Assassin’s Creed Odyssey now available via Xbox Game Pass

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey has dropped on Xbox game pass following the surprise announcement at the Tokyo Game Show 2022. This means the popular game, published by Ubisoft, is now accessible on consoles and PCs.
This comes on the back of the rollout of a new subscription plan for Game Pass, which allows up to four friends and family members to be added to a single membership, known as Game Pass Friends & Family. This innovation is the biggest change to the subscription service since it launched in 2017.

The popularity of myths and legends
The popularity of video games such as Assassin’s Creed Odyssey reflects the prevalence of mythology and ancient civilizations not only in the video game industry but also in movies and TV shows in the form of the Netflix series Vikings: Valhalla. Another area of the entertainment industry to see a boom in game titles featuring ancient civilizations such as the Greeks is the iGaming sector. There are countless online casino games inspired by series, with genre slots such as Olympian Gods, Olympus, and Orion able to capitalize on the popularity of the myths and legends of these ancient civilizations.

Assassin’s Creed Odyssey and Deathloop were announced alongside 13 games developed in Japan and two in China, as Xbox looks to increase its market share in the region. Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft Gaming, used the occasion of the Tokyo Game Show to reiterate the company’s commitment to Asian gamers. He also revealed that this year has seen a record number of gamers from Japan and Asia join the Xbox community with the Xbox Series S driving sales. He added that over 50% of Xbox sales were to first-time purchasers.
A highly successful game franchise
Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, which for the first time in the game’s franchise gives players the option of playing either a male character in the form of Alexios or his sister Kassandra, takes place during the Peloponnesian War, an ancient battle fought between Athens and Sparta.
While Assassin’s Creed Odyssey was released in 2018, the game franchise launched in 2007. There has been a total of 13 game titles, with the franchise covering a wide range of historical periods from the Third Crusade (1189 – 1192), the Ptolemaic period, which began in 305 BC, and the Viking invasion of England, which began in 865. The success of the Assassin’s Creed Odyssey led not only to two expansions in the form of Legacy of the First Blade and The Fate of Atlantis but in 2020, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla was released. The availability of the game on Xbox Game Pass also raises the prospect, and hopes, for further releases from the Assassin’s Creed game franchise to drop in the future.
While the release of Assassin’s Creed Odyssey on Xbox Game Pass came as a surprise, it is clearly part of a strategy by Xbox to launch classic titles alongside newly developed games, particularly from Asian developers as the company looks to expand its user base in the Asian region, a vitally important market for gaming companies.