Xbox Game Pass enjoyed significant success throughout 2020, as the pandemic lockdowns drove more people to subscription services of its ilk. While the service has acquired a large and impressive library of games, it will unfortunately soon be losing one of its best; The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt.
Xbox Game Pass to Lose The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt
CD Projekt Red’s best-selling and critically-acclaimed RPG has been available on Xbox Game Pass for some time. However, this will no longer be the case relatively soon. Microsoft has not announced exactly when the game will cease to be available. However, The Witcher 3 was moved into the “Leaving Soon” area of Xbox Game Pass this week, indicating that it will be departing soon. Typically, games in this section only remain for a couple of weeks before leaving for good.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt isn’t the only title leaving Game Pass, but it is certainly the most high-profile. Leaving together with Wild Hunt are the Alvastia Chronicles, Astrologaster, Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, and Kona. Ahead of their departure, all five of these titles are on sale, available for purchase at 20% off. As such, if you want to ensure that you can keep playing The Witcher 3 on Xbox, now may well be the time to buy it fully. Either that, or else you should start playing through the RPG as fast as possible!
For now, it looks unlikely that The Witcher 3 will return to Xbox Game Pass any time soon. Games which depart the service rarely make a comeback afterwards, although it’s not completely unheard of. No explanation has been offered for why the game is departing the service. However, it’s not uncommon for major titles to join the service for a months-long period before leaving thereafter. This could indicate that Microsoft licenses such games for a limited time, rather than permanently. Whatever the case, Game Pass subscribers will be losing access to The Witcher 3 in the not-too-distant future.