Talking Point: How Would You Feel If Xbox Actually Dropped Day One Games? 1
Image: Pure Xbox

There was a hefty rumour swirling around yesterday, claiming that Xbox Game Pass could drop new day one releases in early 2027. It's the sort of rumour that's hard to ignore as an Xbox-focused site, even despite the shaky nature of it.

It's common knowledge at this point that Microsoft is experimenting with Xbox Game Pass. We've seen this in recent months, with price reductions, new membership discounts, and Cloud Gaming time caps. So, it's not the longest stretch to think this rumour could eventually have some truth to it.

It should be noted, however, that according to Windows Central's sources, "there's no current plan to remove day one games as a feature of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in totality", but they do acknowledge that "changes are coming" to Game Pass in some form.

Even Xbox commented on the claim, stating that they "don't have any changes to announce today or plans that have been finalized" and that "there are no changes to previously announced games coming to Game Pass Ultimate on day one". It's a bit of a non-answer, as you might expect, but it did get me thinking about Xbox Game Pass and whether I'd be happy if this hypothetical future without day one titles turned out to be true.

As it stands, Gears of War: E-Day, Fable, and Persona 4 Revival are the only day one releases I'm fussed about, and that have already been announced. That said, I was keen to try Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 out for the campaign, but Activision has already announced its plans to delay the inclusion of all future CoD games on Game Pass. Which means I'll likely never play it, or just wait the time it takes to join the service - and I'm fine with that.

Even though I'm likely to review Gears: E-Day, I've already pre-ordered my physical copy alongside the fancy limited edition controller, and I plan on picking up the other two mentioned when the time comes. Disc-based media is more important to me as ever right now, and Xbox's disc-to-digital feature kicks so much ass that I simply want to buy more discs just to build my physical and digital library side by side.

To that end, I'm starting to question whether I'd actually miss day one releases if they weren't on Xbox Game Pass immediately - and I don't think I would. Instead, I'd love to see XGP become a more affordable catalogue of games that I wouldn't necessarily consider buying as soon as they're announced.

I bought into Xbox as a kid in the 2000s, and I'm still invested in Microsoft's gaming ecosystem today. I'm already sold on their first party titles like Halo, Gears, Forza, and Fable. Including them day one or even a few weeks or months later makes no difference to me because I'm already willing to pick 'em up for my physical collection.

But I'm curious about how you would feel if Xbox ditched new day one release on Xbox Game Pass? And if they did, what would the ideal Game Pass model look like to you? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.