Xbox Game Pass It's losing two titles later today, bringing its year-to-date removal total to 128 — though it's already made up for them by orders of magnitude. Although 2025 has been a significant net positive for the Xbox Game Pass library overall, this year's data is sketched by an unusual phenomenon that is unlikely to be duplicated in 2026.
The December 31 Xbox Game Pass release includes an innovative horror game Carrion and a tactical first-person shooter Leave the hell out. This will mark the platform's last catalog update in 2025. Besides being the last to leave, Carrion It was also the first title added to Xbox Game Pass this year. Meanwhile, Leave the hell out He was the second person to join the service in 2024.
15 Best Day One Xbox Game Pass Games of 2025
Xbox Game Pass has had one of its strongest years yet, with several contenders hitting the subscription service in 2025.
Xbox Game Pass added 88 more titles than it lost in 2025
These late December Xbox Game Pass departures bring the total number of 2025 removals of the platform to 128. However, this is still well below its year-to-date additions; Excluding extended releases—such as titles reaching multiple XGP tiers or platforms—216 games have joined the service through 2025. In other words, Xbox Game Pass added 88 more titles than it removed in the last 12 months. The difference is much smaller for non-Ultimate members, as the Premium tier (until now called Standard) received 163 titles this year, outnumbering the eliminations by 35. The Essentials tier (recently rebranded from Core) gained only 10 new games in 2025, but it lost none.
Changes to Xbox Game Pass 2025 catalog numbers
|
2025 |
Games added |
Games removed |
net change |
|---|---|---|---|
|
January |
13 |
12 |
+1 |
|
February |
8 |
16 |
-8 |
|
March |
9 |
17 |
-8 |
|
April |
14 |
14 |
|
|
may |
17 |
10 |
+7 |
|
June |
17 |
13 |
+4 |
|
July |
17 |
9 |
+8 |
|
August |
13 |
8 |
+5 |
|
September |
14 |
6 |
+8 |
|
October |
66 |
7 |
+59 |
|
November |
20 |
10 |
+10 |
|
December |
8 |
6 |
+2 |
|
Total |
216 |
128 |
+88 |
“Games Added” only counts brand-new standalone catalog entries. New retro classics and expansions to additional Game Pass tiers or platforms are excluded, while returning titles are included.
The Xbox Game Pass-exclusive Retro Classics service also added 82 titles through 2025. Including those releases, the overall net change increases from +82 to +170 for the year. However, while the service often focuses on seminal or otherwise well-known retro games, many subscribers don't see these old-school additions as equivalent to receiving standalone new titles through Xbox Game Pass.
Xbox Game Pass' 2025 net change was spurred by an unprecedented event
The +88 net change represents the most significant annual growth in the Xbox Game Pass library since its 2017 launch. However, such growth is unlikely to be repeated in the near future. This year's expansion was powered by Microsoft's shadow-dropping 48 new titles to support a substantial Xbox Game Pass Ultimate price increase through October 2025, which raised the monthly fee from $19.99 to $29.99. While the move was unprecedented and unlikely to be repeated anytime soon, Microsoft will eventually find itself wanting to justify another price increase.
Xbox Game Pass 2025 statistics
- New retro classics: 82
- New ultimate games: 216
- New PC Games: 204
- New standard/premium games: 163
-
New Core/Essential Games: 10
- March 26: Tunic, Batman: Arkham Knight, Demon Sanctuary
- October 1: Cities: Skylines – Remastered, Disney Dreamlight Valley, Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, Hades
- December 3: Medieval Dynasty, Stellaris, World War Z: Aftermath
- Returning games: 12
- Removed games: 128
-
Games have been added and removed this year: 6
-
Paw Patrol World (3 months)
-
Barbie Project Friendship (5 months)
-
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants (5 months)
-
Borderlands 3 Ultimate Edition (4 months)
-
Vishal: Rampage Edition (6 months)
-
Blacksmith Master (2 months)
-
-
Average monthly addition (without retro classics):
- ultimate: 18
- pc: 17
- Standard/Premium: 13.58
- Core/Essential: 0.83
- Average monthly removal: 10.67
-
Annual catalog size net changes:
- ultimate: +88 games
- pc: +76
- premium: +35 games
- urgent: +10 games
By platform, the vast majority of 2025 Game Pass arrivals were released for both PC and Xbox Series X/S. Aside from PC exclusives, almost every 2025 addition was also made available through Xbox Cloud Gaming. The PC exception is expected because Microsoft's game streaming service runs on custom Series X consoles, making it unable to play PC titles.
