With the likes of Outriders and MLB The Show 21 having launched day and date on Xbox Game Pass, it’s clear that there’s significant growth ahead for Microsoft’s subscription service to look forward to. Rumours suggest that more big third party games will also be seeing day one releases on Game Pass- Resident Evil Village definitely won’t be one of them. In fact, it’s going to be a good while before it arrives on the service (if it ever does).
At least that’s what it seems like based on leaked confidential documents concerning a Sony-Capcom deal that recently emerged on Twitter (via @AlfredLameche). The agreement between the company allegedly stipulates that Resident Evil Village won’t be released for any competing subscription service (such as Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Live Gold, xCloud, Stadia Pro, and more) for at least a year after the game’s launch.
The veracity of the documents isn’t assured, but a deal such as this one wouldn’t be the most surprising thing in the world. Capcom and Sony in particular have had exclusivity and marketing deals in the past- even with Resident Evil Village, for instance, the game’s first demo was exclusive to PlayStation 5, while PlayStation players got early access to its second one.
Resident Evil Village launches for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, Xbox One, PC, and Stadia on May 7.