Balatro on Xbox Game Pass brings the Game of the Year-nominated card game phenomenon to the service

Microsoft has come through with a belter of an announcement to cap off February, offering Balatro on Xbox Game Pass without a moment's notice.

Xbox isn't finished with February yet, as it has announced the arrival of Balatro on Xbox Game Pass entirely out of the blue, revealing that you can play the game right away.

After swinging from strength to strength, it seemed like the final Xbox Game Pass drop of the month in February was a little limp. After all, we’ve been treated to some absolute gold over the last couple of months, with the second Xbox Game Pass January drop revealing Sniper Elite: Resistance and Eternal Strands, following the Diablo drop on Xbox Game Pass earlier in the month. The latest batch was pretty small, though, with the second February Xbox Game Pass delivery only offering three games to players, and recent confirmations seeing some big losses with Tales of Arise leaving the service, and a mass Xbox Game Pass Yakuza exodus.

Things have been great so far this year on Xbox Game Pass, especially after the arrival of Avowed as a day one release – but the final swing of February left a bitter taste. But, there’s a twist coming, as in a shock announcement, another game has arrived out of the blue. And luckily for players, it’s among the easiest games to pick up and play that we’ve seen in the last decade. You heard right – Balatro on Xbox Game Pass has been announced.

Balatro comes to Xbox Game Pass

In a major twist that, for many, makes up for a quiet end to Xbox Game Pass’ February, it has been revealed on social media that Game of the Year nominee at The Game Awards and breakthrough indie phenomenon is coming to subscribers with Balatro on Xbox Game Pass – and it’s live on the service right now.

The announcement was made with little fanfare on Twitter, with the @XboxGamePass account sharing an image captioned “say hi to Jimbo for us” in reference to the game’s Joker mascot, announcing that Balatro on Game Pass is live now, for players across all tiers of the service.

The announcement comes with the reveal of the fourth Friends of Jimbo content update, featuring new card faces adorned with characters from Assassin's Creed, Bugsnax, Critical Role, Dead by Daylight, Fallout, Rust, Sid Meier's Civilization 7, and Slay the Princess.

Balatro on Xbox Game Pass is massive for a number of reasons – to start, Balatro has been a phenomenon since its launch, sweeping up players in its chaotic card stacking gameplay and refusing to let many go. Equally, it’s a major delivery for the service, as it has bypassed any exclusivity to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or PC tiers, meaning that even players on the Standard tier of the service can get stuck into the game.

Balatro on Xbox Game Pass is great news to cap off the month, and even though there are many out there who this won’t seem to affect given their gaming taste, Balatro is a surprisingly versatile game, picking up fans from all over gaming’s spectrum of genres – so it might be worth giving it a go anyway. Just don’t blame us if you get hooked.