Xbox Game Pass Confirms Another 2024 Day One Game for Consoles

gamerant.com:

Age of Mythology: Retold has been confirmed for a day-one release on Microsoft's consoles, whose owners will be able to play it via Xbox Game Pass or purchase it digitally. This development marks a notable improvement in how Microsoft's first-party RTS games approach consoles, which have previously been more of an afterthought for them, with that strategy standing in stark contrast to most other types of Xbox Game Pass releases.

Age of Mythology: Retold was originally announced in October 2022 as the remastered and definitive edition of the iconic 2002 RTS. The project is a collaborative effort between a handful of studios led by Microsoft subsidiary World's Edge, which has been exclusively working on the Age of Empires franchise since its foundation in 2019. The console ports of Age of Mythology: Retold were never in doubt, but their timing was less certain up until now.

As part of a new behind-the-scenes video shared in late February, World's Edge has confirmed that Age of Mythology: Retold will be treated to a same-day release on PC and the last two generations of Xbox consoles. This multi-platform debut will be a first for the Redmond-based studio, which has three finished titles to its name, all of which were PC exclusives at launch. Of those, Age of Empires 2: Definitive Edition and Age of Empires 4 took years to reach Xbox consoles, while the definitive edition of the third entry in the franchise never did.

Be that as it may, it would appear that those two console ports found a big enough audience to warrant treating Age of Mythology: Retold to a multi-platform day-one launch. When exactly that debut is meant to happen remains unclear, as the upcoming remaster is still without a firm release date. But seeing how it's previously been confirmed for 2024 and it's already late February, it's almost certain to be happening in the second half of the year. For reference, the first three titles from World's Edge have all received release dates in summer before hitting