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Current-gen exclusive Serious Sam 4 surprise launches on Xbox Game Pass

Another week, another surprise arrival on Xbox Game Pass – but this time, Xbox One owners are being left out.

Another week, another surprise launch on Xbox Game Pass! This time, it's Serious Sam 4 from Croteam and Devolver Digital. You'll play as the last remaining resistance to an extra-terrestrial invasion, leading the Earth Defence Force as Sam “Serious” Stone and his heavily-armed squad of misfit commandos.

The game is a day one launch on Game Pass, arriving without that much fanfare, but then neither did some of Xbox Game Pass's most recent arrivals either (most notably Townscaper and Generation Zero).

Cover image for YouTube videoSerious Sam 4 -- Launch Trailer

What's notable about the launch of Serious Sam 4 is that it's only available via Game Pass on Xbox Series X/S – there's no listing for the game on Xbox One via the official Microsoft Store. You can still play it on PC, though. If you want to buy the game, it'll set you back $39.99.

"Humanity is under siege as the full force of Mental’s hordes spread across the world, ravaging what remains of a broken and beaten civilization," reads a blurb for the title. "The last remaining resistance to the invasion is the Earth Defence Force led by Sam “Serious” Stone and his heavily-armed squad of misfit commandos."

The game acts as a prequel to the events of the other Serious Sam games. It was developed by Croatian studio, Croteam, that has managed to use the classic Serious Sam formula whilst revamping the mechanics to put "an unstoppable arsenal" up against "an unimaginable number of enemies that requires players to circle-strafe and backpedal-blast their way out of impossible situations". I hope your fingers are feeling flexible.

We heard last year that Devolver purchased Serious Sam developer Croteam after the title launched in September 2020 for PC and Google's Stadia streaming service.

Initially, the game was lambasted at launch for being unfinished, buggy and poorly optimised. Since it initally came out, though, Croteam has worked hard to get it playable again – and a little second wind on Game Pass might be a great place for the title's redemption arc to take place.

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In this article

Serious Sam

Xbox, PC

Serious Sam 4

PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC

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About the Author
Dom Peppiatt avatar

Dom Peppiatt

Editor-in-chief

Dom is a veteran video games critic with 11 years' experience in the games industry. A published author and consultant that has written for NME, Red Bull, Samsung, Xsolla, Daily Star, GamesRadar, Tech Radar, and many more. They also have a column about games and music at The Guardian.

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