Outriders was a day one addition to Xbox Game Pass back in April, significant because it was the first blockbuster third-party game to join the subscription service right at launch. That was console only, though: those on PC needed to buy the game on Steam as normal.
But if you decided to wait, Outriders has finally made its way to the PC version of Microsoft's subscription service, joining the library starting October 19. That means it's also available to buy and purchase on the Microsoft Store too, though this new version (and the console versions) all support cross-play with Steam. Meanwhile, if you happen to have played the game on Xbox, you can transfer progress between the console and Windows (read: not Steam) versions.
While it's still not a hugely common scenario, Back 4 Blood launched day one on Xbox Game Pass for PC last week, offering a decent way to blast zombies without fronting the usual full launch price. Of course, the forthcoming Halo Infinite and Forza Horizon 5 will launch day one on the subscription service, being first-party Microsoft games.
Outriders coming to PC Game Pass this far down the track might actually be a canny move: the cooperative loot shooter's playerbase has naturally dipped since April (People Can Fly always insisted it wasn't going to be a live service game) so this might stimulate some activity in a game that might otherwise have lost its steam.
Game Pass for PC is finally getting Minecraft next month. The Xbox Game Pass for PC game list is pretty impressive, overall.
