An Xbox Game Pass subscriptionis almost essential for Xbox owners. The service, which runs $10 to $15 a month, not only includes a large, ever-changing catalog of games to download and play, but also bundles access to online multiplayer services. Each month, Microsoft adds new games to the service, and in November, an indie hit is leading the pack.
Read more: Best Game Subscription Services
If you’re on the fence about Game Pass, or just looking for some suggestions about what to play, below are some recent and classic favorites on the service.
Madden NFL 23 might not be the best-reviewed Madden games, but it made its way to Game Pass for PC and Xbox consoles just days before Super Bowl LVII. Subscribers can find out for themselves if the Philadelphia Eagles or the Kansas City Chiefs will win the big game before this Sunday, although a simulation of the game predicts the Eagles will win 31-17.
New and noteworthy
Recent hits
- Forza Horizon 5
- Pentiment
- As Dusk Falls
- Citizen Sleeper
- A Plague Tale: Requiem
- Death’s Door
- Farming Simulator 22 (no, really)
- Sea of Thieves
- Deathloop
- Halo Infinite
- Guardians of the Galaxy
- Outer Wilds
- Psychonauts 2
- Vampire Survivors
- Tetris Effect: Connected
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Must-play classics
- Assassin’s Creed Origins (and AC: Odyssey)
- Batman: Arkham Knight
- Dishonored 2
- Dead by Daylight
- Fallout 76
- Doughnut County
- Skyrim
- Grim Fandango
PC gaming picks
- Warhammer 40,000: Darktide
- Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire
- Solasta: Crown of the Magister
- Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector
- The Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind
- Expeditions: Rome
- Wasteland 3
We’ll keep this list updated with new additions and new staff suggestions. You can also check out our picks for the best games on PlayStation Plus.
Dan Ackerman/CNET
Game Pass has evolved far beyond its Xbox-bound origins to become a subscription that delivers something for everyone who plays games, and now encompasses console and PC game downloads, access to online multiplayer services, a deal with gaming giant EA and a cloud-based service that streams games to nearly any device.
Microsoft offers several versions, but because of how the features are sliced up between them, only the $15-per-month Ultimate plan, with all the benefits detailed above, really makes sense. Read our Xbox Game Pass review.
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