You might have missed it last week, but Everspace 2 made its way to Xbox Game Pass for PC in the form of an Xbox Game Preview title, and the team behind the game has lavished praise upon Xbox for the partnership.

In a message to fans on Steam, Rockfish Games explained that the deal was "too good to pass on", highlighting a few key aspects of the collaboration that will prove invaluable to Everspace 2 during its ongoing development:

"First off, if one of the biggest platform holders decides to partner with an independent studio (again!); that alone is a huge achievement because a) such deals can be game-changers for independent studios like us especially since they are rare with so many other great titles competing for the spotlight worldwide;

b) a handful of very knowledgeable individuals working at massive companies are putting their neck out by trusting that we will deliver on our promises even if things get messy; and c) thanks to significant license fees being paid without any strings attached regarding change of creative direction is arguably the very, very best that can happen to an independent studio. Did I mention there is NO exclusivity?"

The team went on to enthuse that the Game Pass deal serves as a "blessing for everyone", ensuring that they can afford to work another 6 to 9 months on the full release of Everspace 2, as well as hire a bunch more people, resulting in an "even better, even more polished game for the low, low cost of patience."

Plus, they made sure to note that Microsoft has no interest in "breathing down our necks" to get it finished:

"I cannot stress enough how grateful we are that nobody is breathing down our neck to ship a title to hit some arbitrary financial goals no matter if the game is finished or not, and I share nothing but my deepest sympathy for any developer, no matter if indie or AAA, being forced to make some very, very tough decisions around cutting content, compromising on quality, and/or putting their team under enormous pressure to meet a deadline."

Everspace 2's Xbox Game Pass deal is going to mean big things for the game going forward, then, but its actual full release has now been postponed on PC, Xbox and PlayStation until 2023. There's no word on an Xbox Game Preview version of Everspace 2 for console yet, but we assume we'll be getting one eventually.

If you fancy giving the game a try, you can download it right now with the Xbox app for PC. Enjoy!

What are your thoughts on Rockfish Games' comments about Game Pass? Tell us down below.

[source store.steampowered.com]