14 DAY TRIAL // Publisher Square Enix had quite a few announcements related to the NieR franchise. Apart from the fact that it will release a remaster of the original game, Square Enix and developer Platinum Games confirmed NieR: Automata is coming to Xbox Game Pass on April 2, 2020.
Xbox Game Pass subscribers will have access to a complete edition of the game called “NieR Automata Become As Gods Edition.” This specific version was released back in 2018 and includes the DLC, a few exclusive items, as well as visual enhancements for Xbox One X.
There's a catch though, the game will only be available on Xbox One, so if you're not paying to the premium Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, you won't be able to play it.
Along with the announcement concerning the upcoming release of NieR: Automata on Xbox Game Pass, Square Enix revealed that the action RPG has sold over 4.5 million shipments in digital and physical sales since its launch back in 2017.
NieR: Automata is an atypical game for its genre, as gameplay constantly shifts between 2D shooter sections, hacking minigames, and punchy but rewarding combat.
In NieR: Automata, players take the role of a number of androids, including soldier 2B, and hacker-scout 9S, as they embark on a mission that will challenge their assumptions about the world, the war, and their very existence.
The premise of the game is quite interesting. Humanity has been driven from the Earth by mechanical beings from another world, so in order to reclaim their planet, humans have created android warriors to fight off the invaders.
NieR Automata is just the latest blockbuster hitting Xbox Game Pass this year. It looks like Microsoft managed to rally many big publishers under the umbrella of its games subscription service. Since the beginning of the year, games like Two Point Hospital, Bleeding Edge, Yakuza 0, and Ori and the Will of the Wisps have been added to Xbox Game Pass and are now available to play for free.