Delays are nothing new when it comes to the world of video games, especially in these past two years where working from home and supply chain issues due to the COVID pandemic have caused massive upheavals in gaming industries release calendars. That’s why when Bethesda and Microsoft announced that two of the most anticipated releases for this year, Starfield and Redfall, were being delayed to 2023, it wasn’t so much a shock as just another line in a long list of video game disappointments from the past two years.

An update on Redfall and Starfield. pic.twitter.com/pqDtx26Uu6

— Bethesda (@bethesda) May 12, 2022

For the most part, gamers have come to accept delays as an inevitable part of the process, as most level-headed fans would rather a better-polished delayed game than a mess of a game that meets its announced release date.

There’s more to play at Bethesda’s delay, however, as both Starfield and Redfall were major milestones in the release schedule for Xbox’s Game Pass subscription service, leaving two major holes in the latter half of 2022 and making many people question if the subscription service is even worth it any more. One outlet in particular even posted an article, boldly making the claim that ‘Xbox Game Pass burnout’ has finally arrived:

After years of hype, the Xbox Game Pass burnout is here: https://t.co/L78FrNFX8S pic.twitter.com/xyNCcY0pLz

— Kotaku (@Kotaku) May 23, 2022

Kotaku has built a reputation on delivering spicy takes (most of the time just for the purpose of delivering a spicy take), but what’s interesting about this story is how Microsoft responded, defending the service and the number of wonderful, smaller games it makes available to subscribers.

tell me you limit yourself to only AAA games without telling me you limit yourself to only AAA games

— Xbox Game Pass (@XboxGamePass) May 23, 2022

Their response is a pretty rare instance of the brand hitting back at criticism, and is a very interesting look at how Xbox views its subscription service. Does Microsoft’s acknowledgement of the criticism of lack of AAA games on the service mean they are worried? Are there more release announcements to come? Stay plugged in to Boss Rush as we will continue to follow this story as it unfolds.

News Source: Xbox Game Pass Twitter; Kotaku Twitter, Bethesda Twitter

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