‘Scarlet Nexus’ release date: Bandai Namco says it’s not coming to Xbox Game Pass at launch

The E3 season is really upon video game fans, and with that comes many speculations, especially about third-party titles that may or may not get a day-one availability on Xbox Game Pass. Most recently, Bandai Namco’s upcoming “Scarlet Nexus” was said to be coming to the subscription-based platform at launch. Unfortunately, though, the developer has immediately shut down that hope.

‘Scarlet Nexus’ release date: Bandai Namco reacts to Xbox Game Pass rumors

“Scarlet Nexus” was one of the upcoming games discussed during the XboxEra Podcast episode 60, where well-known gaming insider Jeff Grubb also appeared. During the show, Grubb noted that Xbox’s Game Pass deals with major third-party titles, like Square Enix’s “Outriders,” are usually completed very close to their release date.

Grubb did not say definitively if “Scarlet Nexus” is going to be the next major third-party addition Xbox Game Pass, but he speculated it could take the same route as "Outriders."

“‘Scarlet Nexus’ might be on the tier down where it’s like, Microsoft is probably going to give you quite a bit of money to get this cool anime game that people seem to like, and it’s probably more than you’ll get otherwise, and you’re still going to get sales because we see that these games till sell,” Grubb said. “So I think they might have secured this one, yeah.”

However, Bandai Namco later dismissed the speculation as a spokesperson for the video game company told VGC they “have no plans ... at this time” to make “Scarlet Nexus” available on Xbox Game Pass at launch. On the bright side, it does not seem like Bandai Namco is shutting down all possibilities of the game coming to Game Pass at a later time. Meanwhile, the company reiterated that the action RPG will launch on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S on June 25.

‘Scarlet Nexus’ plot: What to expect

“Scarlet Nexus” features an interesting plot set in a near-future alternate reality world. Humans are found to have a “psionic hormone” in their brains that activates extra-sensory powers. Some humans can demonstrate acute extra-sensory capabilities giving them supernatural abilities, and they are called psionics. They are scouted to become part of the Other Suppression Force (OSF) tasked to fight the game’s main adversaries called Others.

The OSF is tasked to protect humanity from the Others descends into the world hungry for brains with the psionic hormone. “Scarlet Nexus” will be played in the third-person perspective, and players get to choose to control either of the main protagonists Yuito Sumeragi or Kasane Randall, who are both members of the OSF.