Xbox Game Pass' Ghost Bike delayed to early 2025 and renamed Wheel World

Xbox Game Pass' Ghost Bike delayed to early 2025 and renamed Wheel World

The Xbox Partner Preview brought us the news that Ghost Bike, which was set to ride into Xbox Game Pass later this year, has been delayed and renamed.

Heidi Nicholas

Published 17 Oct 2024

Followtopics
Annapurna InteractiveDelayedXbox Game PassXbox Series X|SAdventureHeidi Nicholas
Ghost Bike, which had been set to join Game Pass sometime this year, appeared during the Xbox Partner Preview with a new name and a new release window. Wheel World will now join Xbox Game Pass on day one in early 2025. Another update for our list of upcoming Game Pass games!

Wheel World launches into Game Pass in early 2025

"You are Kat, a young cyclist with one mission: save Wheel World from total collapse. Explore a stunning open world filled with impressive vistas, hidden secrets, and races that will test your skills. Customize your bike with an endless array of parts, from sleek speedsters to off-road beasts — there's no limit to how you can ride."

Developer Messhof explains the name change in a little more detail, saying, "The gameplay in Wheel World has gone through a number of iterations in terms of gameplay and structure, and the narrative has had to adapt along the way. At the point last year when it felt right to announce the project, we came up with the name Ghost Bike based on where the narrative was. It was a game about dying on a bike after being hit by a car and ending up in a cycling Valhalla. While it wasn’t directly based on real world ghost bikes (those white bikes memorializing cyclists killed by drivers), there was enough overlap to feel like the name was justified and the associations would be a positive one from both directions. But as things changed in the gameplay (to make it more fun to play), and thus the story (especially in tone) it fit less and less."

Messhof also adds that Wheel World "represents a number of firsts for our studio. It’s of course our first 3D game, which also makes it our first game made with Unity. It’s our first game using a physics library, our first game made with a big team and hence our first game funded by a publisher, and our first game with a real narrative (with characters and dialogue boxes even!)."

Wheel World wasn't the only "early 2025" Game Pass news from the Xbox Partner Preview, either, as Eternal Strands also launches for Xbox Game Pass early next year.
DelayedXbox Game PassXbox Series X|SWindows
Written by Heidi Nicholas
Heidi tends to lean towards indie games, RPGs, and open-world games on Xbox, and when not playing Disney Dreamlight Valley, happily installs every new wholesome game that appears on Xbox Game Pass, before diving back into favorites like The Witcher 3. She's looking forward to Age of Mythology Retold, Everwild, Fable, and Avowed on the Xbox horizon. Heidi graduated with an MA in English Literature before joining the TrueAchievements team.