Just One Game Is Confirmed For Xbox Game Pass In March 2025 So Far

They’re leaning way too hard on first party titles.

PS+ gets lost records. Not to mention it had animal well.

Game Pass meanwhile: …

I reckon we will get that CoD campaign that's been circling. But I'd love some Skylanders from ABK.

@jesse_dylan ?? We've got coming, and had, countless day one third party games...

So excited for Atomfall so if that is all they have i'm good.

@Kaloudz It's been slower and has been pretty focused on more mainstream stuff, far less indie, plus a lot of bargain bin AAA (Far Cry comes to mind). It comes and goes in waves, I realize, but lately, the selection has been like if a random friend's 13 year-old brother was picking the games.

@jesse_dylan I think the report saying that since Microsoft bought Activision many publishers don’t want to get on board with Game Pass had some truth in it, we’re seeing it already, wouldn’t be surprised if EA decided to remove EA Play from GP Ultimate too.

But tbh, I’d be fine if Game Pass ended up with only first-party games, maybe it would be more sustainable that handing out huge payouts to bring games to the service and their 30+ studios in MS gaming is enough to sustain it.

@IOI Yeah, it all changed with the buyout...

The problem with first-party is there isn't enough variety. They have to pad it out somehow, either like they're doing with a lot of Sega/Atlus/indie, or something else. They need Japanese games, and they need nerdy Japanese games, not just Ninja Gaiden.

I think they're doing their best and are doing well. Whether it's sustainable, I don't know! Game Pass is their focus though.

They'll keep improving, but it's definitely been weird since it became a call of duty machine. It's a fine line, but they have to continue courting many different niches at the same time as they court the magical "mainstream" that everyone wants.

@jesse_dylan I mean...

https://www.purexbox.com/guides/xbox-game-pass-in-2025-the-full-list-of-everything-announced-so-far

That alone (and that's just what's been announced already - not including announcements yet to come, both month by month and games to be announced at events) is impressive enough.

And then there's an amazing first party lineup for just the first part of the year.

@Kaloudz Yeah, if it's stuff you're interested in. There are definitely a few I've got my eye on, but it's not like it was in past years for me.

Other people are probably happier than they were in past years. The shift has definitely been away from more niche/indie/Japanese stuff, as we've shifted toward CoD and more stuff along those lines.

Hope fully there's a lot more coming in the pipeline that aren't announced yet.

A lot of the games have also been kind of mid lately. I have no issue with that, if it's something I'm interested in, but if I'm already not interested, and it turns out mid besides, I play other stuff, and Game Pass feels a bit devalued in my mind.

@jesse_dylan Meanwhile gets Xbox gets Atomfall?!?! I’d take that over Lost Records any day.

Then we’re having Avowed, just had Eternal Strands, Sniper Elite Resistance, Citizen Sleeper 2 and Ninja Gaiden 2 Black. Seven new day one games in January alone isn’t slowing down.

PS+ only gets new games every few months and is stuffed with older games you can get for pennies on the dollar.

GP had been amazing lately and with all that’s coming this year, even better things to come!

@awp69 The last two years with GPU have been pretty amazing. This year has been weak for me personally so far. Citizen Sleeper 2 is great. And I'll probably like Avowed, but a lot of the games you list are kinda mid (including Avowed in some opinions).

I might even like Atomfall, but it's not my usual preferred genre (more FPS...), and it could turn out to be pretty mid too. I appreciate the variety, but when there are so many great games, it's hard to devote time to stuff that isn't as great.

You can paint it however you like, @Kaloudz, but if you look at quantity alone, then Game Pass had fewer titles released on to it in 2024 than in 2023, and had fewer titles in 2023 than it did in 2022.

