DayZ's Xbox Game Pass Launch Has Been A Big Success

Bohemia Interactive's survival shooter DayZ has been available on Xbox One for more than a year, but it's now enjoying a newfound level of success after the game was recently added to the Xbox Game Pass catalog. The publisher said in a news release that "hundreds of thousands" of new players jumped into DayZ following its introduction into the Xbox Game Pass subscription program on May 7.

The game is "flourishing now more than ever, and has become one of the Most Played games on Xbox," Bohemia said in its press release (via Eurogamer).

Publishing director Vojtěch Ješátko added: "Xbox Game Pass is a great opportunity for us to open the game to a different audience, and to let a massive number of new players experience DayZ in all its crude harshness and beauty, together with the veterans."

Launching into a subscription program like Xbox Game Pass carries some risk, of course, but for DayZ at least, it seems to be working out. Not every developer is thrilled with subscription services. A recent GDC survey found that about a quarter of respondents worried that subscription programs may lead to the further de-valuation of games. Additionally, Devolver Digital told GameSpot that subscription services, overall, are a worry to the company.

All of Microsoft's first-party games, including Halo Infinite later this year, will be available for subscribers at launch through Xbox Game Pass (for Xbox and PC). Some third-party games have launched into subscription catalog too, including the whimsical '80s game Moving Out.

Xbox Game Pass is set to grow in a big way later this year when Microsoft's game-streaming service, xCloud, gets folded into it. Currently, you must download and install Xbox Game Pass titles, which can take a long time, but xCloud integration will allow you to stream games with minimal waiting.

In other news about Xbox Game Pass, Rockstar's celebrated open-world western, Red Dead Redemption 2, is now available in the catalog.