Five Games Are Confirmed For Xbox Game Pass In December 2026 So Far

Looking forward at what's to come

by Craig Reid
3 hours ago

We've made a habit of casting our gaze ahead and sharing with you an early look at what's in store for December 2026's Xbox Game Pass lineup. So far, we know of five games scheduled to arrive in a few weeks' time.

Our highlight of the bunch is probably A Game About Digging A Hole Together. On the surface it might not seem like the biggest game, but the more you dig down, the better. At least that was the case with the single-player version of the game. This one is co-op!

It's worth mentioning that Dumpster Gang is indeed coming to Xbox Series consoles in March, but will be launching onto PC Game Pass December 3. Then of course, expect to see plenty more games added to December's offering over the coming weeks.

So, without any further ado, here's what's confirmed for Xbox Game Pass in December 2026 so far:

Hela: Of Mice & Magic - Series X|S, PC, Cloud (December 1)

See the world through the eyes of a brave little mouse in this enchanting 3D co-op adventure. Explore breathtaking landscapes inspired by Northern Sweden, solve puzzles, and be a force for good in a land where heartwarming storytelling and the beauty of nature intertwine.

Dumpster Gang - PC (December 3)

Play as a gang of mischievous raccoons in this chaotic co-op sandbox for 1-4 players. Complete ridiculous missions, steal everything you can carry, and outsmart a relentless Exterminator determined to throw your gang behind bars.

Freestyle Football 2 - Series X|S, PC, Cloud (December 3)

Freestyle Football 2 is a fast-paced, 5v5 match-based online multiplayer soccer game. Each position has a unique role, and you'll utilize a variety of strategies and skills to achieve victory with your team. Stylish play and unique characters transform the pitch into a stage.

A Game About Digging A Hole Together - Series X|S, PC, Cloud (December 4)

A minimalist game about digging a hole at the beach, now with friends. Dig together, collect resources, sell them, upgrade your equipment and search for a promised treasure buried deep beneath the sand.

There Are No Ghosts At The Grand - PC Early Access (December TBD)

Inherit a crumbling English hotel and restore it by day - while battling ghosts by night. With a sardonic cat, a talking power tool, and a twisting supernatural plot, this is a musical mystery unlike any other. Will you be able to hold it together while everything around you falls apart?

Which of these confirmed XGP titles for December are you most excited for? Tell us in the comments!

Craig is a Staff Writer and former Video Producer at Pure Xbox, where he covers the biggest games in the world of Xbox.

1
AI-Generation
3 hours ago

See everyone says about games pass is not good for Xbox and they should take out day one Xbox studio releases.

My preference is NO keep Xbox studio day one releases and get rid of everything else from all the other studios and publishers and indie games. Most of it all a load of old tosh or old games.

Keep game pass ultimate as the all XBOX studio games day one including COD only and get rid of the hang on filler stuff.

See I’m in on Gamepass ultimate for the XBOX studio day one game releases and don’t really care about any of the other dregs they bring on board.

GAME-PASS ULTIMATE.
ALL XBOX STUDIO GAMES DAY ONE ONLY
and they stay there forever.

2
RiverGenie
3 hours ago

Nothing for me here but December (& probably several more months) will be all about Path of Exile 2 v1.0 release so I am not that bothered.

3
mac_da_man
2 hours ago

I’ll try Hela, looks cosy with the kids

4
Fiendish-Beaver
1 hour ago

How does Path of Exile 2 compare to Baldur's Gate 3, @RiverGenie. For me BG3 is the best game ever made, but I am keen to find something that is similar. Is PoE2 fully voice acted? And lastly, do I need to have played the first game to enjoy the second? Indeed, is the first game worth playing and fully voice acted (so not quite lastly!)...?

5
Dangerdude
1 hour ago

@AI-Generation

I actually find the indie picks for Game Pass are actually really well done, they're usually something I'd never heard of and I don't get excited when they're announced but when I try them a lot of them end up being great games.

Most recently I really enjoyed Well Dweller, Black Jacket, Monsters are Coming!, Thronefall, Sandustry, The Planet Crafter and My Friendly Neighborhood.