Are we getting some really good games still? Yes, probably at least one a month. Did we have more than that in 2022? Absolutely we did. The Service has suffered in the past two years no matter how you look at it. Personally I believe the bubble burst a couple of years back, and I seem to recall there being a report sometime last year that said that developers were less inclined now to put their games on to a Service (that goes for PlayStation too, though they have suffered slightly less). I think part of the reason that was cited by the developers was the smaller install base on the Xbox as one reason why they were more hesitant to put games on the Game Pass, which to my mind means the Service is likely to suffer even worse this year, and worse still next. My prediction is that within 5 years the Service will end, or at least become first-party only, but that will only work if there is a corresponding drop in the monthly cost, which I just struggle to see Microsoft doing.

I get people are excited about CoD, or Indiana Jones, or Avowed, or indeed all of them, but if you have no interest in playing them, then Microsoft may as well stick a potato on the Service for all they're worth. I, as an example, have not played either of the first two above, and am uncertain as to whether I will play Avowed. So, is the Service good value to me...?

@Fiendish-Beaver GamePass may have peaks and valleys but it still has outstanding months. Just in January we had 7 Day One third party games including Eternal Strands, Sniper Elite: Resistance, Citizen Sleeper 2 and Ninja Gaiden Black 2.

Have you looked at what is coming to GamePass this year? It’s a mind blowing list with WAY more than just first party.

https://www.purexbox.com/guides/xbox-game-pass-in-2025-the-full-list-of-everything-announced-so-far

Third party includes Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Ninja Gaiden 4, Mixtape, 33 Immortals, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, Hollow Knight : Silksong (hopefully) and many, many more. The service is not going to “suffer” this year, it’s going to explode.

To act like all there is to look forward to is first party titles is incredibly disingenuous.

I’m stoked about this year’s lineup more than I ever have been for GamePass with so many great games coming.

If you want to drop the service, that’s your call. I’ll be excited with what’s coming this year and saving money on games I would have been buying.

@Fiendish-Beaver @jesse_dylan That's the equivalent of counting how many gifts you get one Christmas to the next. Quantity does not equate to quality, but let's look; January 2023 (11 games) January 2024 (12 games) January 2025 (12 games) - and as @awp69 points out, seven of them are day one third party.

Sure, the service has it's ups and downs. It's been that way, despite what a few folks think, since the dawn of the service. But looking at last year, and looking to what comes this year, it's ridiculous to argue against the value of it. It's nothing about quantity, either, the old saying is quality over quantity, and if you look at the slate for 2025, it's a weak argument to suggest that Game Pass is not going to deliver in spades.

And the games in that extensive list linked above are only the ones that we know about. There's another 21 bi-weekly reveals yet to come, and that's not to mention the games that will undoubtedly get revealed at upcoming events.

Hell, the Developer Direct only revealed the first half of 2025 and even the games off the back of that make it worth it and more, let alone the countless third party games coming along with, later, and beyond. Xbox Game Pass is outstanding, and it's only going from strength to strength. It's certainly not floundering by any stretch of the imagination.

@Adidas3590 Not sure what you’re smoking but 99% of the games each month are not under $20.

Ninja Gaiden Black 2 - $50
Sniper Elite Resistance - $50
Eternal Strands - $40
Citizen Sleeper 2 - $25
Orcs Must Die Deathtrap - $30

Those five were all Day One in January and that isn’t even all of them!

You do you but it ABSOLUTELY is delivering for me.

@awp69 @ Who Cares abt those games. & thats prices Digitally. They def dont cost that much at used stores near me. I have OVER 300 games that cost Under 500 bucks tottal, some day 1. GPU is OVER $300 a year. Ppl that work for a living grt to play what 1 game a month. thats Not value. If they play an open world game it could take a good 3 to 6 mos to beat. i dont want some stupid COD wannabe shooter let alone Cod, booring., Or a cliche fighting game. They are lit appealing to males While ignoring half of gamers are female. Idk what ur smoking to pretend value is high when they are lit providing LESS service for a HIGHER price & with Reduced rewards. Thats Called worse quality!

Atomfall looks like a good time, I get British fallout vibes lol although the Teen rating has me a little concerned. I hope it plays as well as it looks cuz it looks pretty good.

