Summary
Generally speaking,Xbox Game Passhas had a pretty solid start to 2024. Though there haven’t been too many day-one AAA releases,Xbox Game Passhas added some great titles over the last two months, ranging from high-profile releases likeAssassin’s Creed ValhallaandPersona 3 Reloadto Indie gems likeTurnip Boy Robs a BankandPalworld.
But Xbox Game Pass does seem to be slowing down a bit this month. Aside fromPersona 3 Reload,February’s Xbox Game Pass line-upis looking a little bare, at least in terms of major releases, with games likeTrain Sim World 4,A Little to the Left,PlateUp!, andBloodstained: Ritual of the Nightdominating the line-up. While these games are good in their own right, they’re not quite the heavy hitters that Xbox Game Pass has been thriving on for the best part of seven months now. But there is one February Game Pass game that stands out among the rest, and it being a part of this month’s line-up could pave the way for an exciting new Xbox Game Pass pattern.
Resident Evil 3 Could Set an Exciting New Trend for Xbox Game Pass
Resident Evil 3’s Xbox Game Pass Release Has Been Timed Perfectly
Last month, Xbox Game Pass addedResident Evil 2 Remake, a game that fans have been requesting to come to the service for years now. First released in 2019,Resident Evil 2 Remakeis still widely believed to be one of, if notthe greatest survival horror games of all time, currently sitting at a 91 on Metacritic, and being the current gold standard for any video game remake.
While die-hardResident Evilfans will have played throughResident Evil 2 Remakecountless times already, its recent release on Xbox Game Pass means that it can target just about anyone else who’s been avoiding the remake for the last five years. Though exact statistics aren’t currently available, it seems likely thatResident Evil 2 Remake’s release on Xbox Game Passbrought in a fair share of new fans, and now, those newcomers don’t have to wait long at all before they can experience the next entry in the beloved survival horror franchise.
Arriving on February 13,Resident Evil 3 Remakewill hit Xbox Game Passjust less than a month before its predecessor did. WhileResident Evil 3 Remakemay not be the most acclaimed or beloved entry in the franchise, its being included with Xbox Game Pass helps to nullify a lot of the game’s major criticisms relating to length and value. For those who have just finishedResident Evil 2 Remakefor the first time, it’s a real treat to be able to just hop right into the sequel, and it’s a release strategy that would be great to see again from Xbox Game Pass.
Resident Evil 2 Remakecame to both Xbox Game Pass and PlayStation Plus in January, but at the time of writing,Resident Evil 3 Remakeis only coming to Game Pass in February, though that could change in the coming days.
Resident Evil 3 Might Be The First In a New Xbox Game Pass Strategy
While it isn’t too unusual for sequels to join their predecessors on Xbox Game Pass, these additions often happen months after the original game was added, if not years later in some cases. Often the only time when multiple entries of a franchise have been released at once on Xbox Game Pass is during major events such asMicrosoft’s acquisition of Bethesda, or when all theYakuzagames came to Game Pass in July 2022.
Resident Evil 3 Remake’s release on Xbox Game Pass is a bit of a rarity, following its predecessor just a month later. It would be great to see a new pattern for Xbox Game Pass emerge from this, where a major franchise entry drops one month, and if fans are responding well, the next entry hits the service the month later, capitalizing on the series' newfound hype and letting fans experience as much of the franchise as possible for no extra cost.
Resident Evil 3
WHERE TO PLAY
Witness the downfall of Raccoon City. Relive the horrifying downfall of Raccoon City in a stunning reimagining of the 1999 survival horror classic. In the nightmarish hours leading up to and following the events of Resident Evil 2, only you can help surviving S.T.A.R.S. officer Jill Valentine escape a city beset by a gruesome viral outbreak. But zombies aren’t the only threat out for your blood. The towering, near-indestructible bioweapon, Nemesis T-Type, is also on the hunt. This brutal monstrosity uses an arsenal of high-powered weaponry to relentlessly pursue you across Raccoon City, meaning nowhere is truly safe. Featuring cutting-edge presentation and revamped action-adventure gameplay, Resident Evil 3 updates the unforgettable Raccoon City story arc finale in explosive fashion.
