Xbox Game Pass in October 2026: Every Confirmed Addition, Day-One Launch, and What's Leaving

Sunday, October 4, 2026 — October is shaping up as one of the busiest months Xbox Game Pass has had in a while. The headline is the one we have been building toward all fall: Gears of War: E-Day lands day one on Game Pass Ultimate and PC on Tuesday, October 6. But it is far from the only thing arriving. Microsoft's confirmed list for the month already runs to eleven titles, from Double Fine's long-in-the-oven Keeper — which hit the service on October 2 — to a pair of late-month arrivals on October 27 and 29. Three games leave on October 31, and the EA Play pipeline delivered an early-access football trial back in September.

A quick framing note: Game Pass announcements come in waves, and this is a living list. Microsoft typically confirms the back half of the month in a second wave announcement, so expect more titles to join what follows. Every date below is confirmed across at least two of our tracking sources — where sources disagree on a title, we say so.

The big one: Gears of War: E-Day, day one, October 6

The anchor of the month is E-Day, and Xbox is treating it that way. The prequel to the Gears saga — a return to Emergence Day, the Locust invasion that started it all — launches directly into Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass on October 6. This is the service's flagship fall play, the kind of day-one drop the subscription exists to deliver, and it arrives with the full weight of expectation: it is the busiest stretch of the fall release calendar and the one launch Microsoft is using to sell the value of Ultimate this quarter.

It is also a launch with some weather around it. Developers at The Coalition are reportedly bracing for Xbox cuts after the game ships, and story director Juan Vaca was laid off roughly two weeks before release. None of that changes what subscribers get on October 6 — but it is the backdrop against which one of the year's biggest launches will land.

Keeper kicks things off: October 2

The month already has its first arrival on the books. Keeper, the offbeat new title from Double Fine Productions, joined Game Pass on October 2 for Premium, Ultimate, and PC Game Pass subscribers. It is an early indicator of the month's shape: original, creator-driven games sitting next to franchise heavyweights. If you blinked and missed it arriving, it is waiting for you — and as with every addition here, it is included at no extra cost on the listed tiers.

The October 8 triple-header

October 8 brings three more confirmed additions. Echo Weaver and Neon Abyss 2 both land on Ultimate and PC Game Pass — Neon Abyss 2 is the sequel to the punchy roguelite shooter that found a real audience on the service the first time around, and Echo Weaver continues the month's run of distinctive, off-center picks. They are joined by Forever Ago, the cozy adventure from Third Shift, which rounds out the day. Three games in one day is the kind of quiet stack that makes Game Pass worth keeping — any one of them could be somebody's favorite discovery of the fall.

Mid-month: October 13 and October 15

The month's middle is just as packed. October 13 brings Deep Dish Dungeon and Valor Mortis, both on Ultimate and PC Game Pass. Two days later, October 15, Beyond These Stars and Chained Beasts arrive, also on Ultimate and PC. The sources agree on these dates across the board — the mid-month stretch is the best-confirmed part of the schedule. Beyond These Stars and Chained Beasts close out the announced wave-one additions, with the month's remaining entries landing in the back half.

Late month: October 27 and 29

The confirmed list runs into the back half of the month as well. The Séance of Blake Manor — a supernatural mystery that has been building buzz in the indie horror corner — arrives October 27 on Ultimate and PC Game Pass. And Terrible Lizards, the dinosaur-park management game from the folks who know exactly what they are doing with that fantasy, lands October 29 on Ultimate and PC. Both dates are consistent across our sources. Remember: Microsoft's wave-two announcement may still add more titles around these, including the usual shadow-drops the service loves.

The full confirmed list, at a glance

All in one place, as of today:

October 2 — Keeper (Premium + Ultimate + PC)
October 6 — Gears of War: E-Day (Ultimate + PC, day one)
October 8 — Echo Weaver (Ultimate + PC); Neon Abyss 2 (Ultimate + PC); Forever Ago
October 13 — Deep Dish Dungeon (Ultimate + PC); Valor Mortis (Ultimate + PC)
October 15 — Beyond These Stars (Ultimate + PC); Chained Beasts (Ultimate + PC)
October 27 — The Séance of Blake Manor (Ultimate + PC)
October 29 — Terrible Lizards (Ultimate + PC)

One note on tiers, since it trips people up: Game Pass Essential and Premium replaced the old Core and Standard tiers earlier this year, adding cloud gaming support into the mix. Most of this month's additions are Ultimate and PC only — Keeper is the notable exception, landing on Premium as well. Check your tier before you go hunting.

What's leaving: October 31

Three games exit the service on October 31: Jusant, the meditative climbing game from Don't Nod that remains one of the most quietly loved additions in recent Game Pass history; Metal Slug Tactics, the turn-based tactical take on the arcade classic; and Return to Monkey Island, Ron Gilbert's sharp, funny return to the point-and-click canon. If any of the three is on your backlog, the clock is officially ticking. And note that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 leaves even sooner, on October 15 — the month's departures are front-loaded too.

The extras and the context

Beyond the core additions, the Game Pass extras pipeline keeps moving. EA Play subscribers got the early-access trial for EA Sports FC 27 back on September 18 — the annual football trial remains one of the most reliable perks in the subscription's orbit.

How does October stack up against the competition? Sony's October 2026 PlayStation Plus lineup is already out, and both services are leaning hard into the fall rush — the logic being that when the release calendar is this crowded, a strong subscription library is the cheapest way to keep players inside your ecosystem. October is also the month where the rest of the industry is sprinting to get out of GTA VI's way — a subscription launch is, in some ways, the safest place to be when the biggest game in history is hoovering up attention next door.

The through-line for October: one genuine blockbuster day-one launch, a deep bench of indie and mid-tier additions, and a departures list that is worth your attention. That is what a good Game Pass month looks like. We will update this list as Microsoft's wave-two announcement lands.