awp69

More money for Microsoft to keep pumping out great first party games for us to play on GamePass! Bring it on!

As long as GamePass exists and continues to provide a great line up of games, I know I’ll still be in line to get the next Xbox.

Nice. Plan on juggling this with Eternal Strands this week!

Really hope this is the last story on this for a while. It’s really, really getting old.

@Fiendish-Beaver “Let's face it, putting aside first-party games, the games that have been entering the Service were noticeably fewer and mostly smaller than they were in the heyday of Game Pass in 2020-2022. The Service is not what it was”

Have you looked at the line up of games this year? Aside from first party games, there are some fantastic third party games coming to the service. Many $50+ that I wouldn’t call “small.”

Games like Eternal Strands, Sniper Elite: Resistance, Atomfall, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Mixtape, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers and many, many others. There’s around 50 third party games already announced for GamePass this year. And sure there will be many others.

I actually have think this will be the biggest year by far for GamePass.

https://www.purexbox.com/guides/xbox-game-pass-in-2025-the-full-list-of-everything-announced-so-far

GamePass is the big reason I will stick with Xbox consoles. Obviously if there are huge price increases, I might reconsider (though I have never paid even close to full price). It saves me a hell of a lot of money in the long run.

How many of these stories do we really need?

And as usual, I’ll just say that l really don’t care. I’ll continue to buy an Xbox as long as GamePass is as good of a value as it is now. And this year is absolutely amazing for GamePass so where else the games go matters exactly zero to me.

Having a blast with Ninja Gaiden 2 Black on my Series X. Thanks GamePass!!!

I’ve bought prior upgrades because they included story DLC that I would have bought anyway. But with none in this upgrade, I’m going to pass this time.

Definitely excited for it. All of the previews I’ve read have been very positive so can’t wait to play next month !!!

@PsBoxSwitchOwner Only Claire was third party. Ninja Gaiden 4 is being published by Xbox Game Studios, which most consider to make a game first party (or at least second party).

I honestly could care less about exclusivity these days. The fact that I can play every one of these day one on GamePass is enough for me!

Easiest grade ever. An ‘A’ all the way. Simply fantastic and only covered a fraction of the games coming from Xbox this year!

@Ash_uk1 Don’t worry just because it wasn’t at this. They’re coming.

Well deserved. He did a fantastic job!

Lonely Mountain Snow Riders is also out and it’s fantastic!

Lot of exposition in that clip but once it gets to the gameplay and battle with the dragon, it looks pretty awesome. Can’t wait to check this out!

Five new Day One games including some bangers like Sniper Elite: Resistance, Citizen Sleeper 2 and Eternal Strands. Great back half of the month!!!

There’s rumors that it’ll actually release in 2026. If those are true, we might hear something before the end of the year.

I have a strong feeling that Towerborne will be shadow dropped. It’s been in beta/early access for a while and seems like it’s close to release. Only thing is it’s a F2P game. Guessing GamePass will have some “perks” though.

Played a little of the beta. It’s a fun game if you’ve been wanting 2 new Castle Crashers style beat em up.

A lot of those PC games require mouse and keyboard so not sure how many exclusives there would be to stream. Recently got a better laptop and found most of them are more complex strategy games without controller support.

@Ricky-Spanish Well, he acts like he does.

Why not just announce the console itself at the Xbox Developer Direct? 😀

That would surely ensure the element of surprise!

As long as we continue to get the line up of games similar to what’s coming this year to GamePass, I’ll still want to have an Xbox console. The list this year is amazing with not only the MS games but also some fantastic third party games like Atomfall, Sniper Elite: Resistance, Expedition 33, Mixtape, Eternal Strands, Hollow Knight Silksong, etc., etc.

Getting all the MS games day one without having to pay $70 each and all those third party games still makes GamePass a tremendous value for me. That and liking the Xbox ecosystem itself will keep me buying into the brand if there’s a next gen console.

Now if GamePass was available on PS6…. But that will never happen.

I’m thinking if they’re saying it’s a “brand-new game”, they’re talking about something that hasn’t even been announced. Just my 2 cents.

@Millionski Nah, it’s supposed to be “ another studio’s brand new game”. So won’t just be a port.

People complaining should realize the second half of the month is stacked.

Day One releases of significant games:
Eternal Strands
Sniper Elite: Resistance
Citizen Sleeper 2

Those three games alone make this an awesome month.

MS should announce games for a full month because this happens a lot and gives a false impression.

I mean, on this site, Indy deserved more love. Just sayin’

@Jark Lol. Sorry I was under the influence of pain medicine from surgery I had yesterday and that slipped through. Corrected!

@Sol4ris Yep, good idea when we’re being asked what we want to see more of from Xbox — more MachineGames Misfires please!!! 😀

Just saw that Indiana Jones and the Great Circle was Eurogamer’s GoTY beating out Astro Blast, which finished second. Metaphor was only #10 on their list, which is way too low for me.

