Game Pass’ history is full of peaks and valleys. That’s the nature of a subscription-based service, and also one of the challenges Microsoft has struggled to overcome as it seeks to grow that part of its gaming empire. But right now? October 2025 heading into November 2025? This is arguably the service’s hottest stretch ever. The big question, of course, is whether this will prove to be another anomalous blip in Game Pass’ chaotic and ever pricier trajectory, or a sign Microsoft has finally purchased enough of the wider gaming industry to combat churn and fuel the service for years to come.
The month-long period is question began on October 17 with the launch of Keeper, the first new Double Fine game in four years. It’s a beautiful, evocative, and weirdly clever puzzle adventure that echoes back to the Xbox Live Arcade days of Limbo and Fez. It concludes on November 17 with the launch of Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 which is likely to be the antithesis of Keeper in every way, including that it will probably go on to be the best-selling game of 2025.
Within that 31-day window is a truckload of other day-and-date releases available on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or its cheaper PC equivalent. Here’s every day-one game coming over the next few weeks:
- Keeper – October 17
- Ninja Gaiden 4 – October 21
- PowerWash Simulator 2 – October 23
- Bounty Star– October 23
- Super Fantasy Kingdom – October 24
- The Outer Worlds 2 – October 29
- Football Manager 26 – November 4
- Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 – November 17
Most of these games haven’t come out yet so I have no idea if they will live up to the hype or actually be good. But many of them are also known quantities. PowerWash Simulator 2? I think I know what to expect. Will any of them be GOTY contenders? Maybe! But I wouldn’t bet my Game Pass allowance on it. They will probably deliver most of what players expect and make up the critical mass of remaining big console releases heading into the holiday.
Don’t forget, we were also supposed to get Moonlighter 2: The Endless Vault on Game Pass this week before it was delayed just out of the 31-day window to November 19 because there were just too many games coming out in October. Look further outside that period and you have great day-one games like Hollow Knight: Silksong and Ball x Pit. Look beyond the day-one criteria and you have the upcoming addition of 1000xRESIST, one of last year’s most mind-bending sci-fi interactive narratives, on November 4.
Look, if Obsidian somehow totally flubs the quest design and character choices in The Outer Worlds 2 or the latest Call of Duty single-player campaign crashes and burns, this period probably won’t go down as the strongest stretch in Game Pass’ history. But it’ll still be close. Microsoft usually tries to sprinkle its bigger day-one releases throughout the year. See the staggered cadence of Starfield and Forza Motorsport in 2023 and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle in 2024. That’s how you’re supposed to do it anyway. But the first half of 2025 also bucked this trend.
Maybe the only other single-month stretch of Game Pass that can rival it was back in the spring. The end of April added The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, followed by Revenge of the Savage Planet and Doom: The Dark Ages in the first half of May. Microsoft brought Grand Theft Auto 5 back to Game Pass during that period, too, just for good measure. Will the service stay in this high gear going into 2026 or was Microsoft just shoving a bunch of stuff out the door in advance of the biggest single price hike in subscription gaming history?
The company has been claiming for years that it’s finally about to turn the corner on its uneven development timelines and shifting release calendars. Will that change the service’s stalling fortunes or convince console gamers that $360 a year for a buffet of rentals is a price worth paying? Who knows. But it’s probably the best the service has ever been. Maybe as good as it will ever be.
About the Author
