Update (04/09/24, 4:00pm BST): HoYoverse provided the following statement to iGamesNews: “Genshin Impact is a free-to-play game. You do not need to purchase Game Pass Ultimate or Core to play the game in co-op mode. Players with a Game Pass Ultimate subscription can receive an in-game bundle at launch and in subsequent version updates, and can also play Genshin Impact on Xbox Cloud Gaming.”
Original story follows.
One of the big announcements that was finally made during Gamescom 2024 was that Genshin Impact would be coming to Xbox this November, four years after it was first announced in 2020. However, a detail on the game’s Xbox Store page seems to indicate that despite being free to play, you’ll need to purchase a Game Pass subscription to access Genshin Impact’s online multiplayer elements.
As spotted by a user on ResetEra, Genshin’s Xbox Store page listing states: “Online multiplayer on console requires Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or Xbox Game Pass Core (sold separately).”
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While the Game Pass logo appears at the end of the Xbox Genshin announcement trailer, the presence of this phrase confused some potential players, many of whom seemed to think it just meant subscribers would get some extra in-game items or rewards.For context, Xbox removed the subscription requirement for many of its free games back in 2021, when Xbox Live Gold was the name of the thing you had to pay to access multiplayer games.
That’s why if you play games like Fortnite, Destiny 2, and Apex Legends through Xbox, you can play online without paying for an Xbox subscription. The requirements listed by Genshin are similar to those for the paid version of Final Fantasy 14 on Xbox, which requires a Game Pass subscription to play online, but the store listing for the game’s free trial allows you to “play for free up to level 70 with no game time limit” and doesn’t list any Game Pass requirements.
Additionally, despite Genshin being free-to-play, you can currently pre-order the Xbox port for £9.99/$9.99 via a bundle that’s similar to pre-orders for some of the Hoyoverse PlayStation 5 versions Some may be wondering if the claim of needing Game Pass to play online is some sort of bug on Xbox’s part, or something that will be further clarified in the run-up to the September 20 release.
iGamesNews has contacted Xbox for comment.
Are you planning on playing Genshin Impact on Xbox in November? Let us know below.
