Xbox Game Pass is Microsoft’s subscription service for Xbox One owners. It’s designed to be like a “Netflix for games,” where you pay a simple monthly rate and get access to loads of games for download. It’s not to be confused with the Xbox Live Gold membership, which gives users a selection of free games each month.
There has been a huge surge in popularity and profile for Xbox Game Pass since its launch, mainly due to the diverse list of games and first-party exlusives on the service. In fact, Microsoft drops new releases from its own internal studios onto the service on day one! Sea of Thieves was the first example of this, followed by State of Decay 2 and Crackdown 3. Since then, the service has seen the day one launch of several other high-profile Xbox exclusives, including Gears 5, The Outer Worlds, and Halo: Reach on the Halo: The Master Chief Collection.
Membership to Xbox Game Pass will set you back $9.99 per month. You can now also get an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription for $1 for the first month and $14.99 every month after that. The subscription includes an Xbox Live Gold membership as well as all of the games offered on Xbox Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass for PC. Plus, with cloud support, you can play a selection of Xbox Game Pass titles on your Android phone. And now you even get access to titles on EA Play, the third-party publisher’s own on-demand service.
New games are added each month to Xbox Game Pass. Here are the latest games coming to the service (with descriptions courtesy of the Xbox team):
Xbox Game Pass: Games for October 2021
Phoenix Point – October 1
A mutating alien menace threatens the last remnants of mankind on an Earth ravaged by the Pandoravirus and it’s up to the Phoenix Project to take the planet back for humanity. The turn-based strategy hit Phoenix Point includes optimizations and changes designed specifically for Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.
Totally Accurate Battle Simulator (Cloud, Console, and PC) – October 5
Totally Accurate Battle Simulator celebrates its full release after a successful run in the Game Preview program! Be the leader of wobblers from ancient lands, spooky places, and fantasy worlds. Watch them fight in simulations made with the wobbliest physics system ever created, make your own wobblers in the unit creator, or send your army off to fight your friends in multiplayer.’
The Procession to Calvary (Cloud, Console, and PC) – October 7
A Pythonesque adventure game in which you journey through a richly detailed landscape built from hundreds of Renaissance paintings. Embark on a quest as an unnamed heroine to hunt down the tyrant Heavenly Peter. Encounter a bizarre cast of characters, perplexing puzzles, and implausible scenarios.
Visage (Cloud, Console, and PC) – October 7
Visage is a first-person psychological horror game. Explore a mysterious ever-changing house in a slow-paced, atmospheric world that combines both uncannily comforting and horrifyingly realistic environments and enjoy a genuinely terrifying experience.
Back 4 Blood (Cloud, Console, and PC) – October 12
Available day one with Xbox Game Pass: Back 4 Blood is a thrilling cooperative first-person shooter from the creators of the critically acclaimed Left 4 Dead franchise. Experience the intense 4 player co-op narrative campaign, competitive multiplayer as human or Ridden, and frenetic gameplay that keeps you in the action.
Destiny 2: Beyond Light (PC) – October 12
A new power is born out of the ancient Pyramid ship above Europa’s frozen frontier, and a dark empire has risen beneath, united under the banner of the Fallen Kell of Darkness, Eramis. Join your fellow Guardians and bring down the empire at any cost – even if it means wielding the Darkness itself.
Ring of Pain (Cloud, Console, and PC) – October 14
Enter the Ring of Pain, a roguelike card crawler where encounters come to you. Each step around the ring is a dire decision. Go for the loot or backstab a creeping horror? Meet strange friends bearing gifts and treasure. Choose your gear wisely to survive and discover secrets.
The Riftbreaker (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) – October 14
Available day one with Xbox Game Pass: You are an elite scientist/commando inside an advanced Mecha-Suit. Enter a one-way portal to a distant planet with the purpose of building up a base that will allow travel back to Earth and further colonization. Build up your base, collect samples and research new inventions to survive.
The Good Life (Cloud, Console, and PC) – October 15
Available day one with Xbox Game Pass: Journalist Naomi Hayward is drowning in debt. Having accepted a request from The Morning Bell newspaper to “uncover the mystery of a small English town,” Naomi finds herself far from her home in New York, in Rainy Woods, known as “the happiest place in the world.”
Dragon Ball FighterZ (Cloud and Console) – October 21
Unleash the ultimate power from within in Dragon Ball FighterZ! Experience epic fights, destructible stages, and famous events ripped from the Dragon Ball anime. Create your team from a huge cast of your favorite characters and battle it out in epic 3v3 fights! This is the fighting extravaganza born from what makes the series so loved and famous.
Echo Generation (Cloud, Console, and PC) ID@Xbox – October 21
Spooky mysteries abound as you lead your ragtag gang to take on monsters and mechs to save your hometown. Unlock unique skills for your party through comic books and prepare for active turn-based battles and boss fights that will keep you on your toes! By the developers of Riverbond, dive into another stunning voxel adventure and face off with the extraterrestrials to find the true meaning of home in Echo Generation.
Everspace 2 (Game Preview) (PC) ID@Xbox – October 21
Everspace 2 is a fast-paced, single-player spaceship shooter featuring meaningful exploration in space and on planets, tons of loot, RPG elements, mining, and crafting. Follow its predecessor’s events and experience the continuation of a thoughtful sci-fi story set in a vivid, handcrafted open world full of secrets, puzzles, and perils!
Age of Empires IV (PC) – October 28
One of the most beloved real-time strategy games returns to glory with Age of Empires IV, putting you at the center of epic historical battles that shaped the world. Featuring both familiar and innovative new ways to expand your empire in vast landscapes with stunning 4K visual fidelity, Age of Empires IV brings an evolved real-time strategy game to a new generation.
Alan Wake’s American Nightmare (Console and PC) – October 28
In this standalone experience, Alan Wake fights the herald of darkness, the evil Mr. Scratch! A thrilling storyline, hordes of creepy enemies, serious firepower, and beautiful Arizona locations, combined with a fun and challenging new game mode make this a must for Alan Wake veterans, and the perfect jumping off point for new players!
Backbone (Console) ID@Xbox – October 28
Raccoon detective Howard Lotor is not a hero. He can barely make rent. And yet he has stumbled across something so massive that it will shake the very fabric of society. Stunning visuals, an evocative soundtrack, and a daring narrative bring a dystopian Vancouver, BC inhabited by animals to life in this highly anticipated, post-noir adventure. Get to it, detective.
Bassmaster Fishing 2022 (Cloud, Console, and PC) ID@Xbox – October 28
Experience the thrill of competitive bass fishing in Bassmaster Fishing 2022! Compete as 10 Elite Series anglers, such as cover star Scott Martin, back-to-back Bassmaster Classic Champion Hank Cherry, or create your own angler to achieve angling immortality by winning the coveted Bassmaster Classic.
Nongunz: Doppelganger Edition (Cloud, Console, and PC) – October 28
A nihilistic action platformer roguelike. Obscure in both gameplay and theme, Nongunz is a riddle that demands sacrifice. Each run sees you parting from a black and white graveyard into an ever-changing gothic dungeon full of nightmares fleshed out of human viscera. Surviving not only requires skill but style.
The Forgotten City (Cloud, Console, and PC) – October 28
Travel 2,000 years into the past and relive the final days of a cursed Roman city, where if one person sins, everyone dies. Only by questioning an intertwined community of colorful characters, cleverly exploiting the time loop, and making difficult moral choices can you hope to solve this epic mystery.