Road-Side Shawarma has released its first code, giving you a free revive just in case you ignored the rules for surviving each night.
This horror Roblox experience sees you join the kitchen at a popular shawarma spot, where you’ll work through three night shifts. If you follow the rules set by the mysterious stranger on the phone, keep your serving station restocked, and fulfill each customer’s order, you should survive until the end. But if you do get tempted to look up when the ceiling starts leaking, then this Road-Side Shawarma code for a free revive will help you out.
Working Road-Side Shawarma Codes
The following codes have been tested and can be redeemed:
SHAWARMATHEBEST – 1x Revive
How to Use Road-Side Shawarma Codes
Launch Road-Side Shawarma on Roblox and then follow these steps to redeem codes:
In the waiting lobby, click on the icon that looks like a bird on the left of the screen
Copy the code from this article
Press Redeem and brave your shift!
Expired Road-Side Shawarma Codes
Road-Side Shawarma has just launched codes, so there are currently no expired codes. Make the most of the ones available and redeem them before they disappear.
Why Isn’t My Road-Side Shawarma Code Working?
Codes for Roblox experiences are usually case-sensitive, so the best way to ensure you’ve got a working code is to directly copy it from this article. We check all codes before we upload them, so you can guarantee they’re working. Just double-check that you haven’t copied over an extra space!
When Is the Next Road-Side Shawarma Update?
Road-Side Shawarma has just extended their previous update, which was the Halloween event. This will run until November 9th, 2025, and has introduced new monsters you can encounter while serving up shawarma. You’ve got until November 9th to participate and earn yourself a special badge.
Lauren Harper is an Associate Guides Editor. She loves a variety of games but is especially fond of puzzles, horrors, and point-and-click adventures.
In the autumn honors list, the Japanese government has given Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii the Order of the Rising Sun. This is one of the highest awards the government of Japan can bestow on citizens. It is awarded to those who have made significant contributions in their field, and Horii is the first game creator to receive it.
“I think it’s a great honor, I’m surprised.” Horii responded in a video interview with TBS. “I’ve been making games for quite a long time now, about 40 years, but I didn’t do it alone. It’s all thanks to the staff who helped create the games alongside me, and to all the players who have continuously supported us.”
Yuji Horii’s first game was 1983’s Love Match Tennis, which he entered into a game contest where it caught the attention of Enix. This was followed by the genre-defining visual novel mystery The Portopia Serial Murder Case. He would become most famous for his work on the game design and scenario for Enix’s long-running Dragon Quest series (1986-present).
Square Enix’s recent 2D-HD remakes of Dragon Quest I, II and III have bought new attention to the RPG series’ origins. Horii is currently still hard at work on Dragon Quest XII: The Flames of Fate, the much-awaited next game, which was announced back in 2021 during the 35th anniversary celebrations.
In the TBS interview, Horii also offered words of encouragement to future creators: “It’s important to actually create something tangible, don’t just think about it,” he advised. “Just try making it.”
The Order of the Rising Sun currently has six classes. As reported by nippon.com, Yuji Horii received the 4th class honors: Gold Rays with Rosette. Among the others to receive this particular award in 2025 was Devilman and Cutie Honey manga artist Go Nagai.
Photo by TOSHIFUMI KITAMURA/AFP via Getty Images.
Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.
The director of the United States Patent and Trademark Office has ordered a reexamination of Nintendo’s controversial ‘summon character and let it fight’ Pokémon patent after it was heavily criticized by IP lawyers.
While the patent sums up how Pokémon games work in that you summon Pokémon to battle other Pokémon in the hope of adding them to your collection, there are countless other games that use similar mechanics, such as Persona, Digimon, and even Elden Ring, depending upon how the patent is interpreted.
At the time, IP expert Florian Mueller took to social media to say Nintendo “should never” have received a “summon character and let it fight” patent in the first place, while video game patent lawyer Kirk Sigmon told PC Gamer “these claims were in no way allowable.”
Now, Games Fray has reported that Donald Trump nominee John A. Squires, who only became director of the USPTO in September, has personally ordered a reexamination after he “determined that substantial new questions of patentability have arisen” to certain claims made by the patent.
Here’s Squires’ description of the claims in question:
“The ‘397 patent issued with claims drawn to controlling the movement of a player character in a field of a virtual space, causing a sub character to appear in the field, controlling a battle in a manual mode when an enemy character is present in the location the sub character has appeared, and when an enemy character is not present in the location the sub character has appeared, automatically moving the sub character, and controlling a battle in an automatic mode when an enemy character is placed at a designated location.”
