As originally spotted by TrueAchievements, Quantum Break is among the games due to leave the Game Pass library shortly. The news left more than a few users baffled. The Quantum Break IP is, after all, notoriously owned by Microsoft, which does not remove its own first-party games from the Game Pass library.
German website Xbox Dynasty contacted Microsoft directly on the topic. A spokesperson replied that there are licensing issues behind the decision, adding that Microsoft is working to resolve them so that Quantum Break can get back on Game Pass as soon as possible.
Presumably, they are doing so with the game’s developer, the Finnish studio Remedy Entertainment. As such, we have reached out to Remedy and will update this story if they provide a comment on the subject.
Released in early 2016, Quantum Break was originally conceived as a direct sequel to Alan Wake with live action elements. Microsoft didn’t express any interest in such a project, but they were intrigued by the live action pitch, as the Xbox One console was being positioned as an all-in-one entertainment system. Remedy then came up with a new time-travel pitch expanded from one of the TV episodes embedded in Alan Wake, and thus Quantum Break was born.
A third-person action/adventure game, it features five different acts. At the end of each act, the player will temporarily be able to make a choice on behalf of the main antagonist; afterward, an episode of the live-action TV series produced by Xbox Entertainment Studios and Lifeboat Productions is played. The idea was that the game would focus on the protagonist and his allies, while the TV show would center on the main antagonist and his group.
The cast included famous actors like Shawn Ashmore, Aidan Gillen, Dominic Monaghan, Lance Reddick (who recently passed away), Patrick Heusinger, Amelia Rose Blaire, and Courtney Hope, who would play the lead character of Remedy’s next game, Control.
Quantum Break was also the first big first-party title released day and date on PC after Microsoft decided it would bring all of its Xbox exclusives to the Windows platform. Unfortunately, the Universal Windows Platform (UWP) was still in its infancy and caused a lot of problems, so the experience was heavily disappointing, as I reported at the time.
The obligatory download of the Quantum Break TV episodes alongside the game was also criticized back then since the whole package weighed nearly 180GB. Later, Remedy also admitted that the linear gameplay of both Quantum Break and the original Alan Wake was a missed opportunity and improved upon that with the Metroidvania-inspired game design featured in Control.
With Remedy now extremely busy completing Alan Wake 2 and developing Control 2, the Control multiplayer spin-off, the free-to-play co-op game Vanguard, and the Max Payne 1&2 remakes, there seems to be no way they’ll go back to Quantum Break. Let’s hope Microsoft can at least keep it on Game Pass.
