Xbox Game Pass Is About to Lose One of Its Best Horror Games

Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers are about to lose access to one of the best horror games on the subscription service. Horror is an increasingly niche genre that in the present day is being largely held up by the indie space and AA space. AAA horror games are hard to come by, especially if they aren't in an established franchise like Resident Evil. The game in question isn't quite AAA in terms of scope and budget, but it's close and it's one of the more popular horror games of the last few years, though not as popular as its predecessor. The game in question is Outlast 2, and it's leaving the subscription service on April 30. 

A first-person psychological horror survival game, Outlast 2 was developed and published by Red Barrels, an independent studio out of Canada. A sequel to 2013's Outlast, Outlast 2 released back in 2017, with the Xbox One version specifically garnering a 77 on Metacritic, which isn't that high, but horror games in general never review very highly unless they are super narrow in scope or attached to a nostalgic brand. 

While the game is a sequel, it has a completely new set of characters and an independent story. The only thing connecting Outlast 2 and its predecessor is a shared universe. In other words, you don't need to play the first game to play the second.

"Outlast 2 introduces you to Sullivan Knoth and his followers, who left our wicked world behind to give birth to Temple Gate, a town, deep in the wilderness and hidden from civilization," reads an official blurb about the game. "Knoth and his flock are preparing for the tribulations of the end of times and you're right in the thick of it. You are Blake Langermann, a cameraman working with your wife, Lynn. The two of you are investigative journalists willing to take risks and dig deep to uncover the stories no one else will dare touch. You're following a trail of clues that started with the seemingly impossible murder of a pregnant woman known only as Jane Doe. The investigation has lead you miles into the Arizona desert, to a darkness so deep that no one could shed light upon it, and a corruption so profound that going mad may be the only sane thing to do."

Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate are available via Xbox One, Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X, and PC for $10 and $15 a month, respectively. For more coverage on it and all things Xbox, click here.