Rare’s first-person shooter, GoldenEye 007, may arrive on Xbox Game Pass by the end of January, 2023, based on the latest rumor.
Twitter user eXtas1stv, who has previously leaked information regarding Xbox, Bethesda, and Activision Blizzard, has hinted at the possibility of GoldenEye 007 appearing on Xbox Game Pass by the end of January, 2023. As of now, the game is only set to be available to those who digitally purchased Rare’s 2015 Xbox One compilation Rare Replay.
Microsoft has yet to announce the full Xbox Game Pass lineup for the month of January, 2023, though we do have an early look at the games that will be added to the subscription service’s game catalog as well as those that will be leaving it. The new games to be added to the service this month include Stranded Deep, Mortal Shell, Shadow Warrior 3, Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4 Golden, Monster Hunter Rise, and more.
The cancelled XBLA remaster’s improvements are not present in the Xbox One release, which supports 4K resolution displays. Through the integrated online multiplayer functionality of the Nintendo Switch Online emulator, the Switch release is the only one that support online features.
It remains to be seen whether the remaster will remain 100% faithful or if changes to the gameplay will be made. Additionally, it’s also unclear at this point if there will be any content cut from the original that presented a hurdle for prior licensing issues.
Because Microsoft thought that GoldenEye 007 would be a good fit for XBLA, Rare began work on the remaster before obtaining Nintendo’s approval, assuming that it wouldn’t be an issue. Rare had finished the conversion and fixed the majority of the bugs in the final product, and was on the verge of releasing a “gold” version when they learned that Nintendo had not approved of it, forcing the studio to halt development until rights negotiations could be discussed, which ultimately fell through.
A full gameplay of an XBLA prototype was streamed on YouTube in January 2021, showcasing the enhanced visuals operating at 60 frames per second. A near-final playable ROM image of the game was leaked online later from an unknown source.
