Control; Cloud Vein; Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age; The Medium; Project Winter; and The Falconeer. That is the list of titles that left Game Pass on February 15th. The list includes some pretty high-profile departures (Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age leaving is especially painful for me) and highlights one of the more noteworthy downsides to what is otherwise a fantastic gaming service.
To be fair, rotation of the game lineup is necessary to make room for new releases, but the flip side of it is that great games must be set aside from time to time. There is simply no avoiding this. Still, it can be hard to take when your favorite Game Pass title leaves unexpectedly, even though new games are coming on board each month, too.
Of the six games that left the service, Control is perhaps the most notable, FFXII notwithstanding. The award-winning and critically-acclaimed action-adventure game was developed by Remedy Entertainment, of Alan Wake fame, and was IGN’s Game of the Year for 2019 and had been available on Game Pass since December 2020.
Action-rpg Code Vein has been described as a more accessible Dark Souls, while psychological-horror game The Medium was released in 2021 to mixed reviews. Project Winter is a multiplayer survival game with a social deception element, and The Falconeer allows players to take to the skies as a majestic warbird. All of these games are still available for individual purchase.