In his order, Squires pointed to two older U.S. patent applications — one filed by Konami in 2002, the other by Nintendo itself in 2019 — as “prior art” references. Both, Squires said, would be “important in deciding whether the claims are patentable,” and each “raises a substantial new question of patentability.”
Mueller, writing for Games Fray, said Squires’ order was down to the “public outrage” at the award of the patent, and concerns about the reputation of the U.S. patent system as a whole. While this reexamination isn’t a revocation order, Mueller insisted it is now “highly likely” that the USPTO will revoke Nintendo’s ‘397 patent. Nintendo has two months to respond.
What does this mean for Nintendo and The Pokémon Company’s high-profile legal battle with Pocketpair over Palworld? Mueller said it “further undermines the credibility” of Nintendo’s patent assertions against Pocketpair’s game.
This is the latest legal blow for Nintendo in its battle against Palworld. Last month, one of the Nintendo patents related to its monster capture patents filed last year was rejected by the Japan Patent Office (JPO) for lacking originality. The office’s reasoning for the rejection made reference to older games with similar mechanics that were released even before 2021, including ARK (released in 2015), Monster Hunter 4 (2013), and Japanese browser game Kantai Collection (also 2013). Ironically, Pocketpair’s Craftopia (2020) and Niantic’s Pokémon Go (2016) were among other examples of games that were used to argue that the patent lacks originality.
The case involves three main patents granted by the JPO: two related to monster capture and release, and one related to riding characters. All three patents were filed in 2024, after Palworld came out. However, they are actually derived from earlier Nintendo patents dating from 2021. In other words, it seems that once Palworld came on the scene, Nintendo filed divisional patents that were geared to fight specifically against Palworld’s alleged infringement of the original patents.
Since then, Pocketpair has made changes to Palworld’s disputed mechanics. The November 2024 patch removed the ability to summon Pals by throwing Pokéball-like Pal Spheres (now Pals just materialize next to you when summoned). In May this year, another Palworld update changed how you can glide in the game — instead of directly grabbing onto Glider Pals, now you just simply use Pal-buffed Glider equipment. The case has rumbled on, with Nintendo even rewriting a mount-related patent mid-lawsuit, and arguing that mods should not count as prior art.
So what happens next? Mueller said there may not be any further developments this calendar year relating to Nintendo’s lawsuit against Pocketpair or patents that are related to it. But decisions are expected next year. All eyes will be on Presiding Judge Motoyuki Nakashima, who leads the patent division of the Tokyo District Court. “It is ever more likely that Nintendo will lose,” Mueller said.
At the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in March, IGN sat down for an extended conversation with John “Bucky” Buckley, communications director and publishing manager for Palworld developer Pocketpair. We spoke following his talk at the conference, ‘Community Management Summit: A Palworld Roller Coaster: Surviving the Drop.’ During that talk, Buckley went into candid detail about a number of Palworld’s struggles, especially the accusations of it using generative AI (which Pocketpair has since debunked pretty soundly) and stealing Pokemon’s models for its own Pals (a claim that the person who originally made it has since retracted). He even commented a bit on Nintendo’s patent infringement lawsuit against the studio, saying it “came as a shock” to the studio and was “something that no one even considered.”
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Pillars of Eternity is the surprise recipient of a patch to add turn-based mode, developer Obsidian has announced.
Fresh from releasing Avowed, Grounded 2, and The Outer Worlds 2 this year, the Microsoft-owned studio has gone back to its isometric, party-based fantasy RPG over a decade after it came out with a fresh update.
Obsidian announced a new public beta for Pillars of Eternity opens on November 5 for players on Steam and Xbox PC, which adds the turn-based mode. The reveal comes alongside a message from game director Josh Sawyer (last seen directing Pentiment), with his thoughts on what turn-based mode means for Pillars of Eternity.
“Fans who enjoyed experimenting with turn-based mode in Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire will find familiar ground here, but with key improvements shaped by your feedback,” Obsidian said in a blog post. More details are below.
How turn-based mode works in Pillars of Eternity:
Unbound Turns: All turns are now influenced by a character’s overall speed, improving the value of Real-Time with Pause attributes and mechanics.
Smarter Free Actions: Actions like swapping weapons, drinking potions, or enabling modals are now free actions. Each free action is limited to one per turn per type for balance.
Faster Pacing: Combat lethality has been significantly increased for both enemies and players to keep battles tense and impactful.
