XCOM Spiritual Successor Phoenix Point Delayed On Xbox Game Pass For PC

Phoenix Point, the XCOM-esque strategy game from Snapshot Games, has been delayed on Xbox Game Pass for PC for the foreseeable future. The title was supposed to release on December 3, the same day it successfully launched on the Epic Games Store, but it’s still absent.

Snapshot Games has now announced a delay, attributing the Game Pass no-show to a few issues, including Microsoft’s certification process.

“We know that some of you are waiting for our release on Microsoft Xbox Game Pass for PC and the Microsoft Windows Store,” a statement on the developer’s official forums says. “We want to update you on the status of that.

“The fact is we dropped the ball. We were exceedingly busy getting the game itself ready, and being inexperienced with Game Pass and the Microsoft Store, we simply had not properly prepared the groundwork to get the game released on time on these platforms. Compared to other platforms we’re on these platforms require a number of pre-requisites, from Microsoft certification to legal documentation review. While these are now mostly complete, they have given rise to a number of new delays.

“Specifically, we are currently unable to make the same content available on Microsoft’s platform that is available to players on other platforms. Since we want to make sure all players have access to all versions of Phoenix Point regardless of where they choose to play, we need to get this working before we can release.

“This issue was not anticipated by us and has caused unexpected delay over and above our delay waiting for certification. We had hoped to have Game Pass players, at least, up and running today, but it now seems like there will be further delays. We do not have an ETA for Phoenix Point on Game Pass or the Windows Store yet. Please know we are working as hard and as quickly as possible with our partners at Microsoft to resolve these issues and will keep you informed.”

First announced in 2016, the spiritual successor to XCOM was successfully funded via Fig, and was initially set to launch in 2018 before a delay pushed it back to July 2019. That eventually changed to September and then December, where it’s now available to buy on the Epic Games Store. An Xbox One release of Phoenix Point is due in early 2020, with a PlayStation 4 version to follow at a later date.