Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Adds Day-One Game With Zelda, Monster Hunter DNA

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate has added two day-one titles to its content library, including Eternal Strands. Developed by Canadian studio Yellow Brick Games, this open-world action adventure should appeal to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers who like Monster Hunter and Switch-era The Legend of Zelda games.

Eternal Strands has been in the works since 2020, with Yellow Brick officially revealing it in April 2024. The Unreal Engine 5-powered title stars Brynn, a magic "weaver" looking to reclaim her people's homeland. Eternal Strands was confirmed as a day-one Xbox Game Pass Ultimate title back in October 2024, before it even had a release date.

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By  Dominik Bošnjak

Three months later, Yellow Brick's debut project made its way to Microsoft's subscription service, launching at 11am ET on January 28. Eternal Strands arrived just a few hours after Xbox Game Pass Ultimate also added Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap, another day-one title and the fifth entry in the long-running series of action-tower defense games.

In terms of overall critical acclaim, Eternal Strands is currently faring a bit better than the new Orcs Must Die game. It holds a "Fair" rating on OpenCritic, based on an average score of 74 and a 62% recommendation rate. Meanwhile, Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap has an average rating of 70 and a 45% recommendation rate on the platform. Reviewers praised Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap for its hectic gameplay loop, great performance, and excellent co-op, while lambasting its underbaked roguelike elements and combat repetitiveness. As for Eternal Strands, it has received widespread praise for its Tears of the Kingdom-like emergent gameplay, epic boss battles, and excellent art direction, among other qualities. However, the game has also faced criticism for its rudimentary story and slow progression, which heavily revolves around resource gathering.

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When Will Eternal Strands and Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap Reach Xbox Game Pass Standard?

Day-one Xbox Game Pass Ultimate titles have so far reached the Standard tier of the service after a roughly six-month delay. Assuming Microsoft continues this practice, Eternal Strands and Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap may find their way to XGP Standard as early as late July 2025. In the meantime, a few more titles are coming to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in January 2025, starting with Shady Part of Me on the 29th. Sniper Elite: Resistance is then scheduled to arrive on January 30, followed by Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector a day later. Shady Part of Me will also be available on XGP Standard, while the other two will be exclusive to PC Game Pass and the Ultimate tier of the service, on account of being day-one titles.

In between those launches, Microsoft's subscription service will lose six games on January 30, including Serious Sam: Siberian Mayhem, Darkest Dungeon, and Anuchard. Far Cry New Dawn is then set to join the XGP content catalog on February 4, the same day Microsoft is expected to announce the entire first wave of February 2025 Xbox Game Pass additions. As for Wave 2, its roster is already confirmed to include Avowed, Obsidian's next big-budget RPG that will hit the market on February 18.

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Xbox Game Pass Ultimate

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Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is the highest tier of Microsoft's flagship game subscription service that offers over 100 game titles that you can play with a single purchase, making it one of the most outstanding value propositions of the Xbox ecosystem to date.

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