Deathloop Xbox release date: When will Bethesda's latest come to Series X/S?
Microsoft owns Bethesda, but Sony called dibs on Deathloop.
Deathloop was one of the first big next-gen exclusives, using the power of the PS5 and PC to tell an ambitious time loop story that was almost universally acclaimed.
However what made Deathloop's launch in September 2021 so unique was the fact that the game was owned by Microsoft at the time, which had recently acquired publisher Bethesda.
It was highly unusual that the game was not available on Xbox at launch, but a year later this anomaly has been rectified with Deathloop finally receiving an Xbox Series X/S release date.
It marks the end of a very interesting point in console history, so here's when Xbox fans can at long last get their hands on Deathloop, and why the Microsoft-owned game launched first on Sony's PS5 platform rather than their own next-gen console.
Why didn't Deathloop launch on Xbox?
When Deathloop was first revealed at the E3 conference in June 2019 (long before Microsoft bought Bethesda), plans were announced for the game to launch on PC and PS5, with the PS5 release being a 'timed console exclusive'. The intention was clear – the game will launch first on Sony's PlayStation 5 before coming to any other consoles.
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More than a year later, in September 2020, Microsoft announced its plans to acquire Bethesda and all the companies within it (including Arkane Lyon, the team behind Deathloop). Phil Spencer, the head of Xbox at Microsoft, told Bloomberg that he plans to honour the pre-existing agreement between Bethesda and Sony over Deathloop's launch.
That's the long and short of it, basically – we ended up with a Microsoft game launching exclusively on a Sony console because of a deal between Bethesda and Sony, which predated Bethesda being bought by Microsoft. Simples!
When is the Deathloop Xbox release date?
The Deathloop Xbox Series X/S release date will be 20th September 2022.
The news was announced during the Xbox Tokyo Game Show 2022 live stream, a day after early adverts for the game were spotted on the Xbox console dashboard.
Better yet, the game will come with the 'Golden Loop' update, which adds an extended ending, new enemy types, new upgrades, a new weapon and cross-play matchmaking. PS5 and PC versions will also get this update.
Deathloop was not expected to be released on Xbox until after 14th September 2022, one year after the game's launch on PS5 and PC. We knew the game couldn't come to Xbox consoles before this, thanks to a line in the Deathloop launch trailer that reads like so: "Not available on other consoles until at least 09/14/22." You can see that disclaimer for yourself at 2 minutes 49 seconds in the video below:
It sounds like the pre-existing agreement between Sony and Bethesda stipulated that a full year would have to pass before the game could launch on any other consoles. Bearing that in mind, we'd bet that Microsoft execs will be very keen to get the game on Xbox Series X/S in the middle of September next year! Until then, Xbox-owners will have to wait their turn, unless they fancy buying a PS5 or a PC.
Will Deathloop come to PS4, Xbox One or Nintendo Switch?
Deathloop has launched on PS5 and is finally coming to Xbox Series X/S, but what about the previous generation of consoles? Will the game ever come to PS4, Xbox One or Nintendo Switch? What about the Nintendo Switch OLED? For now, no such plans have been announced, with Bethesda reiterating time and again that Deathloop is seen as a next-gen title.
Deathloop's game director Dinga Bakaba even told PLAY Magazine (via GamesRadar), "I don't think that we would have been able to preserve the level of ambition of this game were it not for the move to next-gen." So we wouldn't count on a previous-generation release happening any time soon.
Will Deathloop come to Xbox Game Pass?
Yes! Microsoft has confirmed that Deathloop will be available on Xbox Game Pass and PC Game Pass at launch from 20th September. The game is available to pre-load now for Game Pass subscribers.
We'd be very surprised if Deathloop hadn't come to Xbox Game Pass eventually, as the game's director Dinga Bakaba showed some love for the service when speaking to Press Start after the company's previous games came to the service.
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Bakaba said: “Being able to be apart of the Xbox Game Pass ecosystem makes things a bit different for us, because we can occupy a space in that service, and we will continue to make the kind of games that we make and make them well.
“If you’ve looked on social media, you’ll see that games like Prey and Dishonored 1 and 2 coming to Xbox Game Pass, a lot of people are saying that you need to play these games and have no excuse not to, so it’s been very encouraging.
“It’s a service that will allow us to remain creative and have the audience and build that relationship over time and that’s really exciting.” That quote only makes it seem more likely that Deathloop will come to Xbox Game Pass at some point. Watch this space!
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