(UPDATE, 30 August) The video has seemingly been removed, indicating that the game isn’t coming to Game Pass and its placement in the video was a mistake, or that it will launch on Game Pass and it wasn’t supposed to be revealed yet.
I’ve reached out to Konami and Microsoft to see if I can get a statement.
I captured this image from the original video before it was taken down
(ORIGINAL STORY)It seems Xbox might have just sneakily announced Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse for Game Pass. Or it has just accidentally leaked the news ahead of time. Either way, it looks like we’ll be to tackle the castle via Game Pass come October
Over on Instagram, the official Xboxgamepass account has put up a new video that starts by asking a simple question: “is it on Game Pass?”
The person taking the video then starts walking the floor at GamesCom, giving a thumbs-up to various game displays to indicate which titles are coming to Game Pass or are already on there. Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy, for example, gets the thumb. Stranger Than Heaven gets the thumb. ADS: Alien Deathstorm pops up and gets the thumb. Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse gets the thumbs up. Wait, what?
Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse debuted back at the Xbox Showcase earlier this year, potentially an indicator that Konami had dome a marketing deal with Xbox. However, it was not announced for Game Pass at the time.
That makes this a potential announcement, either deliberately or accidentally. There’s also achance this is a fuck up, of course. A massive fuck up, considering it’s an official Xbox video. Pretty sure that’s a whipping offence.
The game’s listings do not currently show it as coming to Game Pass, nor has there been any announcement from Konami, Xbox or anyone else. And it would be odd to announce it for Game Pass now, months after announcing the game at an Xbox show.
I’ll reach out to Xbox and Konami to see if I can get to the bottom of this. I expect to be ignored.