Xbox has supposedly begun revoking access to a major game that was free for a limited time. We live in a time where gaming is extremely accessible thanks to cloud streaming, cheaper consoles like Xbox Series S, and services like Xbox Game Pass. On top of that, there are a ton of free games, both through limited time deals and service games like Fortnite and Warzone. It’s a great time to be into gaming and there are so many ways to jump in and out of the medium at a very low investment. Of course, we also live in a very digital world where we own very few of our games.
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The lack of ownership is sort of the trade-off for convenience, but thankfully, it’s not super common for a platform like Xbox or PlayStation to take advantage over the lack of that ownership. Unfortunately, some Xbox players did get burnt this week. Last month, Alan Wake Remastered was available on Xbox completely for free. All players had to do was redeem a free trial for Alan Wake 2 and then they’d get entitled to a free copy of the remaster. It seemed like a great marketing move for those who haven’t played the series before and are interested in playing the acclaimed Alan Wake 2, but it may not have been on purposeful.
Xbox Revokes Free Copies of Alan Wake Remastered
As reported by Wario64, Xbox has revoked all copies of Alan Wake Remastered from players who acquired it for free last month. While errors do happen and prompt companies to cancel orders/revoke access, it usually happens within 48 hours or so. It’s rare to see it take a month, which is plenty of time for someone to not only beat a game like Alan Wake, but also 100% it and its DLC. You can read the message Xbox users were sent if
“You recently acquired a version of Alan Wake Remastered that was not intended to be available. Therefore we are cancelling your order, refunding any payments made, and removing it from your “My games & apps” list. We apologize for the inconvenience.”
While some folks almost certainly took advantage of this period, it’s a bummer for those who weren’t able to make time for it or maybe only played some of it and didn’t get to finish it. It’s not a super expensive game, so fans can pick it up at a fair price if they want to keep playing it or never got the chance to start it. It also frequently goes on sale, so there are many opportunities to get it without dropping a ton of cash on it.
Both Alan Wake games are some of the best survival horror games out there, so I highly recommend checking them out. While it took over a decade to get Alan Wake 2, Remedy Entertainment has promised that the wait for Alan Wake 3 won’t be nearly as long. So, don’t let this sit on your backlog for too long, because the inevitable threequel might just sneak up on you before you’re ready for it.
