Wasteland Remastered devs let fans keep game they accidentally gave away

Polygon RSS Feed✍ Patricia Hernandez📅 April 30, 2026⏱ 2 min read(4 months ago)

Overview & Key Takeaways

The Wasteland series, which has influenced major post-apocalyptic franchises like Fallout, was briefly free on the Xbox and Microsoft store.

Every so often, an internet frenzy will kick up around a game that mysteriously starts allowing free downloads — only for a publisher to rain on everyone's parade by undoing the glitch. In early April, when retro RPG Wasteland Remastered suddenly started appearing for free on Microsoft and Xbox stores, fans wondered if history might repeat itself. Instead, developers inXile have surprised everyone.

Not only is inXile allowing everyone who took advantage of the glitch to keep the game, but the studio is also making it playable. The latter is relevant because fans who downloaded Wasteland Remastered before the issue was discovered were left with a copy of the game that didn't actually work. That initial digital copy of the game will remain non-functional, but inXile is giving those players the option to download a new, working copy.

The original Wasteland was released in 1988, and is one of the major inspirations for post-apocalyptic games like Fallout. The influence is evident throughout the game, which features a top-down view, a neon-green user interface, and an arid, irradiated landscape. The remastered version of the seminal game has overhauled graphics, music, and more.

Based on user reviews, it's a rough transition from modern RPGs to something like Wasteland. For example, you might go somewhere that the game clearly denotes as the next area of exploration yet find yourself unable to progress ... until you use your Perception skill to see the intended entrance. But for anyone interested in getting a better sense of gaming history, or anyone who played the original game and still feels a sense of nostalgia, Wasteland Remastered is worth checking out.

You'll just have to pay for it, unlike those who downloaded it for free during the glitch. Fortunately, Wasteland Remastered is currently on sale for just over $3 and is available for all Game Pass subscribers. If you like CRPGs of this kind, but don't want to deal with so many rough edges, then the more recent Wasteland 3 would be a good bet.

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