Crackdown 3 was the most-played new game at launch, beating Far Cry New Dawn and Metro Exodus
It's doing surprisingly well.
Crackdown 3 was supposed to launch many months ago, but was pushed back to February 15 to polish up the experience. Luckily, it's available right now through the Microsoft Store. You can buy it for $60, or you can grab it with Xbox Game Pass, for $10 a month.
Crackdown 3 is split into two different downloads and supports Xbox Play Anywhere and Xbox One X. The campaign is separate from the "Wrecking Zone" multiplayer mode. The campaign doesn't feature the cloud-powered destruction, so you'll have to battle other players if you want a taste of that.
According to a report by GamesIndustry, despite launching with heavy-hitters like Metro Exodus, the title has managed to beat them all and was one of the most-played games at launch. It only lost out to free-to-play games like Apex Legends and Fortnite. You can read an excerpt from the article below.
The success of Crackdown 3 can be attributed to Xbox Game Pass, because reviews weren't positive at all. In our review, we said, "Crackdown 3 just doesn't meet contemporary standards as a premium $60 title, with dated visuals, thin gameplay features, and an under-delivered story. There are too many open world superhero-style games that simply do it better. That said, it's not a bad game, by any means."
Hopefully Crackdown 3 will see continued success in the coming months as more gamers join Xbox Game Pass. According to Microsoft's Executive Vice President of Gaming Phil Spencer, the subscription service already numbers millions of members.
Explosive playground
Your every day sandbox
Crackdown 3 is a decent sandbox experience that falls short of modern standards, but as an Xbox Game Pass title, it offers some good mindless fun.
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Asher Madan handles gaming news for Windows Central. Before joining Windows Central in 2017, Asher worked for a number of different gaming outlets. He has a background in medical science and is passionate about all forms of entertainment, cooking, and antiquing.