Xbox Game Pass is the best value proposition in gaming if your library preferences align with what Microsoft publishes and what third parties choose to include. The catalogue spans thousands of games, which creates its own problem: where do you start?
This list focuses on the games worth prioritising in 2026. Some are recent day-one releases. Some are older titles that have matured into essential plays. All of them are worth your time.
Doom: The Dark Ages
Id Software’s prequel to the rebooted Doom series launched in May 2025 as a day-one Game Pass title. It is the heaviest and most physically confrontational of the three games, replacing Eternal’s emphasis on aerial movement with a shield-based combat system built around parrying, throwing, and close-range destruction.
The dragon-riding sequences divided opinion, but the core combat loop is exceptional. If you played Doom 2016 but bounced off Eternal’s complexity, The Dark Ages sits closer to 2016’s ground-based approach while bringing its own mechanical identity.
Avowed
Obsidian’s first-person RPG in the Pillars of Eternity universe launched in February 2025 and has received several patches since that addressed the PC performance issues and quality-of-life complaints from launch. On Game Pass the value question is easy: it is a 30-40 hour RPG with excellent companion writing and a well-crafted world. The subscription removes the price argument entirely.
Play it if you missed it at launch. The discourse around it was more heated than the game deserved.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
MachineGames’ Indiana Jones game launched in December 2024 as a day-one Game Pass title. It is a first-person adventure game, closer in design to the older Wolfenstein games’ exploration structure than to an open world. The whip mechanics, environmental puzzle design, and licensed IP handling are all handled with more care than licensed games typically receive.
It is not a long game, but it is an excellent one and arguably the best Indiana Jones game ever made.
Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
The sequel to Ninja Theory’s Hellblade launched in May 2024. It is not a conventional game: the combat is simple, the exploration is linear, and the experience is deliberately short at around six hours. What it does is create an unmatched audio-visual atmosphere centred on Senua’s psychosis and Norse mythology.
Play with headphones. The binaural audio design is the game’s most important feature. Do not play it expecting a broad RPG or action game: approach it as an interactive narrative and it is one of the most memorable things on the service.
Halo: The Master Chief Collection
If you have never played the Halo series, or played it only on console, the Master Chief Collection on PC is the complete package: Halo 1 through 4, fully remastered, with multiplayer for most entries, for the cost of a Game Pass subscription. The campaign across these four games is the definitive Xbox franchise story and holds up extraordinarily well.
Start with Combat Evolved Anniversary and play forward. The jump in quality between the original Halo and Halo 2 remains impressive.
Forza Horizon 5
The open-world racing series peaked (so far) with Forza Horizon 5’s Mexico map. The sheer amount of content, seasonal events, and the quality of the driving model make it the most complete racing game on the service. It has been updated consistently since its 2021 launch with new cars and events.
Even if racing games are not typically your genre, Forza Horizon 5 is accessible enough to draw in players who have never touched a simulation racer. The handling model can be adjusted from full sim to fully assisted.
Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024
The 2024 iteration of Microsoft’s Flight Simulator rebuilt the mission and career structure that the 2020 original lacked. As a Game Pass title, the barrier to entry disappears: this is the most technically impressive recreation of the real world in gaming, and the career mode now gives players structured goals to work toward rather than purely freeform exploration.
It is demanding on hardware. Check that your PC meets the recommended specs before committing time to it.
Sea of Thieves
Rare’s pirate game has had years of consistent updates that transformed it from a thin experience at launch into one of the best co-op adventure games on the service. Sailing with a crew, finding treasure, engaging in ship combat, and raiding skeleton forts is genuinely enjoyable multiplayer gaming.
The best entry point is the Tall Tales questline, a series of narrative missions that introduces the game’s lore and gameplay systems in a structured way. Play with at least one friend: solo sailing is possible but the game is designed around crew coordination.
How to Get the Most Value from Game Pass
A few practical notes:
Game Pass Ultimate includes cloud gaming, which lets you stream games to any device including iOS, Android, and low-spec PCs. For games you want to try briefly before committing download time, cloud gaming is useful.
Games leave the service periodically. If something on this list is leaving soon (check the Xbox website for departing games), prioritise it. Save files carry over if you later buy the game.
The PC-only tier (PC Game Pass) is cheaper than Ultimate and covers all the PC games above. If you do not own an Xbox console and do not need cloud gaming, PC Game Pass is the better value option.
