On June 17th, Call of Duty: Vanguard will be available. As a successor of sorts to Call of Duty: WW2, it sees players embarking on yet another campaign through World War 2, but this time as a special operations task force called – you guessed it – Vanguard. As far as campaigns go in the series, especially over the last five years, it’s pretty decent.

Other additions include EA Sports FC 26 on June 18th and Abyssus, a rogue-lite shooter with support for up to four players in co-op. If you’re looking for a more stressful experience with friends, indie hit RV There Yet? debuts on June 30th for Ultimate, Premium and PC tiers.

As for next month, it kicks off with Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 joining Game Pass Premium on July 2nd. It’s already available for Ultimate and PC subscribers, and while not quite as compelling as the series’ last pair of remakes, there’s still plenty of fun skateboarding action available. On July 6th, all three tiers can look forward to Winds of Arcana: Ruination, a 2.5D Metroidvania that involves venturing through a mysterious world.

And as usual, several titles will leave the service on June 30th. Check them out below:

• Mecha BREAK (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Payday 2 (Console)
• Rise of the Tomb Raider (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Tomb Raider (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Slay the Spire (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Ultimate Chicken Horse (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Unpacking (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Volcano Princess (Cloud, Console, and PC)

June 8th will see two more games joining the service – Solarpunk and Undisputed. While both will be available across PC, cloud and Xbox Series X/S, Undisputed will also be available on handhelds. Solarpunk will be available through Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass, while Undisputed will also be available for Game Pass Premium subscribers.

Persona 5 Royal will be coming to PC, console and cloud on June 9th for Game Pass Premium, Ultimate, and PC subscribers, followed by Beastro for PC, Xbox Series X/S, Cloud, and handheld on June 11th for Game Pass Ultimate and PC subscribers. The same day, Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers on cloud, Xbox Series X/S and PC will also get Frog Sqwad and the Game Preview version of STARSEEKER: Astroneer Expeditions. Finally, Junkster will come to Ultimate and PC subscribers using Xbox Series X/S, PC, Handheld and cloud on June 16th.

Since it’s a part of Game Pass Ultimate, EA Play is also offering an Early Access Trial for its upcoming title, EA Sports UFC 6 for console players on June 12th.

June 15th will see a number of titles leaving the service – Jurassic World Evolution 2, Lost in Random: The Eternal Die, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine – Master Crafted Edition, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge.

While there are quite a few indie titles that are making their debut through Game Pass in this batch, the headliner for many will likely be System Era Softworks’ STARSEEKER: Astroneer Expeditions. The title has been in development for quite some time now, and unlike the original Astroneer, will have an even larger focus on multiplayer gameplay.

October 2025 saw the studio showcasing the gameplay for STARSEEKER: Astroneer Expeditions through a video that came in at almost 17 minutes in length. It also featured creative director Adam Bromell giving some insights into the title.

“With this game, I didn’t want to just make a sequel to Astroneer,” explained Bromell in the video. “This is not Astroneer 2. This is a game that really represents the kind of online sandbox games that I want System Era to be known for, so much so that it is a whole new genre, and it is a whole new title. That game is STARSEEKER: Astroneer Expeditions.”

STARSEEKER: Astroneer Expeditions has been described by the studio as being a “full-blown expedition game”, with its core gameplay emphasizing improvisation and co-operation with other players. The title revolves around players being recruits on an experimental space station – the ESS Starseeker – and setting off on timed missions on different alien worlds under the leadership of the Fronteer Force.

Along with PC and Xbox Series X/S, STARSEEKER: Astroneer Expeditions is also coming to PS5 and Nintendo Switch.

Leenzee’s Souls-like action RPG, now owned by 505 Games’ parent company Digital Bros, is also available for PlayStation Plus Essential subscribers starting today. It follows reports about the dissolution of the core development team and the firing of director/producer Xia Siyuan. Whether the franchise has a future or not, the new owners are wasting no time to ensure more people can play the original.

Mixtape, the next game from The Artful Escape developer Beethoven and Dinosaur, is available on May 7th for Ultimate and PC subscribers. The same tiers will also receive cozy exploration crafting title Outbound on May 11th, followed by Black Jacket and Call of the Elder Gods on May 12th.

