Fallout 76 And CrossCode Are Coming To Xbox Game Pass Next Week

Heads up, Game Pass members: If you’ve recently purchased Fallout 76, you should return it. Bethesda’s online shooter-cum-role-playing game is coming to Xbox Game Pass on July 9.

Set before any other game in the Fallout timeline, Fallout 76 puts you in the shoes of a survivor from Vault 76. When the game launched in 2018, the only humans you’d talk to were other human players. Each map held you plus up to 11 other actual, real-life, controller-gripping souls, all exploring the nuked-out remains of West Virginia. An April update, Wastelanders, introduced non-player characters to the game. While the update made things feel a bit more like Fallout 3 or 4 or The Outer Worlds, it didn’t do anything to cut down on the staggering level of busywork. But if you love the mix of gunslinging and RPG-levelling that comprises Fallout, it’s worth downloading and checking out.

Also en route to Game Pass is CrossCode, one of Mike Fahey’s favourite games of 2018, roughly 76 years ago. CrossCode eludes simple description. It’s part RPG, part Zelda, part puzzle game, part action game, all set in a 2D world with a surprising amount of verticality. It’s also coming to Game Pass for PC, where the download size is less than 1 GB. Depending on your internet speed, you can download it, give it a test run, and delete it in less time than it takes to make dinner. What’ve you got to lose?

Microsoft also announced that Soulcalibur VI, the Geralt-themed fighting game, is landing on Game Pass. That’s actually available today, if you’re itching to see whether or not Maxi and his nunchucks can take out the White Wolf. (Spoiler alert: Not a chance.)