Xbox Game Pass Is Losing 2 Games Today

Today is the last day for Xbox Game Pass members to play Galactic Civilizations 3 and OPUS: Echo of Starsong, two popular titles with «Mostly» and «Overwhelmingly Positive» Steam reviews, respectively. Both will be leaving Xbox Game Pass at midnight local time on February 16, although that's actually enough time to beat one of them.

While Microsoft's subscription catalog tends to expand in increments that are a few days or—at most—weeks apart, its outgoings are much more predictable. Specifically, the service only tends to lose titles in the middle and at the end of each month. The last such move saw Xbox Game Pass drop Hitman: World of Assassination and F1 2021 on January 31, although the Formula One simulation was only ever available to PC Game Pass and Ultimate-tier members in the first place.

Two weeks later, the subscription catalog is now on the brink of losing the 4X strategy game Galactic Civilizations 3, as well as the visual novel adventure OPUS: Echo of Starsong. The former had a longer stint on Microsoft's service that started in February 2022, almost exactly two years ago to date. Meanwhile, OPUS: Echo of Starsong has only been available on Xbox Game Pass since August 2022, a little under 18 months.

As is the case with any 4X game worth its salt, Galactic Civilizations 3 is all about replayability, with a typical campaign usually running for at least a couple dozen hours, depending on one's settings. As such, there's no longer enough time for newcomers to delve into Stardock Entertainment's popular sci-fi strategy via Xbox Game Pass and get much out of it before it leaves the service.

On the other hand, OPUS: Echo of Starsong offers a 10-hour story, which is fairly typical for a visual novel-style adventure but short enough for at least some Xbox Game Pass members to beat it before it leaves Microsoft's content catalog at the end of the day. Doing so is very much the recommended course of action for anyone who has the time to do so and likes story-driven