this day.
7 The Elder Scrolls
One of the most exciting inclusions of Xbox’s deal with Bethesda was the inclusion of most of The Elder Scrolls games into the Game Pass library. Morrowind, Oblivion, Skyrim, and The Elder Scrolls Online are available for play on the service. The absence of Daggerfall and Arena can be attributed to the fact that they are already free on Steam anyhow.
Even more exciting, all of the single-player offerings offer expansive mod libraries on Xbox consoles. The modding community on Xbox might not be as huge as PC (for obvious reasons), but they are no less passionate about the franchise. For fans who want to see what the fuss is about for this fantasy franchise, Game Pass is a great way to test them out.
6 Gears of War
Gears of War is beloved for its grim and dark setting. Sera is a gray world mottled with the presence of an alien threat known as the Locusts. Many fans even point out the broad similarities of bulky, grizzled soldiers fighting off waves of aliens as a uniquely Warhammer 40k type of experience.
5 Hitman Trilogy
IO Interactive has certainly proven their independence was well worth it with their World of Assassination trilogy. All three modern Hitman games are now currently available on Game Pass. An amazing bang for your buck experience, especially with all the continual updates the games get.
This news hopefully spurs the eventual release of the rest of the Hitman library to the Game Pass service. In the meantime, all three modern Hitman games are nothing to scoff at. Each game is lovingly crafted to test the player’s creativity and emphasizes sandbox assassination fun.
4 Dead Space
The Dead Space franchise has certainly had its ups and downs, but there’s no denying how unique it was during its time. While most horror games of the time struggled to balance action and existential dread, Dead Space manages to perfectly balance the two in a way most games still struggle to do to this day.
Dead Space is set to release a remake on January 2023 of next year, and Game Pass subscribers are free to retry and give the classic action-horror series a try as all of its games are available on the service (barring the one on iPhone, a shockingly great horror game in its own right).
3 Doom
Doom is the first-person shooter that revolutionized not just the genre, but PC gaming as a whole. While there were other first-person games that came out before Doom (such as id Software’s own Wolfenstein 3D), Doom advanced PC gaming to brand new heights and established several tropes in gaming.
Of course, each game in the franchise offered its own unique fun. Doom (2016) is praised as a metaphorical middle finger to the stagnant state of linear first-person shooters with its over-the-top frantic gameplay, updating the mechanics of the first game to modern sensibilities without losing its identity.
2 Mass Effect
Arguably Bioware’s biggest franchise, Mass Effect and its sequels were the premiere example of sci-fi storytelling in video games. Well, for the most part. The notoriously polarizing endings of Mass Effect 3 aside, people fell in love with the games, and especially its many companions.
Mass Effect 4 was teased quite a bit ago, and with Bioware’s good relationship with Xbox, it’s hopeful that the new release makes its way to Game Pass. All that aside, fans can enjoy the vast world of Mass Effect and romance Garrus for the umpteenth time in preparation for its release.
1 Yakuza
The acquisition of the Yakuza franchise was the 2020 equivalent of Xbox acquiring Persona. Yakuza had been exclusively locked to Sony’s platforms, barring a Wii-U release of the first two games. Though as with most games on the Wii-U, it might as well not have come out since barely anybody played it.
Microsoft came along and picked up the franchise for its very own consoles, even bringing them to PC. Fans got to enjoy Yakuza 0, and both Kiwami games for a whole year and a half before eventually leaving the platform in December 2021. Still, the rest of the franchise (other than Dead Souls) is playable on Game Pass, meaning the partnership will likely continue for new games.
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