@Kaloudz I'm right there with you, gamepass ultimate is by far the BEST value in gaming, pint blank period. The fella arguing with you is either a PlayStation fanboy or is purposely trying to get a rise because he says everything released in the last 18 months or so has been "mid AF" which is absolutely ridiculous. We've gotten some many spectacular games added that it's not even funny. From incredible games like Diablo lV, AC Origins, AC Odyssey, AC Valhalla, COD MW3, The Outer Worlds, Control Ultimate Edition, Skyrim Special edition, Dead Island 2, Dead space, Doom Eternal, Far Cry 6, Forza Horizon 5, Gears of War series, Halo Series and MANY, MANY others.

We even got incredible DAY ONE releases; Persona 3, High on Life, Age of Empires lV, Lies of P, Black Ops 6, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, Ninja Gaiden Black, Starfield, Hellblade 2, Palworld, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, and Stalker 2 and MANY more I can't even think of at the moment.

Needless to say, Xbox Gamepass Ultimate is unmatched when it comes to the best gaming library for you buck. Not only do you get access to hundreds of great games, there's backwards compatible Xbox One and 360 games in the mix, plus you get Xbox cloud gaming which allows you to play so many amazing games anywhere you are on almost any device you own & now we even get the ability to stream games we own that aren't even available on gamepass which is another fantastic perk, and any game that's on the service that you want you buy you get a 20% discount for being gamepass subscribers.

TLDR; that guy has to be a troll because he has ZERO argument lol gamepass ultimate is by far the BEST value in gaming. It really puts Xbox on another level. Happy gaming ✌️

I decided to pre order Atomfall to support the Devs and play a little early but I am glad it is coming to Gamepass too. 2025 is shaping up to have some great Gamepass additions.

@Adidas3590 What are you even on about? None of that made any sense lol. MS are chasing away female gamers because Call of Duty is on the service? Females only like story driven games, indie, and animated games? I could name dozens that are on the service. You yourself may not like some games on the service, but that doesn't mean that your voice stands on behalf of the whole female demographic.

I should speak to a female? I'm nearly 20 years married... So, yeah. Not sure what you're getting at there. Barely any Capcom games on the service? Monster Hunter Rise (day one) Kunitsu-Gami (day one) Exoprimal (day one), Resident Evil 3, Resident Evil 2... Need I continue?

I'm not sure what you're getting at in anything that you said to me, assuming both comments were aimed at me, they're unfounded and completely nonsensical.

@Master_Cthulhu70 I know right? Literally everything you said hit the nail on the head. I've never, in decades of gaming, played more since being subscribed to Game Pass. There's also so many games I have played, that I never normally would have tried, that I've tried and loved on Game Pass.

The service is the best in the market, and it's not even close. It's lightyears beyond any other service of the same ilk, and the amount of money folks save because of it is unreal. What's funny is that I would stake my life on it that the majority of those that slate it, probably get to play (at least first party) games that they never would have tried to begin with. It's ridiculous to argue against its value. Period.

I never said anything about there only being first-party titles, @awp69. Not at all. I did say that I can see the Service going that way, but we're not there yet. Give it a few years though, and I'm sure we will.

As for the list of announced games, @Kaloudz, the list looks impressive, until you notice that first off, half the games on there do not have a release date, and are only slated for release this year, and could easily be pushed back. Many on them are for the PC, and then many of them are for Core. If you take games with release dates, and coming to console, the list is far, far smaller. Regardless, from the list (with release dates) the only ones I'm interested in right now are Expedition 33, and South of Midnight. The only other one is Doom: The Dark Ages, but I have already purchased the Collector's Edition of that game, so won't be playing it on the Game Pass anyway. Also, I would have bought the Collector's Edition of Expedition, but unfortunately it sold out before I had chance to get it. And that is my point; the Service is only as much value as you personally get out of it. I actually don't recall the last game that I played on it, despite having been signed up from the very beginning, and still having another 2 years of GPU to run. I buy most of my games, and truth be told, I would probably have saved money just buying Expedition and SoM were it not for the fact that I play Gears 5 every weekend (a game I own, by the way), and I need the online access component.

