Upcoming Strategy Game Disappoints Xbox Fans with Pass Exclusion

SteamWorld Heist 2’s PR team has recently confirmed that the upcoming game will not be available on Xbox Game Pass, despite previous marketing pieces from its developer stating that it would. The strategy game will still be released on August 8, but its developers have revealed that the Game Pass announcement was a mistake.

SteamWorld Heist 2 was originally confirmed for Game Pass back in April when the team released its initial trailer. SteamWorld Heist 2 is the sequel to a 2015 turn-based tactics game, which stood out due to its unique gameplay, in which the player controls tactical shootouts in 2D, manually aiming the guns of their robots.

Now, as reported by XboxEra, SteamWorld Heist 2’s PR team Fortyseven has clarified that the strategy game will not come to Game Pass after all. According to Fortyseven, the Game Pass logo that appeared in the trailer was “inadvertently included” in it, which caused the confusion. All other social media posts mentioning a Game Pass release are no longer available, either. While the title will not be available on Game Pass, it’s still set to be out on August 8 for PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.

SteamWorld Heist 2 Will Not Come To Game Pass

A similar situation happened with Shin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeance recently. Gamers uncovered an Instagram post in which Shin Megami Tensei 5: Vengeance appeared as a Game Pass title, but its developers quickly revealed that this was a “template mistake.”

While this news may be disappointing to Xbox Game Pass subscribers, the service still has good options for SteamWorld fans, as SteamWorld Dig and SteamWorld Dig 2 were added to Game Pass recently. Last year, SteamWorld Build also appeared on Game Pass as a day-one release.

Despite losing this day-one release, subscribers will be glad to know that Xbox Game Pass currently has 6 day-one games confirmed for July. Flock and Magical Delicacy will be out on July 16, while the “Souls-lite” Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn, and the Zelda-inspired Dungeons of Hinterberg will be released on July 18. On July 19, Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess will be added to Xbox Game Pass, while the eagerly awaited Frostpunk 2 will be available for subscribers on July 25. While none of these games is exactly in the same genre as SteamWorld Heist 2, they will offer a good variety of choices for gamers looking to play something new in the next month.