Right now I’m going with:
1) Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
2) Metaphor: Refantazio
3) Astro Bot

I have a lot of competition for the rest of my top 10 so still figuring that out.

David Jeffe (game director of God of War and Twisted Metal) said it was easily his GoTY and may overtake Elden Ring as his favorite game of all time. Impressive words coming from him (and even a 6/10 Pure Xbox review can’t take that away 😀).

https://x.com/davidscottjaffe/status/1873455067682218490?s=46

@somnambulance Added around the same time as Indy so there’s probably a lot of people who haven’t even tried it yet.

I would have moved Metaphor to #2 behind Indy. Otherwise the list is pretty solid the way it is IMO. Glad the readers overlooked some doozies of reviews (that were outliers among critics - not just us lowly readers) to give games the recognition they truly deserve.

I never get these things. Phil doesn’t love me.

2D? Wonder if it’s going to be some sort of Metroidvania game.

@Titntin But they’re only free if your an EA Play member on PlayStation though right? (Also a requirement on Xbox obviously)

@Kraven MLB: The Show is a first party Sony game on Xbox. And there are rumors that Lego Horizon may come as well.

@DarthCvrle66 One already has: The Show. And there are rumors that Lego Horizon may as well.

Funny, even Jez says later in a comment that Xbox hasn’t fully committed to this yet.

“They don’t want to fully commit because they’re still analyzing whether or not it will actually decrease console engagement”.

https://x.com/jezcorden/status/1868175681617645745?s=46

So this is fake news. And Jez covers his ass by contradicting himself all the time.

Pretty sure Jez has been wrong more than he has been right. I wouldn’t trust anything he says as the gospel.

I honestly liked FH 3’s map the best. I enjoy the diversity and thought it was the best at making that work. No offense to those in the UK but I found myself bored roaming around the mostly just grass and countryside.

First game was multiplatform so I kind of expected this one to be as well. Doesn’t bother me.

@RamiBalek Technically, I think CoD Black Ops 6 was the first Xbox first party game to go to PS5 Day One.

Everspace 2 is at a new low of $17.49. Loved what I played of it on GamePass but never had enough time to complete it. Bought!

Call of Duty 2 blew me away at the time. One of my favorite experiences on 360. Loved that game.

@PhilKenSebben I love almost all card based games, roguelike or not, on phone these days. Touch screens are perfect for them (Balatro on a phone is digital crack).

But at least Wildfrost is on GamePass to give it a go first!

It’s absolutely fantastic. Truly feels like your in an Indiana Jones movie and the first person honestly adds to that feel. The voice acting is wonderful with Troy Baker doing a spot on impression. Great, often funny cut scenes. Environments and puzzles are true to the Indy spirit. Graphics and performance are excellent.

It’s up there with Metaphor Refantazio as GoTY for me.

And, also, I’m paying because I know I’ll want the expansion pack. The early playtime is just a bonus. Not sure why people are acting like that’s all you get.

Having played about 8 hours I’m absolutely loving this game so far. Right now it’s an easy 9 and up there with Metaphor Refantasio for my GoTY. Glad the vast majority of reviewers found it as mesmerizing as I have.

And, despite having initial concerns, I am so glad they went with first person. It really adds to the experience of feeling like you “are” Indy.

@Decimateh I think the dropping of three big AAA games, COD Black Ops 6, Flight Simulator 24 and Indiana Jones, likely was the reason for the smaller number of games towards the end of the year. I personally would rather have a handful of good DAY ONE games than a smattering of older indie and mid games that I may have already played anyway.

It’s the main reason I prefer GamePass to PS Plus Premium as well. I like getting newer games to try. And find if an older game comes on PS Premium, if it’s any good, I’ve likely played it already. Many “big” AAA games they get have been on sale for $10 or less by time they get to it.

It’s been absolutely fantastic for me.

Palworld, Persona 3 Reload, MLB The Show 24, Hellblade 2, Octopath Traveler II, Neon White, Dungeons of Hunterberg, Flintlock Seige at Dawn, Still Wakes the Deep, Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess, Creatures of Ava, Age of Mythology Retold, Wargroove 2, Mech Warrior 5 Clans, Flight Simulator 24, Call of Duty Black Ops 6, Stalker 2, Nine Sols and Indiana Jones are just SOME of the DAY ONE games to launch on the service the year that were great games that I played. And lots of quality older ones that (mostly sit in my backlog because there are just too many new games).

Outstanding year for GamePass!!!

@Jaxx420 Can’t speak for others but know I’ve never said that his opinion was wrong. I’ve just been saying that people should read other reviews too because they were taking this one review as gospel. If I’m making a decision on a game I’m on the fence on, I never just read one review.

Ok. We get it. Eurogamer, IGN and GameSpot are trash. And I guess the other 40-ish sites that gave the game an 8+ are also trash.

This game is trash. Games like Stellar Blade are also trash because they got good reviews from some of the same sites. Heck even Astro Bot must be trash since it got a 5/5 on Eurogamer and that’s a really bad sign!