Games that are announced for Xbox Game Pass rarely, if ever, get pulled at the last minute. Interestingly enough, that has actually happened with cutesy racing game Hot Wheels Unleashed. The hyperactive toybox racer has been culled from the December 15th lineup, much to the confusion of fans.
Hot Wheels Unleashed was set to be one of the more exciting additions to Microsoft's brilliant subscription service. In fact, the addition was set to arrive just a month after the game was included in Sony's PlayStation Plus membership service/
Either way, fans are curious as to when the toy-based racer will be coming to Game Pass. Considering how Xbox users get to use Game Pass to test out their interest in titles, they might have to wait even longer just to see if they’ll like this racer.
On the official Xbox website, the announcement regarding Game Pass titles was edited to mention that Hot Wheels Unleased won’t make the Dec. 15 date. Apparently, there will be an announcement made on a future Game Pass date for the title but that’s still pretty vague.
"Hot Wheels Unleashed – Game of the Year Edition is no longer coming on December 15th, 2022 as previously announced. We will update with a new date when we have more information to share," says the editor’s note on the post.
What makes the removal more interesting is that Hot Wheels Unleashed was part of the monthly PlayStation Plus games for October and is currently in PS Plus Extra. This has many fans wondering if games on PS Plus can’t immediately be featured on Game Pass or if it’s a licensing issue.
All in all, unless Xbox Series users are willing to shell out the cash on a licensed racer, fans will have to wait to play this game. It might not be Forza but the game did review decently upon release and would have been a solid try for fans of the old/current toys.
Hot Wheels Unleashed is readily available on PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series, Nintendo Switch, and PC.