Microsoft's acquisition of ZeniMax Media and Bethesda is now official, with Bethesda and its studios now falling under the Xbox Game Studios umbrella. This means a lot of things for the video game industry and the Xbox brand, and it means a lot of good things for Xbox Game Pass subscribers. As confirmed during the recent Bethesda Joins Xbox roundtable, Xbox Game Pass will have 20 Bethesda games available on the service starting Friday, March 12.
This was confirmed by Microsoft and Bethesda executives during the Roundtable. All of the games will be playable on Xbox Game Pass through Xbox One and Xbox Series X consoles, and many of them will be available to play on PC and Android as well. Some of the games in the list are technically already available on Game Pass, as is the case with Doom Eternal and The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim, but others will be new additions to the lineup.
The influx of Bethesda games on Xbox Game Pass include some of the company's heaviest hitters. This includes the Dishonored franchise, multiple Doom games, Fallout: New Vegas and Fallout 4, Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind, Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, Wolfenstein games, and The Evil Within. A full list of the 20 Bethesda games on Xbox Game Pass is right here:
- Dishonored
- Dishonored 2
- Doom
- Doom 2
- Doom 64
- Doom 3
- Doom Eternal
- Fallout: New Vegas
- Fallout 4
- Fallout 76
- Prey
- Rage 2
- The Elder Scrolls 3: Morrowind
- The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion
- The Elder Scrolls 5: Skyrim
- The Elder Scrolls Online
- The Evil Within
- Wolfenstein: The New Order
- Wolfenstein: The Old Blood
- Wolfenstein: Youngblood
Some Bethesda fans will notice that there are some notable exceptions to the Bethesda games coming to Xbox Game Pass on March 12. For some reason, The Evil Within 2 is not included in the lineup, and neither is Fallout 3. The original Rage is missing out, and Wolfenstein 2 is nowhere to be seen either. It's unclear why these discrepancies exist, but it's possibly due to existing agreements that Bethesda has with those games. Alternatively, these games may be being saved to give Game Pass a boost down the line.
Regardless, there's no denying that this initial batch of Bethesda games on Game Pass will be giving the service a significant shot in the arm. It will give Game Pass subscribers instant access to some of the most critically-acclaimed games of all time, and should offer literally thousands of hours of gameplay. It goes to show that Microsoft is seriously dedicated to building Game Pass this generation, and it will be interesting to see what other big moves the company makes for the service down the line.