Xbox Console Exclusive Will No Longer Be Available After Today

An Xbox console exclusive that was available on both Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S -- and playable via Xbox Game Pass -- is being removed from digital storefronts today, and shut down at the end of the year. In other words, you've just about run out of time to buy the game and you're quickly running out of time to play it. As for why the game is being removed from Xbox consoles, we still don't know. A reason wasn't given back on October 31 when the news was first shared, and this hasn't changed. It's presumably because it's costing more money than it's making to keep the servers up, and in order to take the servers down, you need to remove it from sale. 

As for the mystery game in question -- for those who missed it -- ANVIL is departing Xbox consoles today after previously being available in Xbox Game Preview and Xbox Game Pass. The console exclusive will remain on PC, and there's no word of it coming to other platforms, and it doesn't look like that will change, rendering it a PC exclusive going forward. 

"We regret to inform our Xbox users that we'll be phasing out service for ANVIL on Xbox in the coming months," read the statement made back on October 31. "We will stop selling the package version of Anvil on Xbox on November 30, 2023. Subsequently, the Xbox Game Pass/Game Preview service for Anvil will stop on December 31, 2023, PST. Please note that you will no longer be able to play Anvil on Xbox after this date. We'll continue to update FAQ through our Discord channel Thank you all for your support. It's been a fun and exciting experience for us to service ANVIL on the Xbox platform."

If you're completely unfamiliar with this game, it fully released this summer after a stint in early access. Released by Action Square, it's described as "a multiplayer co-op top-down sci-fi roguelike action shooter." It does not have any Metacritic data, so there's not much information about its quality but it has "Mixed" user reviews over on Steam and clearly no one was playing it on Xbox, so it must have not been great, at the very least. 

"ANVIL is a multiplayer co-op top-down sci-fi roguelike action shooter where you control characters called Vault Breakers to explore various galaxies that are crawling with monsters," reads an official blurb about the game. "Find relics inside Vaults to increase Breaker's ability to survive and fight on this godforsaken galaxy."

For more Xbox coverage -- including all of the latest Xbox news, all of the latest Xbox rumors and leaks, and all of the latest Xbox deals -- click here. Meanwhile, and as always, feel free to leave a comment or two letting us know what you think. Are you sad to see this Xbox game go?