Xbox Game PassThe presentation at The Game Awards 2025 gave gamers a look at some of the more popular games currently available on the platform without really touching on what the future holds, as none of the games announced at the show appear to be coming to the subscription service. Recent changes to Xbox Game Pass have seen both positive and negative reactions, though the latter far outweigh the former, and the neglect to showcase any of its upcoming additions could be seen as a sign of tough times ahead in 2026.
Since its introduction in 2017, Xbox Game Pass has been one of the biggest selling points for Microsoft's consoles, offering access to hundreds of games for a monthly subscription. The service had an estimated 37 million users as of July and is still a force to be reckoned with in 2025 as 15 games nominated for The Games Awards 2025 are currently available on Game Pass.
The 4 biggest Xbox Game Pass games of 2026 are just the tip of the iceberg
Four huge Xbox Game Pass games are already on board for 2026, and many more games are expected to join the service next year as well.
Upcoming games for Game Pass
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Aphelion
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Armatus
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At the end of fate
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Awaysis
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Beast from Reincarnation
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Beast
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Mechanical revolution
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Crows
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Dark wood 2
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Denshattack!
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Echo generation 2
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Erosion
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Fable
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Forza Horizon 6
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Freestyle football 2
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Gear of War: E-Day
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High on Life 2
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Threat
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MIO: Memories in Orbit
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Mixtape
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Nirvana Noir
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Nova Roma
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Outbound
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Persona 4 Revival
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Planet of Lana 2: Children of the Leaf
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Raji: Kaliyuga
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Exchanged
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Resonance: A Plague Story Legacy
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Road research
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Sledding game
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Sleight of hand
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Snap & Grab
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Subnautica 2
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Super Meat Boy 3D
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TCG Card Shop Simulator
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There are no ghosts in the Grand
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Tropic 7
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Vampire crawlers
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The world of steam
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Wildekin
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Witchbrook
Nearly an hour after The Game Awards 2025 main show began, a two-minute hype reel for Xbox Game Pass showcased several games on the subscription service. Played over Johnny Cash's “(Ghost) Riders in the Sky,” the trailer follows a janitorial custodian as he goes through several rooms labeled with the names of top titles and gets into hijinks like accidentally tripping the starship's artificial gravity. Outer worlds 2shaking clay blocks from his broom outside Minecraftand lifted the zombie's still-moving hand to wave his colleague inside Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. There are plenty of other links, including a general pro Fallout franchise that features a version of the cowboy song used in the video on Fallout 76the user's audio track.
Aside from that video, though, there wasn't much mention of Xbox Game Pass during the presentation, which might worry some subscribers. Additionally, while the hype reel showcased some featured games such as Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 that were released as day one games on Game Pass, very few of the specific games listed were created under Microsoft-owned brands, indicating that the service is dependent on the collaboration of third-party developers and publishers. There is an allusion to Grounded 2which is available in early access and is being developed by Microsoft-owned studio Obsidian Entertainment, and although Microsoft acquired Bethesda in 2021, that was long after the release Fallout 4 in 2015 and Fallout 76 in 2018.
While there have been a large number of games added to Xbox Game Pass in 2025, there are some indicators that could indicate we're in for a bumpy ride. The subscription service has been receiving a lot of backlash from fans since early October when it was announced that the price of Xbox Game Pass subscriptions would be increasing, with monthly fees for the Ultimate tier jumping roughly 50 percent to $29.99. While the announcement came at the same time as the arrival of access to nearly 50 new games, many of which were acquired through a partnership with Ubisoft+, fans were outraged by what they perceived as greedy actions at a time of economic hardship, and several sources said that the price change led to a large number of subscription cancellations.
The lack of attendance at The Game Awards aside, there are roughly 40 games that have already been announced to be added to Game Pass in 2026. These include two Day One games that were recently confirmed for Game Pass Ultimate in January, with MIO: Memories in Orbit arriving on January 20 and Nova Roma will be released on January 22nd, although the second title will be available exclusively on PC. Other big games that subscribers can look forward to in 2026 include Fable, Hello 1 remake, Forza Horizon 6and Gears of War: E-Day.