Mode Flexibility: You can choose Turn-Based Mode alongside difficulty when starting a new game — or swap freely between Real-Time with Pause and Turn-Based Mode in the game options. We’re also investigating a direct HUD toggle for even more convenience.
As this is a public beta, please expect bugs and ongoing adjustments, Obsidian warned. The beta will run for “some time” as the developer continues to roll out updates and prepares for a full release.
IGN’s Pillars of Eternity review returned a 9/10 back in 2015. We said at the time: “Obsidian (and its Kickstarter backers) have done it: Pillars of Eternity is one of the best RPGs since Baldur’s Gate.”
“I think if it truly was an unlimited budget, I think I would try Pillars 3 because I know what the budget was for Deadfire, which was not a whole lot and I have heard from multiple people what the budget was for Baldur’s Gate 3, and I’m not gonna talk about numbers, but if I got that budget, sure, I’ll make Pillars 3,” he said.
Sawyer added that if he were to make Pillars 3, he would employ a turn-based combat structure. Obsidian has yet to announce its next game.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
AliExpress via Amyet’s official seller account is offering the Amyet V9-G60 Electric Bike for just $426.04 after you apply $100 off coupon code “AEUS100” during checkout. The same bike is priced at $485 plus $165 shipping on Amazon. I’ve posted this deal before and it has so far been the best selling ebike here at IGN. Of the three bikes in this roundup, this has the most powerful motor and the biggest battery.
The Amyet V9-G60 boasts a 1,000W (1,500W peak) brushless motor that can push the bike at speeds up to 32mph. The 48V 20AH (960Whr) battery can last up to 70 miles on a single charge (the actual distance is dependent on other factors like your speed, terrain, elevation, etc). Other features include a lightweight aluminum frame, Shimano components for its 7-speed transmission, dual suspension, and 20″ wheels with 4″ fat tires for a more comfortable ride. The bike comes 90% preassembled and includes a 1 year warranty. It’s also pretty mod friendly in case you wanted to do your own upgrades (like swapping to hydraulic brakes).
Hyperkin knocked it out of the park with their OG Xbox S controllers. Yes, they’re wired, but that also means they’re perfect for competitive play thanks to zero input lag. There’s also three special edition controllers which never stick around for long, and one of the best controllers ever made, Xbox Elite V2, is on offer for $139.99 currently too. Don’t sleep on these deals.
Resident Evil: Requiem Deluxe + Steelbook
No discounts, but this is one for steelbook collectors. You’ll get the base game, deluxe edition content and a cool steelbook and sleeve for this special edition of Resident Evil: Requiem. The Deluxe Edition include’s the Apocalypse costume for Grace as they flick between first and third person views whenever they want, a first for the series.
Christian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has over 7 years of experience in the Gaming and Tech industry with bylines at Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian also makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is also the author of “Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior”. Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait.
Rockstar, the developer of Grand Theft Auto VI, reportedly fired between 30 and 40 employees in a move that the Independent Workers’ Union of Great Britain (IWGB) is claiming was “blatant” and “ruthless” union busting.
According to Bloomberg, the workers fired this past Thursday were all UK and Canadian employees who were also part of a private trade union chat group on Discord, and were either union members themselves or trying to organize Rockstar. IWGB has issued a press release in response to the firing, claiming that the employees’ dismissal was explicitly due to union activities.
Rockstar has just carried out the most blatant and ruthless act of union busting in the history of the games industry. This flagrant contempt for the law and for the lives of the workers who bring in their billions is an insult to their fans and the global industry.
Despite this calculated attack on workers organising for a collective voice and to improve their difficult working conditions, the Rockstar Union remains undeterred. They will keep organising for respect and better conditions whilst continuing to pour their blood, sweat and creativity into games that are loved by millions.
The IWGB will pursue every legal claim possible to ensure our members are reinstated and receive interim relief.
In response, Rockstar has issued its own statement via a Take-Two spokesperson, countering that the firings were for “gross misconduct, and for no other reason.”
We strive to make the world’s best entertainment properties by giving our best-in-class creative teams positive work environments and ongoing career opportunities. Our culture is focused on teamwork, excellence, and kindness. Rockstar Games terminated a small number of individuals for gross misconduct, and for no other reason. As always, we fully support Rockstar’s ambitions and approach.
