We now finally have seen both the Xbox Series X and the PS5, the next generation consoles from Microsoft and Sony, respectively. When Sony had their grand unveiling for their system, one thing that many noticed was the incredible amount of third party timed exclusives they showed off. Interestingly, conversation about that revealed a fact about a game seemingly unrelated to it all in Cyberpunk 2077.
VentureBeat’s Jeff Grubb was mulling over what Microsoft would do in response to Sony’s timed exclusive strategy. One thought he had was instead of going down the same route, they would get major releases day one on Game Pass. He happened to use Cyberpunk 2077 as an example, and the Lead PR Manager for CD Projekt RED, Radek Grabowski, chimed in to say he would have to find another example because there was zero plans currently for 2077 to hit Game Pass.
Of course, that’s not too surprising frankly, since it’s rare that a major AAA title releases on Game Pass day and date excluding Microsoft’s offerings obviously. And Cyberpunk 2077 is one of the most anticipated upcoming releases, so putting it on a service like Game Pass would be counterproductive, least at launch. It’s not outside the realm of possibility the game will come to Game Pass much later, like The Witcher 3 did, but it will be a good while no doubt.
But it is an interesting idea on Grubb’s part and would be an interesting counter strategy to Sony’s more traditional timed exclusive deals. The Xbox Games Showcase is slated for July 23rd, so let’s see what ends up being shown there to see if he might be on the right track.