UPDATE
Bandai Namco has shot down suggestions that the game will launch into Game Pass. The publisher has released a statement to VGC:
“We have no plans to bring Scarlet Nexus to Xbox Game Pass at this time and are excited for its launch on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4 and PC on June 25,” the statement says.
Original Story Follows:
Scarlet Nexus, Bandai Namco's anime-inspired third-person action title, could be a day one addition to Xbox Game Pass, if a new report is to be believed.
Venturebeat's Jeff Grubb, a prominent industry insider, was speaking on the XboxEra Podcast about the potential for the game to arrive in the subscription service on day one.
Read More: Scarlet Nexus Preview - A Cool Vermilion
Scarlet Nexus Could Launch Into Xbox Game Pass - Rumour
As per the podcast, Grubb notes that some of the publisher's 'day one' launch deals are done quite close to a game's launch – and Scarlet Nexus arrives on June 25th.
"I think that's a Game Pass day one, I think, is what I heard. The thing about Game Pass day one deals, especially for anything that's relatively big, those deals get made very very late..."
"...Microsoft's 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'd get otherwise, and then you're still going to get sales because we see that these games still sell.
So, I think they might have secured this one, yeah."
If you cast your mind back, the game was initially revealed at Microsoft's third-party focused Xbox 20/20 event last year.
We were lucky enough to preview Scarlet Nexus last month. Here's what we said:
Though my time was brief, Scarlet Nexus proved an enjoyable experience. Packed with entertaining combat mechanics, I found myself drawn into this strange world, and though I can’t say much about the story just yet, there’s certainly promise that RPG fans will likely enjoy. It’s not without fault – I do wish there was more enemy variety, and occasionally it had some performance hiccups – but overall, I’m looking forward to seeing the final product.
Looking for more games on Game Pass in June? We've got you covered here.