These dismissals occur as Rockstar is on the cusp of releasing Grand Theft Auto 6 in May of next year, with the game projected by some analysts to make $3 billion in its first year on sale and said by others to be one of the most important game releases of all time.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
So, what happened to Agent? Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption writer Dan Houser, now of Absurd Ventures, has finally offered fans a detailed explanation in an interview on the Lex Fridman podcast. According to Houser, despite multiple versions of Agent being attempted at Rockstar, the game never came together, and that’s because, fundamentally, an open-world spy game simply doesn’t work.
“We worked a lot on multiple iterations of an open-world spy game, and it never came together,” Houser began.
“It had about five different iterations. I don’t think it works. I concluded — and I keep thinking about it sometimes, I sometimes lie in bed thinking about it — and I’ve concluded that what makes them really good as film stories makes them not work as video games. Or we need to think through how to do it in a different way as a video game”.
The version of Agent Rockstar announced was set in during the Cold War in the 1970s, but Houser revealed this was just one version of many Rockstar tried and failed to turn into a fun video game. Indeed, there was a version set in the modern day that also failed to go anywhere.
“That was one of the versions,” he said. “There was another one that was set in the current… we had so many different versions of this game, we worked with so many different teams.”
He continued: “Espionage, assassinations… I don’t know what it would’ve been because it never really… We never got it enough to even doing a proper story on it. We were doing the early work as you get the world up and running. It never really found its feet in either of them. And I sort of think I know why.
“Because in one of those films, they’re very, very frenetic and they beat to beat to beat — you gotta go here and save the world, you gotta go there and stop that person being killed and then save the world. An open-world game does have moments like that when the story comes together. But for large portions, it’s a lot looser, and you’re just hanging out and you’re just doing what you want. And I want freedom. I wanna go over here and do what I want, and I wanna go over and do what you want. That’s why it works well being a criminal, because you fundamentally don’t have anyone telling you what to do. We try and create external agency through these people kind of forcing you into the story at times.
“But as a spy, that doesn’t really work because you have to be against the clock. So I think for me, I question if you can even make a good open-world spy game. So lots of things would work as open-world games, but I don’t know if a spy does.”
“We really got going on this one and worked on it for over a year. I remember working on a downhill skiing chase scene with guns for instance,” Vermeij said of Agent.
“The game wasn’t progressing as well as we’d hoped. It was inevitable that eventually the whole company would have to get behind the next Grand Theft Auto. We tried to cut the game down in an attempt to get the bulk of it done before the inevitable call from New York would come. We cut out an entire level (I think Cairo) and maybe even the space section.
“It became clear that [Agent] was going to be too much of a distraction for us and we ditched it. I think it was handed over to another company within Rockstar but never got completed.” Half of the Rockstar North team was working on Grand Theft Auto 4 DLC and Grand Theft Auto 5, while half was set to work on Agent before the importance of its premiere franchise took over.
Agent was developed as a spy thriller akin to James Bond, earning it the codename “Jimmy” within the Scotland-based Rockstar North studio, with Jimmy being a Scottish nickname for James.
“The game was to be set in the 70s, be more linear than Grand Theft Auto with a number of locations,” Vermeij said. “There was a French Mediterranean city, a Swiss ski resort, Cairo, and at the end there would be a big shootout with lasers in space. Classic James Bond. The vibe was very cool.”
Rockstar was kept busy otherwise with smash hits GTA 5 and Red Dead Redemption 2, releasing in 2013 and 2018 respectively. GTA 6 is set to follow next year.
Houser went on to say that rockstar also “played around with the knights concept,” following Agent’s demise, “trying to do a version of a mythological game that could have been fun.”
“Still love that idea, but never went very far with it,” he explained. “It never got to writing any of it. Just did some backstory and played around with a few ideas. But it was always something I thought I would never do, and then kind of fell in love with it a little bit.”
While Agent is dead, IO Interactive’s promising 007: First Light is due out next year.
Photo by Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Keanu Reeves would love to play Johnny Silverhand again, but how can he given the events of Cyberpunk 2077? It turns out Cyberpunk creator Mike Pondsmith has worked out a way to make it make sense, and has told the much-loved actor: “contact me.”
“Absolutely. I’d love to play Johnny Silverhand again,” Reeves said when asked if he’d be interested in revisiting his legendary rockstar terrorist character in Cyberpunk 2.
Reeves’s love-affair with the Cyberpunk community began with his viral “you’re breathtaking” moment at E3 2019. Reeves, on-stage to announce the release date of Cyberpunk 2077, was interrupted by a fan who shouted out “you’re breathtaking!” Reeves’ response was to double-down with his own “you’re breathtaking… you’re all breathtaking!” Cue wholesome memes across the internet forever more. You can see the iconic gamer moment in the video below.