Now that I've been on Game Pass a while the curation of good indie games is actually just as valuable to me as first party releases.

6
Fiendish-Beaver
1 hour ago

The only problem with your suggestion that I can really see, @AI-Generation, is whether there will be enough new content to keep people subscribed, or will we just see people wait for 2 or 3 new releases, take out a months subscription, and then do the same 6 months later? In other words, I really don't think that Xbox releases enough games to keep people subscribed for a full year at a time. Now, I guess one solution would be to force people to take out a full years subscription at a time, and do away with paying monthly, but I don't think that would go down well, otherwise how would you stop people from just cancelling their subscriptions after a month?

Also, if Ultimate were to go with your idea, what would happen with Premium (where it is now rumoured that most people are subscribed too)? If Microsoft went with your idea, they would effectively have to get rid of Premium, and just have Ultimate and Essential, which I assume would be filled with old first-party games (as well as offering online gaming).

The issue is that Ultimate has to both be affordable to the consumer, and also turn a profit for Microsoft, and I don't really see a way for Microsoft to do that with your suggestion.

For me, the only solution is to do away with day one first-party games on Game Pass, and double down on day one third-party games. That way Xbox studios can properly earn their revenue, and Game Pass would be much the same as PlayStation Plus (which is very popular).

I do think something has to change though because if things stay as is, then we will just see a continuation of what we have seen this year; game cancellations, job losses, and studio closures. Basically, no matter what is decided, something drastic has to happen...

7
Schonks
41 mins ago

@Fiendish-Beaver PlayStation Plus is just old games you would of bought long ago if you actually wanted to play them, Sony are making a fortune whilst giving little back, they are the ones who should be doing the changing, with something like at least One Day One indie game a month on so called Premium.

There is a lot of people who buy a PS plus subscription because they have no choice if they want cloud saves, those same cloud saves are Free on Xbox and PC so they work very well together like when playing Xbox you can carry on where you left off on PC etc.

8
AI-Generation
40 mins ago

@Fiendish-Beaver
See if they took day one releases of GPU, they would loose me. As you know I’m there for those big AAA studios games.
FH6, gears e day, Fable etc.
Also Xbox is good and gives cloud saves for free no membership required. Which is the only one of the big three that do.

9
RiverGenie
3 mins ago

@Fiendish-Beaver Sorry this will be a long post.

For PoE 2 you need to think more towards Diablo 2 rather than BG3 both in terms of story expectations & game play (with poe 2 leaning more towards the harder end of the difficulty curve and with a slower pace.)

For most folks who play PoE 2 the story is a necessary evil you get through to create your character build & start to collect the loot you need to make it work. The story is a means to an end rather than a focus with the ultimate goal being to kill end game bosses & perfect your build.

PoE 2 is a pretty time intensive game and can be quite intimidating to begin with as it has a lot you need to get your head around. Some things are not that intuitive though it does a better job than og PoE in that regard.

It is voice acted and no you don't need to play the the first one. PoE 2 will be free to play on its 1.0 launch (11th December) so it won't cost anything to check it out.

As for the original PoE while I have over a thousand hours in it I wouldn't recommend folks play it if you haven't tried it before or are not prepared to put in hundreds of hours (not an exaggeration)

The original PoE launched in 2013 and has had constant updates and systems added since then. It is quite a tangled mess to penetrate and figure out even just basic stuff at this point (a lot of which is hidden from players in game.) Its not impossible obviously but its not something anyone will suss out in a week.

Personally i would suggest try PoE 2 first as it does a better job at easing you in. If you enjoy the game play maybe try og poe at some point if you fancy a headache.

Hope that helps / makes sense.

10
somnambulance
1 min ago

Is Ghosts at the Grand actually coming this year for sure? I don’t know that I’d sub for it, but rather would purchase it if it’s solid. The game reminds me of the types of games that I was playing back in 2014-2016 when I was having a hard time having interest in gaming and walking sim-ish games just really kept me just enough into the hobby while AAA games were pushing me away.

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