Xbox recently revealed a pretty impressive lineup of games coming to Xbox Game Pass, with Palworld 1.0 and Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 among the biggest announcements. However, while Palworld 1.0 is still on the way, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 has since been removed, with Xbox updating its original announcement to include the following note:
"We've removed Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 from the list of titles coming soon to Game Pass."
As for why it was removed, your guess is as good as mine, but Tony Hawks is actually an IP Xbox owns, making its removal even more head-scratching. Rumors surrounding the long-term viability of Xbox Game Pass have been circulating online for a while now, with some reports claiming Xbox leadership views the service as unsustainable. Xbox is also in the middle of a major restructuring, with studios becoming independent and around 1,600 layoffs taking place so far.
It's impossible to say whether pulling a single game from the lineup means anything on its own, but it doesn't exactly inspire confidence either. At the very least, it leaves me feeling a little more cautious about what the future of Game Pass might look like.
I'm actually a big fan of Game Pass. It's given me the opportunity to play games I probably never would've tried otherwise, and I'm much more willing to take a chance on something new if it launches on the service.
That said, I feel like I'm in the minority. I think the average gamer is more likely to stick with the games they already know, whether that's Fortnite, Call of Duty, Roblox, Minecraft, or the latest sports title, and that’s all without mentioning the attention war with the likes of short-form content. Now, there’s nothing wrong with sticking to the games you know, but with Game Pass growth slowing, it doesn't exactly paint the most encouraging picture for the service's future. For context, reports suggest the subscriber count has fallen from around 34 million to 30 million active users.
Let me know how you feel about Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2 being removed from the upcoming Game Pass lineup. Do you care, are you worried, or do you think it was simply a mistake?
As always, let me know your thoughts in the comments, and be sure to take part in our poll!
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