A recent store listing suggests that Mass Effect: Legendary Edition could be coming to Xbox Game Pass in the near future. Just like Sony's PlayStation Plus, Microsoft's subscription-based gaming service allows players to download and play a library of titles for a small monthly fee, with new games added every month. This month’s line-up of new Xbox Game Pass titles included last year’s Soulslike Mortal Shell and March’s real-time strategy sim Evil Genius 2: World Domination.
There are always rumors and speculation about what games will be coming to Xbox Game Pass in a given month, with the most recent rumblings being about Mortal Kombat 11 and Halo Infinite. This is especially true for the latter, as Halo Infinite's online multiplayer components recently launched in a free-to-play state last week. One title that won’t be added to Xbox Game Pass anytime soon is Cyberpunk 2077, as developer CD Projekt Red recently denied rumors about its long-troubled RPG coming to the service shortly after Microsoft launched Xbox Cloud Gaming for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S. However, Xbox Game Pass subscribers might have a different sci-fi RPG to look forward to if a new leak is accurate.
According to VGC, Xbox recently marked Mass Effect: Legendary Edition with an Xbox Game Pass badge on Friday, as spotted by Polish gaming site XGP. This listing has since been updated to remove the indication that Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is being marked for Game Pass, but it is worth pointing out that EA’s own EA Play subscription service is already bundled with Xbox Game Pass’s Ultimate tier plan - making the addition of the Legendary Edition all the more likely.
Mass Effect: Legendary Edition is a current-gen remaster of the first three games in the Mass Effect series, which told the story of the fully customizable Commander Shepard as they gathered a rag-tag crew of allies to defend the Milky Way Galaxy from the threat of the invading Reapers. Mass Effect: Legendary Edition surpassed EA's sales expectations and received rave reviews when it was released back in May, and this has likely helped to build fan excitement for BioWare’s upcoming Mass Effect 4.
It is worth noting that neither Microsoft nor EA have officially confirmed that Mass Effect Legendary Edition will be made available on Xbox Game Pass, so any rumor on the subject should still be taken with a grain of salt. However, the Xbox Store’s recent leak seems to indicate that Microsoft is at least considering bringing the remastered adventures of Commander Shepard and the crew of the Normandy to Xbox Game Pass subscribers sometime in the foreseeable future. Fans should stay tuned for more developments as they unfold.