By Jason Fogerty (JFogerty)
As part of the latest range of new additions to Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass service, Fallout 76 is now available for subscribers to download and play. This marks the first time that the game has been available on the service, which also recently came to Steam back in April. Alongside Fallout 76, Xbox Game Pass has also gotten two other new additions: strategy title Endless Space 2 and award-winning retro RPG CrossCode.
Fallout 76 & Other New Additions to Xbox Game Pass
Fallout 76, which first launched back in late 2018, has seen something of a resurgence since its extremely problematic release. The launch of the game’s Wastelanders DLC, which added human NPCs to the game, is the latest of many major updates and patches which have sought to address the many issues which were present in 2018. While the game may never have enjoyed the success which Bethesda may have hoped for, it has managed to gain a loyal core audience. Launching onto new platforms, including Steam and now Xbox Game Pass, is a chance for the now-improved game to gain new players. Whether that strategy will have a notable impact remains to be seen. Gamers looking to earn money playing games will no doubt look elsewhere, but it has a somewhat-untapped appeal when it comes to MMORPG fans.
Fallout 76 is available on both Xbox One and PC via Xbox Game Pass. The other two new additions, Endless Space 2 and CrossCode, are only available on single platforms; CrossCode is available on Xbox One through Xbox Game Pass, while Endless Space 2 is only available on Xbox Game Pass for PC. CrossCode, described as a “retro-inspired 2D action RPG,” first released for PC in September of last year. It comes to Xbox Game Pass alongside its launch this month on Xbox One, PS4, and Switch. The game has received mostly high reviews and won the “Most Fulfilling Community-Funded Game” award at the 2019 SXSW Gaming Awards. Endless Space 2, on the other hand, first launched on PC in 2017 (though it was available in Early Access from 2016).
Given the reputation of Fallout 76, many gamers might not give it a second glance. However, Xbox Game Pass subscribers may wish to at least give it a try; the game has, after all, come a long way since the days of its launch, when its rampant bugs and design problems fuelled headlines for months. While the news cycle has moved on, Bethesda has done a great deal to address those problems and fix bugs, and big additions like Wastelanders have been well-received by the game’s fanbase. With almost two years of new content and improvements, Fallout 76 is a very different experience than it was at launch.
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