After a dire couple of weeks with virtually no new games releasing on Xbox, fans will be happy to know that Shadow Warrior 3 is most likely dropping on the Xbox Game Pass service in the near future, even as soon as today.
Strangely, there hasn't actually been any kind of formal announcement by Microsoft, at least not directly. Some users on the Xbox Game Pass subreddit have shared screenshots of notifications pushed to their phones via the Xbox Game Pass mobile app, and it's here that we have learned that Shadow Warrior 3 may be coming to the subscription service.
The message that players are receiving states: "Survive intense new challenges - Scavenge a post-crash future in Stranded Dep or take on the smart-mouthed action of Shadow Warrior 3 now!"
Stranded Deep was a recent surprise addition to Xbox Game Pass, dropping in on January 3 with no prior announcement, though after a quick search on the mobile app and console store, we're unable to find Shadow Warrior 3 as being part of the service. It's likely, then, that a notification that was scheduled for a later date has been accidentally sent to players a little bit earlier than intended. Or, perhaps its an unfortunate error with the wrong game being mentioned?
At the time of writing, there's nothing on the Xbox News Wire website, nor has there been any acknowledgment on the official Xbox Game Pass Twitter account, which is normally quick to respond to leaks with a well-placed meme or emoji. Some users on the Xbox Game Pass subreddit claim that new games are added to the service at 8PM EST, so if the game is indeed to be made available to subscribers today, it may be later this evening.
Shadow Warrior 3 was released in March of last year for PC, PS4, and Xbox One. The over-the-top shooter did fairly well on the reviews front, though it wasn't immune from all criticism, with some outlets taking shots at the game's story, characters, and dialogue. Fans, on the other hand, were divided, and many were disappointed to see that Shadow Warrior 3 didn't get a next-gen version for the PS5 and Xbox Series X|S consoles.