Summary
Xbox Game Passis addingAtlas Fallenon August 22. The open-world RPG will spearhead the fairly slim second wave of this month’sXbox Game Passreleases.
Microsoft’s subscription service has added four titles since the turn of the month. The latest of those arrived on August 13, whenMafia: Definitive Editionreached Xbox Game Pass.
Two more additions to Microsoft’s game catalog have now been announced in the form ofAtlas FallenandCore Keeper. The former will reach Xbox Game Pass on August 22, while the latter is scheduled to debut five days later.Atlas Fallenis the only newly confirmed arrival from this duo, asCore Keeper’s Xbox Game Pass launchwas already announced back in late July 2024.
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Day-one (1.0) release
SOPA: Tale of the Stolen Potato Is Missing From XGP August 2024 Wave 2 Lineup
At the same time, theXbox Game Pass debut ofAtlas Fallenhas leakedeven earlier, so neither of these arrivals is a complete surprise. Both will be available on the Xbox Series X/S and PC. And although an Xbox One version ofCore Keeperdoes exist, Microsoft did not list it as being part of the second wave of August 2024 additions to its subscription service. It did, however, state that bothAtlas FallenandCore Keeperwill be made available via Xbox Cloud Gaming. One surprise omission from this Wave 2 lineup isSOPA: Tale of the Stolen Potato, which was previously announced as a day-one XGP release and said to be targeting an August 2024 launch, yet remains without a release date to this day.
WhileAtlas Fallenwas met with a lukewarm reception at launch, the game recently received a major free update, Reign of Sand, that appears to have elevated its status among fans. That’s suggested by its Steam user reviews going from “Mixed” to “Mostly Positive” in recent weeks, with the turnaround starting just as Reign of Sand debuted on August 6. Developer Deck13 described the patch as the “ultimate version” ofAtlas Fallen, not least because it introduces new locations, enemies, quests, and a revamped progression system, among other novelties.
OnceAtlas FallenandCore Keeperreach Microsoft’s gaming service, the total number of this month’s XGP releases will rise to six. At the same time, Xbox Game Pass has already lost four titles on August 15 and is about to remove another three from its content catalog at the end of the month. Given that state of affairs, August 2024 is currently on course to become a small net negative for the service. Of course, there is always a chance that Microsoft is planning some surprise releases, especially given how Gamescom 2024 is just around the corner, not to mention thatSOPA: Tale of the Stolen Potatois still waiting for a release date.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is the highest tier of Microsoft’s flagship game subscription service that offers over 100 game titles that you can play with a single purchase, making it one of the most outstanding value propositions of the Xbox ecosystem to date.