Interestingly, Elite Dangerous is also coming to Ultimate and Premium on May 12th, and may be worth checking out for Starfield fans who want deeper space exploration. DOOM: The Dark Ages debuts for Premium on May 14th alongside, at long last, Subnautica 2 on Game Preview for Ultimate and PC subscribers.

Then on May 19th, clear your schedule because Forza Horizon 6 goes live on May 19th for Ultimate and PC subscribers. If you’re subscribed to either and purchase the Premium Upgrade, then you can get early access on May 15th.

Check out all the titles that will be leaving Game Pass on May 15th (and which you can purchase at a 20 percent discount):

• Galacticare (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Go Mecha Ball (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Kulebra and the Souls of Limbo (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Paw Patrol Rescue Wheels: Championship (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Planet of Lana (Cloud, Console, and PC)

Unfortunately, the rumors are true: new entries in the Call of Duty franchise will no longer be added to either tier on day one. Instead, they’ll become available about a year later during the holiday season. There are no changes to current titles, which is good news for all ten people who still enjoy Black Ops 7.

Regarding the changes, Microsoft said, “Our players cover a wide breadth of geographies, preferences, and tastes, so while there isn’t a single model that’s best for everyone, this change responds to a lot of feedback we’ve gotten so far. We’ll continue to listen and learn.”

For starters, the price changes are welcome following Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma reportedly claiming that the service had become too expensive. Of course, discussions have allegedly been brewing about a new tier that only includes first-party titles and a cloud gaming tier with a time limit.

As for Call of Duty, this move makes the most sense, given the sheer amount of revenue generated from game sales. With Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 reportedly out in October and perhaps poised to stir the franchise back in the right direction, you can bet that Microsoft wants to reap as much revenue from it as possible.

While the former two are available for Premium subscribers, the latter launches on day one for Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. On April 23rd, Double Fine Productions’ chaotic arts-and-crafts-meets-competitive-multiplayer title Kiln will be available on the same tiers for Xbox Series X/S and PC. Of course, it’s also coming to PS5 with cross-platform play available.

Aphelion, the latest narrative adventure from DON’T NOD, is available on April 28th for Ultimate and PC Game Pass. Meanwhile, Trepang2 is playable on April 29th for Premium, Ultimate and PC tiers, in case you were missing some F.E.A.R.-style combat in your life.

After an initial delay, Heroes of Might and Magic: Olden Era will launch on April 30th via Game Preview, with Ultimate and PC subscribers receiving access. It’s accompanied by Sledding Game, a relaxing snow-sports title that’s meant for friends (and even offers proximity voice chat), and TerraTech Legion, a “bullet heaven builder” where you fight off waves of robots by creating an increasingly powerful block-based vehicle.

If that wasn’t enough, next month kicks off with the addition of Final Fantasy 5 on May 5th. It won’t be long before the entire franchise is officially available on Game Pass, which is incentive enough to sign up.

Check out all the games leaving on April 30th. It’s a fairly long list, so either dive into them today or pick them up for 20 percent off:

• Citizen Sleeper (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Creatures of Ava (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2 (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Endless Legend 2 (PC)
• Goat Simulator (Cloud and Console)
• Goat Simulator Remastered (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Hunt Showdown 1896 (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• NHL 24 (EA Play) (Cloud and Console)
• Revenge of the Savage Planet (Cloud, Console, and PC)

“Game Pass is central to gaming value on Xbox. It’s also clear that the current model isn’t the final one. Short term, Game Pass has become too expensive for players, so we need a better value equation. Long term, we will evolve Game Pass into a more flexible system, which will take time to test and learn around,” says the memo.

While Sharma didn’t outline any immediate plans, she will allegedly “go deeper” with employees next week. Interestingly, “online chatter” about Game Pass potentially changing its pricing is something she’s apparently aware of.

Game Pass came under fire last October when Microsoft announced a revamp of the tiers and increased the price of Ultimate to $30 monthly. It also revealed that Premium, the second-highest tier, would receive Xbox-published titles within a year of launch (excluding new Call of Duty titles).

Microsoft has allegedly explored other options for the service, such as removing Call of Duty as a day one launch (which could happen this year). A subscription could be offered for cheap, thus fulfilling Sharma’s purported goal of better value. There may be some substance to the Triton tier recently unearthed by dataminers, which reportedly includes only first-party Xbox games.

