Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Xbox Game Pass adds a little and loses a lot this month

Microsoft revealed the games coming to and leaving Xbox Game Pass this month, and there’s an odd imbalance. Only three new games are announced to be coming to the service throughout the rest of January. Still, we will lose six games on January 15, including last year’s indie hidden gem Nobody Saves the World and We Happy Few, a title from first-party Xbox studio Compulsion Games. 

As for what’s coming to Xbox Game Pass throughout the rest of January, we have three highly anticipated Xbox ports that are day-one launches on the subscription service. Persona 3 Portable and Persona 4 Golden will come to the service on January 19, while Monster Hunter Rise will be added on January 20. All three games will be available across the cloud, console, and PC versions of the service. Meanwhile, the what’s leaving on January 15 list is double the length of what’s being added:

  • We Happy Few
  • Nobody Saves the World
  • Windjammers 2
  • The Anacrusis
  • Pupperazzi
  • Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc

More games will likely leave the service on January 31 as well. So, what caused this somewhat weird month for Xbox Game Pass? Of course, it’s the start of the year, so fewer new games are releasing, and those that get added too early won’t get that much attention during the post-holiday haze. Admittedly, the three games coming in January are all fantastic, so Microsoft might have trimmed the fat to let these three amazing games shine.

If rumors of an Xbox showcase later this month are also true, then it’s possible that this is only the first wave of additions and that there are more games coming that Microsoft doesn’t want to spoil yet. The Xbox Wire post with this announcement does say, “we’re just getting warmed up and we’ll be back soon with more games, more Perks, and more news,” after all. January 2023 is looking like one of Xbox Game Pass’s quietest months in a while. Hopefully, Microsoft can do something to change that before the month is over.

Editors' Recommendations

Tomas Franzese
Gaming Staff Writer
Tomas Franzese is a Staff Writer at Digital Trends, where he reports on and reviews the latest releases and exciting…
Xbox Game Pass adds Madden 22, but loses Titanfall
The Green Bay Packers vs the Minnesota Vikings in Madden NFL 22.

Microsoft revealed on Xbox Wire the Xbox Game Pass titles we can expect in the back half of February. While Total War: Warhammer 3 and Madden NFL 22 are coming to the service, it's an otherwise quiet lineup preceding the removal of some good indie games and the original Titanfall.
Total War: Warhammer III is the latest game in Sega's real-time strategy game series based on the popular board game. The game sits at a score of 87 on review aggregate site Metacritic and is a day one Game Pass title --  but it's only available on the PC version of the service.

The next most notable title is Madden NFL 22. EA's annual football franchise is one of the most popular series in gaming. It will be available through EA Play (an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate bonus) on console and PC.
Outside of that, Xbox Game Pass subscribers can expect a couple of simulation games on console, as well as Alice: Madness Returns on PC and the Mass Effect Legendary Edition on the cloud. Here's the full list of titles joining Xbox Game Pass during the remainder of February: 

Read more
The best video games of January 2022
Pokemon Legends: Arceus male trainer plays Pokeflute

The video game industry has kicked off 2022 with a bang. While Elden Ring was delayed beyond January 2022 and AAA shooter Rainbow Six Extraction was a stinker, plenty of fantastic games still came out in January.

From the most ambitious Pokémon game yet to an indie game that mastered the art of progression, there are five January 2022 games in particular that you should not miss out on.
Pokémon Legends: Arceus

Read more
Xbox Game Pass adds Mortal Kombat 11, loses three Yakuza games
Mortal Kombat 11 character screen featuring Skorpion.

Xbox Game Pass is adding a few more games before 2021 ends. The December batch is headlined by Mortal Kombat 11, Among Us, and indie hit Firewatch. However, the service is also losing three Yakuza games at the end of the year.

Microsoft's subscription service gives players access to a library of downloadable games for a flat monthly fee. It'll add 11 new games between December 15 and 16.

Read more