Two Years After Microsoft’s Promise, FFXIII Finally Comes To Game Pass

Final Fantasy XIII finally comes to Xbox Game Pass on September 2.

At the 2019 XO19 fan event, Microsoft announced that a bunch of Final Fantasy games would come to Game Pass, its games-on-demand service, throughout 2020. Only a few ever made that window, with intermittent additions (and departures) of games like Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy XV. But tomorrow nets a big one in the stellar Final Fantasy XIII.

That’s not all. Here’s everything coming to Game Pass in the coming weeks:

September 2

• Craftopia, via game preview (Cloud, Console, PC)
• Final Fantasy XIII (Console, PC)
• Signs of the Sojourner (Cloud, Console, PC)
• Surgeon Simulator 2 (Cloud, Console, PC)

September 7

• Crown Trick (Console, PC)

September 9

• Breathedge (Cloud, Console, PC)
• Nuclear Throne (Console, PC)
• The Artful Escape (Console, PC)

But because sweet stuff is sweeter when there’s also some salt, some games are leaving soon. First up, Red Dead Online, the online component of Red Dead Redemption 2, will be unavailable as of September 13. And the following will disappear on September 15:

• Company of Heroes 2 (PC)
• Disgaea 4 (PC)
• Forza Motorsport 7 (Cloud, Console, PC)
• Hotshot Racing (Cloud, Console)
• The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance Tactics (Cloud, Console, PC)
• Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales (Cloud, Console)

All told, September’s initial Game Pass offerings are fairly slight. But I am excited to jump back into Final Fantasy XIII. At the risk of getting some flack — I know, I know, “It’s just a hallway” — Final Fantasy XIII is a highwater mark for the series. The cast of characters rules. Visually, it’s pure luxury. And the CSB battle system was, if not perfect, at least interesting.

Read More: In Defence Of Final Fantasy XIII

Microsoft hasn’t announced the full September 2021 Game Pass lineup yet. Expect that in another two weeks. But, per the app, the back half of the month looks stacked. On September 16, the neat-looking stealth game Aragami 2 comes out. Then, September 28 sees the release of Lemnis Gate, a mind-bending concept game that combines 25-second time loops, Halo-style shooting, and turn-based strategy.

As ever, there are too many games, and not enough time to play them all.