Xbox Game Pass allows users to enjoy some of the biggest and best video games as part of their subscription, but the trade-off is that many of the games are offered on a limited basis. Today, Xbox revealed a handful of games that will be leaving the service over the next two weeks, and they’re pretty significant departures. On the bright side, the games are being offered on the Microsoft Store at a 20% discount, so Xbox users can get these games a bit cheaper if they want to make them a permanent part of their library. The departures include:ย
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- Garden Story
- Grand Theft Auto V (Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S versions)
- Moto GP 22
- Persona 3 Portable
- Persona 4 Golden
Starting 2024 on a Rough Note
At this time, exact dates for each of these departures have not been revealed. It’s worth noting that some of the discounts are currently higher than the normal 20% off, with both Persona games being offered for 35% off in a sale set to end on January 3rd. While today’s news is something of a disappointment, there was some prior warning in the case of Grand Theft Auto V; rumors began to circulate about the game’s departure last month.ย
Hopefully Microsoft will offset these losses by announcing some big new games for Xbox Game Pass! At this point, subscribers are used to games shuffling on and off the service, and it will be interesting to see if Game Pass has some exciting new games to start off 2024. We should have a better idea what to expect in the near future.ย
Upcoming Xbox Games
While we don’t know what to expect on Xbox Game Pass this year, 2024 should have a lot for Xbox fans to look forward to. The first few months of the year will include some high-profile new games, including Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Tekken 8, and Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. Persona 3 Reload is also coming to Xbox platforms next month, and that might be part of the reasonย Persona 3 Portable is leaving Game Pass. At this time, none of these games have been announced as day one Game Pass releases, so anyone planning to pick them up at launch should expect to pay full MSRP, unless we see an announcement otherwise.ย
In addition to these third-party games, Xbox has some promising first-party games in development. Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II will be released at some point in 2024. A new Indiana Jones game is currently in development at Bethesda, and last month at The Game Awards, Microsoft announced exclusives like Marvel’s Blade and OD. Release windows for all of these games are currently unknown, but hopefully Xbox fans won’t be kept waiting too long!ย
How do you feel about these departures from Xbox Game Pass? What games are you hooping to see on the service in 2024? Share your thoughts with me directly on Twitter atย @Marcdachampย or on Instagram atย @Dachampgaming!
