Xbox Game Pass Ultimate has had eight day-one games so far in 2026, and only one of these titles has been good. The majority of them have been average, and a few have been underwhelming. And this run comes fairly fresh off the back of Microsoft raising the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate substantially, from $20 a month to $30 a month. And so far, it has not justified this price increase with an increase in quality.
Of the eight-day-one Xbox Game Pass Ultimate games so far this year, four have Metacritic scores, four of them don’t. Typically, a game without a Metacritic score isn’t the most consequential release, so this doesn’t reflect well on half of the Xbox Game Pass day-one lineup. The other four have an average Metacritic score of 74.5. There is a 68 in the group, a 72, a 75, and then an 83. Obviously, 72 and 75 are fine scores, but nothing that will get most subscribers excited. Meanwhile, 68 is a bit low. This leaves only one game with a good or better review score, and that is MIO: Memories in Orbit, which is the 11th-ranked release so far this year.
A Slow Period for Xbox Game Pass
Of course, the beginning of the year, especially January, is slow for new releases. Only now are things starting to heat up. This makes a 1/8 success rate a bit more understandable. That said, there’s not much in terms of Xbox Game Pass day one games in March to look forward to either.
Now, Microsoft has been adding great non-day-one games, such as Death Stranding, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, and soon Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. But the main selling point of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is the day-one games. This is what it seperates it from competing subscription service PlayStation Plus, which seldom has day one games. And it’s why some Xbox fans are willing to pay $30 a month for a subscription. And right now, the day one games haven’t been very good, and it doesn’t look like this is changing next month. After that, a quarter of the year is done and dusted.
Xbox Game Pass Misses
If Microsoft wanted to improve the day-one offering at the start of the year, it could have splashed cash for games like Dragon Quest VII Reimagined and Reanimal. The bigger problem for Xbox so far in 2026, though, is so many of the best games have skipped Xbox consoles entirely. To this end, five of the top six games so far this year are not available on Xbox consoles.
All of that said, and as always, feel free to leave a comment or two letting us know what you think, or join the conversation over on the ComicBook Forum.