My point remains though, we are getting far fewer games each month now than we used to, yet the Service costs more. The peak of Game Pass was probably 2021 and 2022, though I absolutely accept that there will be far more first-party titles coming this year than at any time before.

@jesse_dylan gamepass has been great lately. STALKER 2, Indy, Avowed, Call of Duty and of course, Indy. All of them bangers. There have been times to complain about it, but now isn’t one of them.

Atomfall looks very good.

@Fiendish-Beaver They literally announced doom, expedition, atomfall dates, dropped NG2 right away and we knew about avowed already.
The rest have a release window for 2025 - a common practice in the industry. Did you watch state of play? We dont a have a single release date for any sony game so far.

Now the GP. If you are not interested in the game selection provided - thats on you. Its not hard to add older 3rd party games that costs nothing on any sale but 2025 looking like a biggest year so far as it gives you 1st and 3rd party big $50-70 games on a release. Thats just crazy value.

I just dont understand it. No one other sub service does like GP. If you want to lock yourself into a specifix publisher - EA play or UBi+. If you want just online with some dlc - nintendo.
If you want some random older games with rare indy on a release date, without any logic or system how games come into service - PS plus.

If you are physical collector or prefer to buy games - thats cool and you just dont need a sub at all. Its does not mean its bad or underperforming lol

1 game confirmed for Game Pass "Ultimate".
They could make Game Pass Core a bit more interesting, I preferred the times of XBox live gold with 4 free games per month.

@Fiendish-Beaver than you can do it like me, not supporting Ultimate, go with Core, if you like to play online and just buy every game.

That's what I will be doing, @Nintendo4Sonic. For me I think that is the best solution. Unfortunately, I stacked GPU in 2022 when it was at it's peak as I didn't foresee the Service losing its lustre. My GPU is good for another 2 years right now, so at the moment I'm buying my games, but not really using Game Pass for anything other than playing online. But the way you are doing it is I think the right way right now...

I'm not sure Avowed is for me, @Millionski, and as I said the only games I am interested in that has been announced thus far are Expedition and South of Midnight are the only games that I may end up playing on the Service. I've already spent £199.99 buying Doom, so I won't be using the Service there, and would have bought Expedition if it had not already sold out.

Everything is subjective, matey. Absolutely everything. From the people you like, to the cars you drive, to the hobbies you enjoy. Gaming is no different. I think last year ended with a boost for the Service in respect of Indiana Jones, and CoD in particular, despite the fact that I have not played either of them. And, as I said in my first comment, I do think that from a first-party perspective the Service will be giving more than it did in both 2023 and 2024. Indeed, from a first-party perspective alone, it will be the best year ever for Game Pass, if all you look at are the headlines. However, if I look at what games are coming I see very few that actually interest me. I did initially think that I may like Atomfall, but the more that I have seen of it, the less I think I will enjoy it. I have a feeling that it will have very middling reviews, with a less than engaging storyline. A good premise, poorly executed is the way I see it turning out. But we will see.

As I say, everything is subjective. Some people live and breath football, others have no interest in it whatsoever, and that is how I feel about the majority of the games announced so far. It doesn't mean you are right, or that I am wrong. We just have differing opinions, which is fine.

There are people within these forums that love their PlayStations, and despise Xbox, there are others that prefer their Xboxes, which I count myself among. Indeed, I haven't turned my PS5 on for approaching a year now since I finished Stellar Blade. However, my Xbox is used every single day. I'm by no means an Xbox fanboy, but I do much prefer Xbox to PlayStation. That is a subjective opinion, and it is the same for Game Pass...

