Xbox Game Pass' recent absence ends in 2025 with a whimper rather than a bang

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Xbox Game Pass' The presentation at The Game Awards 2025 gave gamers a look at some of the most popular games currently available on the platform without touching on what the future holds, as none of the games announced at the show are guaranteed to appear on the subscription service. The recent changes to the Xbox Game Pass have brought both positive and negative reactions, although the latter has a much larger number than the former, and neglecting to display any of its upcoming additions can be seen as a sign of difficult times ahead in 2026.

Since its introduction in 2017, Xbox Game Pass has been one of the big selling points for Microsoft's consoles, offering access to hundreds of games for a monthly subscription fee. The service had an estimated 37 million users based on July data, 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.

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The 4 biggest Xbox Game Pass games of 2026 are just the tip of the iceberg

Four major Xbox Game Pass games are on deck for 2026, with many more games expected to join the service next year as well.

Upcoming games for Game Pass

  • Aphelion

  • armatus

  • At the end of fate

  • Oasis

  • Animal of Reincarnation

  • Bistro

  • Revolution of the clock

  • Crowsworn

  • Darkwood 2

  • Densestack!

  • Eco Generation 2

  • corrosion

  • fable

  • Forza Horizon 6

  • Freestyle Football 2

  • Gear of War: E-Day

  • High in life 2

  • danger

  • MIO: Memories in class

  • mixtape

  • Nirvana Noir

  • Nova Roma

  • Outbound

  • Personality 4 Resurrection

  • Planet of the Lana 2: Children of the Leaf

  • Raji: Kali Yuga

  • was replaced

  • Resonance: A Plague Story Legacy

  • Roadside research

  • Sledding game

  • Slit of the hand

  • Snap and grab

  • Subnautica 2

  • Super Meat Boy 3D

  • TCG Card Shop Simulator

  • There are no ghosts in Grand

  • Tropico 7

  • Vampire crawlers

  • Steam World

  • Wildekin

  • Witchbrook

Kicking off about an hour into the Game Awards 2025 main show, a two-minute long hype reel for Xbox Game Pass showcased several games on the subscription service. A hype reel set to Johnny Cash's “(Ghost) Riders in the Sky” follows a cleaning custodian as he wanders through several rooms labeled with the names of top titles, getting into hijinks such as accidentally disabling artificial gravity on a starship. The outside world 2The mud shakes him out Minecraftand holding up a still-moving zombie hand to shake a colleague Call of Duty: Black Ops 7. There are many other references, including a general one for result franchise, which includes a version of the cowboy song used in the video Fallout 76The soundtrack.

5-1 Fallout 76 Adelaide's Lucky Ride by WreckitReneee Adelaide's Lucky Ride by wreckitrenee

But aside from that video, Xbox Game Pass wasn't mentioned much during the show, which might be a problem for some subscribers. In addition, the Hype Reel showcases some special games Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 In Game Pass, which was released as a day-one game, very few of the specific games listed were created under Microsoft-owned brands, indicating the service's reliance on third-party developers and publishers. It is suspected that Grounded 2Which is out in early access and developed by Microsoft-owned studio Obsidian Entertainment, and while Microsoft acquired Bethesda in 2021, it was well after its release. Result 4 In 2015 and Fallout 76 In 2018.

Campaign 33 party

With more games being added to Xbox Game Pass in 2025, there are some indicators that could suggest a troubled road ahead. The subscription service has been receiving a lot of negative feedback from fans since announcing in early October that Xbox Game Pass subscription prices would be increasing, with the Ultimate tier's monthly fee increasing by nearly 50 percent to $29.99. While the announcement came with the arrival of access to 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 multiple sources reported that the pricing change resulted in many subscription cancellations.

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Aside from the lack of presence at the Game Awards, there are about 40 games that have already been announced as Game Pass additions in 2026. This includes two recently confirmed Day One games for Game Pass Ultimate in January. MIO: Memories in class Coming on January 20th Nova Roma Coming out on January 22, though that second title will be available exclusively on PC. Other major sports members look forward to inclusion in 2026 fableThe Hello 1 remake, Forza Horizon 6and Gears of War: E-Day.

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