Skip to main content

Xbox Game Pass new games: what’s new and what’s leaving in April 2023

While Microsoft was been hit with criticism for the Xbox Series X’s slow-growing exclusive lineup — several highly anticipated titles like Bethesda’s Starfield and co-op shooter Redfall have been pushed to later in 2023 — the company is still delivering one of the best deals in gaming: Xbox Game Pass.

Game Pass gives gamers access to a massive library of games that includes throwback hits, brand-new titles on release day, and indie darlings. These games can be played on Xbox consoles, PC, mobile, and even Steam Deck.

New titles are being added to Game Pass every month and others are taken off, similar to how Netflix works, so it’s crucial to stay on top of library changes to make sure you don’t miss out on that title that’s been on your to-play list. Check back toward the end of every month for a complete list of new additions and removals from the Game Pass roster.

Our top pick for April

Minecraft: Legends
Minecraft: Legends
E10
Platforms PC (Microsoft Windows), PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S
Genre Strategy, Arcade
Developer Mojang Studios, Blackbird Interactive
Publisher Xbox Game Studios
Release April 18, 2023
Minecraft Legends is going to be a blast, and we’re lucky that it’ll get a day-one release on Game Pass. It’s a very involved real-time strategy experience with fully voice-acted cutscenes, a procedurally generated open world to explore, and lots of base-building and resource gathering that truly adapts Minecraft’s formula into another storied genre.
Minecraft Legends – Announce Trailer

Everything coming to Game Pass in April

Akito with KK and the neon colors of Tokyo and invading spirits.

April is shaping up to be a fantastic month for Game Pass additions so far. Here’s what’s coming in the first wave:

April 4

  • Loop Hero (console and PC)

April 6

  • Iron Brigade (cloud and console)

April 12

  • Ghostwire Tokyo (cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S)

April 13

  • NHL 23 (console – EA Play)

April 18

  • Minecraft Legends (cloud, console, and PC)

April 20

  • Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly (cloud, console, and PC)
  • Medieval Dynasty (Xbox One)

April 21

  • Homestead Arcana (cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S)

April 26

  • Cassette Beasts (PC)

April 27

  • BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle Special Edition (cloud, console, and PC)
  • The Last Case of Benedict Fox (console and PC)

Everything leaving Game Pass in April

Alex reaching out and using her powers in Life is Strange: True Colors promo art.

Unfortunately, a handful of titles are being removed from Game Pass later this month. No super-popular titles are getting the ax, but we hate to see any games leave.

April 15

  • Life is Strange: True Colors
  • Moonglow Bay
  • Panzer Corps II
  • Rainbow Six Extraction 
  • The Dungeon of Naheulbeuk 
  • The Long Dark
  • The Riftbreaker 

April 30

  • Bugsnax 
  • Destroy All Humans! 
  • Dragon Quest Builders 2 
  • Tetris Effect Connected 
  • Unsouled

Everything new on Game Pass in March

A handful of new titles hit Game Pass in March, most notably Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty and MLB The Show 23.

  • F1 22 (console and PC – EA Play)
  • Guilty Gear – Strive (cloud, console, and PC)
  • Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty (cloud, console, and PC)
  • Dead Space 2 (cloud)
  • Dead Space 3 (cloud)
  • Sid Meier’s Civilization VI (cloud, console, and PC)
  • Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom – The Prince’s Edition (console and PC)
  • MLB The Show 23 (cloud, console, and PC)
  • Infinite Guitars (cloud, console, and PC)

Everything that left Game Pass in March

Star-Lord fights an enemy in Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy.

A total of 15 games were removed from Game Pass throughout March.

  • Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy
  • Undertale
  • Young Souls 
  • Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition 
  • Goat Simulator 
  • F1 2020 
  • Zero Escape: The Nonary Games 
  • Paradise Killer 
  • A Memoir Blue
  • Chinatown Detective Agency 
  • ClusterTruck 
  • Double Dragon Neon 
  • Kraken Academy!! 
  • MLB The Show 22
  • Power Rangers: Battle for the Grid 

Editors' Recommendations

Sam Hill
Sam Hill is a journalist and the gaming guides editor at Digital Trends. He's also written tech guides for Input and has…
Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0’s new update just nerfed the game’s best weapons
Characters on Ashika Island in Warzone 2.0.

Activision has released a new Call of Duty: Warzone 2.0 update that nerfs the game's best long-range weapons: the Cronen Squall and the ISO Hemlock. Specifically, the damage across both weapons has been reduced, making them both less effective in all situations.

The news comes from the battle royale game's latest round of patch notes, which outlines the new changes to the weapons. There are some major implications to those changes, though the updates aren't as devastating as they might initially seem. Here's every tweak that was implemented in the new patch.

Read more
The best gaming PCs for 2023: Dell, Origin, Lenovo, and more
Lenovo Legion Tower 7i gaming PC sitting on a table.

You don't need to build your own computer to get the best gaming PC. While that still provides the best value, brands like Lenovo, Alienware, Acer, and Origin have gotten fiercely competitive in the past few years, and these companies are producing some of the best gaming desktops you can buy.

Our top pick is Lenovo's Legion Tower 7i Gen 8. It comes with the latest CPU and GPU options for Intel and Nvidia, and it's reasonably priced, especially considering is excellent thermal management. Still, we have over half a dozen other picks for different budgets and gaming needs that we identified through our extensive collection of desktop reviews.

Read more
Tribeca Festival 2023 will feature seven games and a Hideo Kojima documentary
Hideo Kojima in an office during the Xbox Bethesda Showcase 2022.

This year's Tribeca Festival will once again feature video games, as well as the debut of Hideo Kojima: Connecting Worlds, a documentary about the famed game developer, and a Q&A with Kojima himself. That's happening alongside the festival's official selection of seven games, which includes titles like Goodbye Volcano High and Stray Gods.
At 5 p.m. ET on June 17 at Spring Studios, Tribeca Games will hold a screening for Hideo Kojima: Connecting Worlds, which is a documentary by Glen Milner and Ben Hilton that delves into Kojima's creative process and tells the story of Kojima Productions. This is its world premiere, and it will be followed by a Q&A where attendees can Kojima whatever they want about the documentary and his experience as a game developer. 
Since 2021, Tribeca Games has been a wider part of the Tribeca Festival celebration, typically highlighting narrative-focused games that are doing new and exciting things, such as American Arcadia, As Dusk Falls, A Plague Tale: Requiem, and Kena: Bridge of Spirits. This year's lineup features seven games, with the headliner being The Expanse: A Telltale Series, the first new episodic adventure game from the revitalized Telltale.

Tribeca is really leaning into featuring this game as well, as it is hosting a panel called Exploring Deep Space: How Telltale and Deck Nine created Expanse Stories in an Interactive Medium, where its developers will discuss the challenges in creating a narrative-focused video game prequel to the popular TV show. Other game selections will be featured in the Tribeca Games Spotlight and have playable demos at Tribeca's Games & Immersive Experience. Tribeca Games 2023's selections also include the following: 

Read more