The recently released High on Life has received a generally positive reception from fans across the industry, with many perhaps feeling that they underestimated the title prior to its launch. Coming from the creators of Rick and Morty, the game has been lauded for its comedic elements as well as the engaging and diverse range of gameplay that it offers.
Due to the high-profile nature of the development team behind High on Life, there was always going to be large amounts of attention placed on the title from within the industry. With that being said, the benefits of the game releasing as a day-one title on Xbox Game Pass are plentiful, with the release seemingly being a fantastic match for the monthly subscription service.
The Draw of Xbox Game Pass
The Xbox Game Pass launched in 2017 and has grown to be one of the staples of the gaming experience that the console offers. For a monthly fee, players can gain access to hundreds of titles for free, with the ability to download and indefinitely play a huge selection of titles that fall within the Game Pass roster.
As Microsoft has continued its trend of high-profile studio acquisitions, the profile and scope of these titles has only grown in more recent years and show no sign of slowing down any time soon. With certain tiers of Game Pass membership offering cloud gaming, as well as a huge array of in-game perks and benefits, it is no wonder that the service has grown to be so popular.
Industry insiders have suggested that Game Pass has over 30 million active subscribers, giving some context to the huge levels of success that the service has enjoyed. The avid and plentiful consumer base of the Game Pass service has made it quite an attractive platform for developers and publishers, and the newly released High on Life is a great example of the kinds of success a title can enjoy via the service.
Xbox Game Pass: High on Life
High on Life is an eccentric and vibrant first-person shooter developed and published by Squanch Games, a studio that was founded in 2016 by Rick and Morty founder Justin Roiland. Of course, this led to huge amounts of attention and pre-release hype in and of itself, with the unique and eye-catching nature of the game only exacerbating this attention.
The title is only available on Microsoft Windows and Xbox consoles and released on December 13 as a day-one release on Xbox Game Pass. This meant that Game Pass subscribers could download and play the game for no additional cost as soon as it launched, and has predictably led to an explosion of fan engagement with High on Life on Xbox.
While the release has been lauded for its substance, it remains that High on Life has a relatively short runtime when compared to other high-profile titles. While this may usually be a source of complaint for full price paying customers, the more casual way in which the game is accessed via Game Pass turns this satisfying but short runtime into an inherent benefit as opposed to a controversy.
This further speaks to how much of a perfect match High on Life and Game Pass are for one another, with the game rapidly rising to the top of most popular lists across both console and PC Game Pass. In more recent days, High on Life has even risen to the forefront of Xbox's overall "most played games" statistics, already edging ahead of free-to-play titles like Overwatch 2 and Apex Legends. With its increased accessibility and its short-but-sweet runtime, High on Life may have set a precedent for what kind of title is best for the successful Xbox Game pass service.
High on Life is available now for PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S.