Even though there has been third party games launching on day 1 for Xbox Game Pass, it has been mostly indies and smaller titles like Mutant Year Zero: Road to Eden. But, in April this changed with a bang as the two by far biggest third party releases this month - Outriders and MLB The Show 21 - are both released day 1 for Xbox Game Pass.
We assume those aren't one-offs but rather a new strategy from Microsoft, and judging by some prominent insiders, this is indeed the case. Visiting the XboxEra podcast, the acknowledged insider Shpeshal Ed had some pretty spectacular news to deliver as he said:
"Here's what I can say -- there's a certain third-party AAA first-person shooter that is highly likely to be launching on Game Pass this fall."
There really aren't a whole lot of games that would fit this description coming this fall, and we can only think of the next Battlefield and Call of Duty. With Sony having the marketing rights for the latter, it basically leaves us with the former. Two other insiders, Okami and Tom Henderson, also seems to point in this direction.
We still don't know any details about Battlefield 2021, others than it will in fact be released this fall, which was confirmed during an EA earnings conference call in early February. Hopefully, we'll get it announced pretty soon with a confirmation that it will in fact be released straight to Xbox Game Pass, but treat it as wishful thinking from insiders until then.
Thanks,Wccftech.