Five games were removed from Xbox Game Pass today. While it would be nice if the service only added games and didn’t remove them, that’s a compromise in which games will be added and then removed after a while. A number of new titles have been announced for Xbox Game Pass recently, so it shouldn’t be a surprise that some will be removed.
Microsoft often announces game additions to Xbox Game Pass at the last minute, sometimes days before a game is added. Thankfully, the company usually makes it clear to gamers which games are leaving the service and when, via a dedicated section in the menu. For example, several games were removed from Game Pass on June 15, including Soulslike Mortal Shell, strategy game Total War: Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and first-person shooter Serious Sam 4.
The five titles leaving Xbox Game Pass today are a mixed blessing. The list includes grand strategy game Europa Universalis 4 from Paradox Interactive, satirical real-time strategy game Evil Genius 2: World Domination, turn-based card battle game Floppy Knights, and needs no introduction Lawn Mowing Simulator and FIFA 21 as the world premiere of Yard Work The 2021 edition of the long-running football series that Sim and EA recently lost development licenses.
Europa Universalis 4 (PC) – May 31 Evil Genius 2: World Domination (Cloud/Console/PC) – May 31 FIFA 21 (Console/PC) – May 31 Floppy Knights (Cloud/Console/PC) PC) – May 31 Lawn Mowing Simulator (cloud/console/PC) – May 31 Xbox Game Pass appears to be missing more games than it is receiving, but will likely announce an update for the service in a week or two Batch new games. That said, one can only speculate when new games will be added or announced. In general, Xbox Game Pass day one titles are usually known in advance, but there aren’t any obvious hard and fast rules for how and when Microsoft will add or remove titles.
The biggest game coming to Game Pass this year is Starfield, Bethesda Game Studios’ highly anticipated space role-playing game, which lands on September 6th as a Day 1 game. Starfield is also Bethesda Game Studios’ first release since Fallout 76 landed in 2018. Unfortunately, Redfall is supposed to be another big release for Microsoft’s 2023 stable, released earlier this year to mediocre reviews.