Warner confirms day one Game Pass release for Back 4 Blood

Warner Bros. Interactive and Turtle Rock Studios’ Back 4 Blood will be coming day one to Xbox Game Pass for console and PC, on October 12.

The news was revealed during the Xbox and Bethesda Showcase on Sunday. Warner Bros. Interactive’s planned Back4Blood presentation is due to take place two hours after the Xbox and Bethesda Showcase, at 2pm PT / 10pm BST on Sunday.

Head of Xbox Phil Spencer said last summer that the platform holder was “focused” on bringing more third-party games to Game Pass, and earlier this year the company signed Square Enix shooter Outriders as a day one launch on the platform.

Currently, all first-party Xbox titles are released on Game Pass alongside their general releases, but third-party games typically arrive later, aside from a few exceptions.

Xbox Game Pass launched in June 2017 and has become central to Microsoft’s gaming business, attracting over 18 million subscribers as of January 2021.

Starting at $9.99/£7.99, subscriptions offer access to a library of over 100 games, including all Xbox Game Studios titles at launch.

Earlier this week Xbox’s experiences and platforms boss Liz Hamren hinted at the potential introduction of cheaper Game Pass tiers during a video presentation to media and analysts.

“We need to innovate to bring our games and services to more people around the world. And we’re investigating how to introduce new subscription offerings for Xbox Game Pass,” she said.

“The point is that we’re being creative and dynamic in thinking about how to deliver the joy and community of gaming to everyone on the planet across devices, geographies, and financial realities.”