Whether that means new Call of Duty games will be included in a brand new tier or removed entirely remains to be seen. As for the next game in the series, it’s allegedly Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 and launching in October.

Windows Central’s Jez Corden noted this on The Xbox Two Podcast when responding to a user who said the company may prioritize “more niche and PC focused” ventures for the next generation. “Maybe. I mean, it’ll be interesting to see if they take Call of Duty out of Game Pass this year, which is a possibility from what I’ve heard.”

While Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (alongside Indiana Jones and the Great Circle) earned $465 million for Xbox in December 2024, the latter also reportedly gave up over $300 million in sales. We don’t know the impact of Game Pass on Call of Duty sales in 2025, or whether price increases managed to mitigate any potential losses.

However, the latest entry likely did enough damage on its own, thanks to the awful campaign and generally stale quality. Such was the debacle it caused Activision to commit to no longer releasing Modern Warfare and Black Ops sequels back-to-back.

Of course, most likely due to the free-to-play Warzone, Call of Duty was one of the most top-played titles in 2025. Time will tell if that fact has an impact on the next mainline title remaining on Game Pass or not.

The latter are already available through Ultimate and PC Game Pass but are now playable in the Premium tier. Planet Coaster 2 arrives on April 9th, followed by Tiny Bookshop on April 10th. Both games will be playable for all three subscription tiers. Meanwhile, Football Manager 26 and its Console release join Premium on April 13th.

April 14th is big for new releases with the addition of Hades 2, which also launches day-and-date on Xbox Series X/S and PS5, and Replaced, the long-awaited 2.5D side-scrolling cyberpunk platformer. If neither is to your liking, there’s also The Thaumaturge, an underrated narrative-focused RPG. Meanwhile, April 16th sees the arrival of The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered for Premium and EA Sports NHL 26 on Ultimate and PC Game Pass.

Oddly enough, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, the 2019 reboot, will also be available for all three tiers, followed by Little Rocket Lab, Sopa: Tale of the Stolen Potato, and Vampire Crawlers (based on the uber-popular Vampire Survivors) on April 21st. Double Fine’s Kiln wraps up the first wave on April 23rd, launching for Ultimate and PC Game Pass. Its open beta is set for April 9th to 11th on Steam, so there’s plenty of time to try it out for free.

Check out all the games that will be leaving on April 15th:

• Ashen (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Grand Theft Auto 5 (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• My Little Pony: A Zephyr Heights Mystery (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Terra Invicta (Game Preview) (PC)

It features a mission where the player (and their twin) return to Pinkwater 4 station, where they meet Zafar (who later joins as a mechanic). The latter is a teammate who can provide support even when not actively in your squad. As with Owlcat’s previous games, choices will have consequences. Xbox Wire promises that the beta is “no exception,” but suffice to say that it will have an impact on others.

A wide variety of weapons are also available to try out, including pistols, SMGs, snipers and whatnot, but you can also utilize different gadgets like a zero gravity grenade or even deploying small drones to assail enemies. Cover is also important, although, as showcased in the trailer, it can crumble after taking too much damage.

Alongside Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC, The Expanse: Osiris Reborn will be available on Game Pass Ultimate day one and even supports Xbox Play Anywhere.

On March 24th, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth will finally be added to the service for Ultimate, Premium and PC subscribers. Guard Crush Games’ Absolum follows on March 25th, which also marks the acclaimed rogue-lite beat ’em up’s debut on Xbox Series X/S.

Nova Roma, a city-building title from Lion Shield, will premiere in Game Preview for Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers, coinciding with its early access release. Survival crafting fans can look forward to The Long Dark becoming available on March 30th for Premium, PC, and Ultimate. Finally, Resident Evil 7: biohazard will be playable on March 31st, joining the Resident Evil Village.

But wait, there’s more. Barbie Horse Trails kicks off next month alongside Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, the latter finally available to Premium subscribers. If that wasn’t enough, Square Enix’s march to include every single mainline Final Fantasy title on Game Pass seemingly continues with Final Fantasy 4 on April 7th.

Surprisingly, only two games will be leaving the service on March 31st. Check them out below:

• Peppa Pig World Adventures (Cloud, Console, PC)
• Mad Streets (Cloud, Console, PC)