The question is, could Reeves actually play Johnny Silverhand in Cyberpunk 2 even if he wanted to? In other words, could Johnny Silverhand return in the sequel, given the events of Cyberpunk 2077?
Warning! Spoilers for Cyberpunk 2077 follow:
While many players believe Cyberpunk 2077 provided a suitable ending for Johnny and V’s story, depending on which ending of the game CD Projekt makes canon for Cyberpunk 2, the door may be left open for Reeves’ return. Could Johnny return in cameo form perhaps, having downloaded himself into someone or something else? Canon ending dependent, could V end up becoming Johnny Silverhand in mind and body for Cyberpunk 2? Perhaps we could see Johnny as part of a flashback to events before Cyberpunk 2077, as Cyberpunk 2077 had?
It sounds like Mike Pondsmith has been thinking about this ever since Reeves’ interview with IGN. In a CD Projekt livestream to celebrate the fifth anniversary of Cyberpunk 2077, Mike Pondsmith said, matter of factly: “Not that long ago, I saw that Keanu would like to find a way to come back from the dead and play Johnny again. I have ways to do that, Keanu. Contact me.”
Pondsmith, understandably, did not reveal what those “ways” were, but as we’ve mentioned, there are plenty of theories fans have come up with to make it make sense.
Reeves isn’t the only big Hollywood name to appear in Cyberpunk 2077. Idris Elba starred in the successful expansion, Phantom Liberty, which Pondsmith was delighted by. Indeed, he revealed he worried that CD Projekt might get sued because his character, looked so much like Elba, before it was revealed it actually was Elba playing the role.
“‘So let me get this straight,'” Pondsmith recalled of his reaction to the news. “‘You got Keanu Reeves, and then you turn around and get Idris Elba. What’s next? Scarlett Johansson?’
“Scarlett, you know, I have roles for you. You can do anything.”
Scarlett Johansson in Cyberpunk 2? That remains to be seen. But Pondsmith has been chatty about the hotly anticipated sequel in the past. In May, Pondsmith teased some previously unknown details when he was asked about the scope of his involvement with Cyberpunk 2 (then known as Project Orion) at the Digital Dragons 2025 conference.
Pondsmith admitted he wasn’t as involved this time around, but said he does review scripts and had been to CD Projekt to check out the ongoing work.
“Last week I was wandering around talking to different departments, and seeing what they had, ‘Oh look, this is the new cyberware, what do you think?’ ‘Oh yeah, that’s pretty good, that works here.’”
And then, the morsel on the sequel: that it features a brand new city in addition to the Night City we know from Cyberpunk 2077. Pondsmith described this new city as “like Chicago gone wrong.”
“I spent a lot of time talking to one of the environment guys, and he was explaining how the new place in Orion, because there’s another city we visit — I’m not telling you any more than that but there’s another city we visit. And Night City is still there. But I remember looking at it and going, yeah I understand the feel you’re going for this, and this really does work. And it doesn’t feel like Blade Runner, it feels more like Chicago gone wrong. I said, ‘Yeah, I can see this working.’”
It’s worth pointing out that Pondsmith’s comments do not necessarily suggest the Cyberpunk sequel will feature a future Chicago, rather a city that has the feel of a dystopian version of the city. It may well be a take on future Chicago, but that isn’t confirmed based on these comments. There is also some debate about whether Cyberpunk 2 will expand upon the Night City that’s in Cyberpunk 2077 or feature a new version, and the extent to which it is playable.
It sounds like we’ll have to wait some time to find out. CD Projekt is of course focusing on The Witcher 4, and CD Projekt co-CEO Michał Nowakowski has suggested Cyberpunk 2 won’t be out until at least 2030.
Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Former Rockstar boss Dan Houser has explained why the Grand Theft Auto series won’t leave the United States in terms of its setting.
Speaking on the Lex Fridman podcast, Rockstar co-founder and former lead writer Houser said that — GTA London apart — Grand Theft Auto remained firmly rooted in the United States because it leans so heavily on Americana.
“We made a little thing in London 26 years ago — GTA London — for the top-down for PS1. That was pretty cute and fun, as the first mission pack ever for PlayStation 1. I think for a full GTA game, we always decided there was so much Americana inherent in the IP, it would be really hard to make it work in London or anywhere else.
“You know, you needed guns, you needed these larger-than-life characters. It just felt like the game was so much about America, possibly from an outsider’s perspective. But that was so much about what the thing was that it wouldn’t really have worked in the same way elsewhere.”