You have to wonder whether the reason that Microsoft have been so slow to put the AB games on to Game Pass is so that they can insert them during the months that there are fewer games coming on to the Service. The rate they are coming is appallingly slow, and there has to be a reason. There is a huge back catalogue they could be adding, but aren't. Games that are years old and won't be selling in any sort of significant quantities, and which could be released at a much greater cadence than they are at present. I struggle to understand the rationale that Microsoft are utilising right now, as they could have been adding at least a couple of games each week without hurting sales, but which would potentially be something that may attract people to the Service. Beats me what Microsoft are up to...

@Casco as I keep saying, it depends what you’re into. I really liked all the indies and RPGs that game pass was stacking for a while.

I have zero interest in call of duty and felt a shift once this became the call of duty service. Stalker launched buggy asf (and is another fps at its core). I’m sure I’ll enjoy avowed, but it’s not quite what I’d hoped. Indy was fine, but I’m not as wild about it as some are.

Like I said it depends what a person is into. I came into GPU when for whatever reason it was bringing endless indies and a lot of RPGs. There was a lot more variety.

@Fiendish-Beaver yeah, the Game Pass Ultimate is like an illusion. When we could just buy a year of gold and transform it to Ultimate, it was like: why not.
But now, it's expensive and lot of people are paying for more than can use out of it.
It's a "pay the whole time" circle and if you quit it, you have nothing.
I really prefer buying games, it's not always day 1, I just bought Indiana Jones.
Most of my games are on disc. No one tells me, when a game isn't available anymore and I'm in no subscription rush.
I like it that way.

While the value is definitely there with Game Pass no doubt, you do have to recognize that it has to do with what games you want to play. Not everyone will be interested with the games on the service. For some people it might be cheaper buying those few games they are interested in separately. And that will always be the case.

For example, if these are the games you want to play this year: GTA6, AC Shadows, Monster Hunter Wilds, Death Stranding 2, Phantom Blade Zero, Ghost of Yotei, Like a Dragon, Split Fiction, Elden Ring Nightreign, Tides of Annihilation, Metal Gear Delta, then subscribing to Game Pass would not help you out.

Yes, Game Pass is good value. But some of the best games of the year, like the once mentioned above are not going to the service, so you will still have to buy those separately, on top of the $240 a year subscription.

What i’m trying to say is yes, the service holds a lot of value. But whether it’s valuable to someone will always be different based on personal circumstance. So there will always be a debate with people arguing both sides.

For some, it will the best service ever. And for others it might be like a Netflix subscription they hardly use, because they’re into shows not available on that streaming platform.

There's no question that the variety and sheer numbers of GP releases have gotten smaller in the last two/three years, but with the internal studios starting to hit their stride, many of the titles are 'big- hitters'. It's therefore going to be down to personal taste as to what you get from the service, but for those that consume it all - there's no question they are eating well.
I can't stand most 1st person shooters for instance, so I get no value from COD in the slightest and tried Stalker 2 and truly hated almost everything about it.
However, I wanted to play Indy and I've been waiting for a long time to play Avowed, so I bought back in after Indy's release and will keep it a few more months as this is cheaper than buying both those titles. I will then drop it as £180 a year is too much for a lot of the titles it offers FOR ME. Everyone's equation will be different, but if I'm only playing 3 or 4 titles a year (I play many of the smaller games on the 'other' service), then I'd rather buy the titles outright and own them.

For anyone not subbed to another service, especially if they like FPS games, then GP is clearly a great deal. For me , not so much, but it's more than good enough that I can jump in for a few months when titles I do like are included..

I can see GP having less and less Third Party games as they are replaced with First Party from the studios they now own, and it would make sense. If they slower filter it down to first party then they get it to a point where GP can be made available for all platforms, and the perk of it on Xbox is just some additional functionality.

@Adidas3590 Lol you pay $300 a year for Game Pass?!?! Who's ripping you off? Or is math just hard?

@Rog-X yeah right, I know that. I also bought my present Core subscription on a different site.
But right now, when moving from Core to Ultimate, you're losing half of your rest time. So it's not worth it for me anymore. Of course it's still better than paying full Ultimate every month.