It’s a trend that’s set to continue with next year’s GTA 6, which is set in the fictional U.S. state of Leonida (a reimagining of Florida). And based on the two GTA 6 trailers we’ve seen so far, that parody of American culture is once again front and center.
It’s an interesting time, then, to wonder if GTA might hop on a plane and venture abroad at some point in the future. But it feels unlikely, not just based on Houser’s comments, but based on the GTA brand — built up over decades at this point — and what the public expects from it. Indeed, such is GTA’s relationship with America over the course of its many video games, that a University of Tennessee history professor will teach a GTA college history class early in 2026.
Professor Tore Olsson recently told IGN: “Video games are great at conjuring fictional worlds, but they also impact players’ thinking about real-world times and places. And just as Red Dead Redemption 2 has shaped folks’ perception of the nineteenth-century American West or Ghost of Tsushima has informed their vision of feudal Japan, millions of people around the globe imagine contemporary America through the lens of the Grand Theft Auto franchise. Just think of how many GTA veterans have recognized landmarks in Los Angeles and New York thanks to their hours in Los Santos and Liberty City!”
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Microsoft has confirmed the next batch of games set to leave Xbox Game Pass, and one in particular has caused a degree of frustration with subscribers: Stalker 2.
GSC Game World’s Stalker 2 launched as an Xbox console exclusive last year alongside backing from Microsoft. While it is not an Xbox Game Studios-published video game, Microsoft played a key role in its marketing ahead of its much-delayed release date in November 2024. It even worked with the Ukrainian studio on a 90-minute documentary that revealed the difficulty the developers faced building the game amid Russia’s full-scale invasion.
As confirmed by the Xbox app, Stalker 2 is set to leave Game Pass on November 16, 2025, alongside four other games detailed below.
Games set to leave Xbox Game Pass on November 16, 2025:
It’s Stalker 2’s exit that has caused the most kerfuffle, with some Game Pass subscribers criticizing the move a year after launch, and just ahead of the game’s release on PlayStation 5 on November 20.
“Microsoft backed GSC through all the delays and even the invasion, so it’s surprising they weren’t able to secure a better deal,” said redditor JBishie. “I think it’s a matter of principle: the game was incomplete at launch and is only now starting to resemble a finished product, yet it’s being removed from the service just as the 1.7 update approaches, and with the PS5 release coming up, the timing looks especially poor.”
Indeed, the fact Stalker 2 launched first on Xbox and PC with quite a few problems, which are only now ironed out in time for the PS5 launch, is being highlighted by those who believe the game should remain on Game Pass for a while longer.
“It’s been a year, which is a pretty standard time for non MiS games,” said VickyCriesALot. “I’m not sure why this is such a shock to people like it’s unprecedented. Lmao.”
“Because the game just got to a decent state in that year’s time?” countered davepars77. “It’s going to take another year to get everything sorted, not even talking about DLC yet. It’s been in early access not a finished product so now’s a great time to rip it off the service.”
“I think it’s a really bad precedent that a game stays shorter in Game Pass than we had to wait for it to launch, beyond waiting MONTHS to become properly playable patch after patch,” complained X / Twitter user @ZakkenKloot.
“It’s bad that Stalker is going,” added @Matty_Cs_World. “It was good but basically released very buggy. I don’t like that a premium subscription is just used as a beta testing area for devs. I did want to go back to the game. But I guess that ship has sailed.”
“Xbox has to stop funding unfinished early access games essentially for Game Pass day one titles,” said Minute-Use-8489. “Two games that come to mind Stalker 2 & Payday 3 came out very unfinished and took a year for them to fix and update each game than once their good to play they get removed from Game Pass feels like a scam to the subscribers imo.”
It’s worth noting most of the games on this list are available with a discount of at least 20% until they leave Xbox Game Pass in early November.
It doesn’t help that Microsoft recently sparked a significant backlash by hiking the price of Game Pass. In the case of Ultimate, it went up a whopping 50% to $29.99 a month. That amounts to an extra $120 a year. To justify the price hike, Microsoft upped the number of day one releases per year to 75, and added Fortnite Crew and Ubisoft+ Classics for the first time ever. There were also upgrades to Xbox Cloud Gaming streaming quality.
As for Stalker 2 on PS5, it launches on Sony’s console with full support for the DualSense controller’s features, including haptic feedback and adaptive triggers. Further technical enhancements for the PS5 Pro are also in development.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
