Banjo, Perfect Dark and Viva Piñata reach the cheapest tier on Xbox's birthday, the same day 13 games leave. Here's every date and tier.
Xbox turns 25 on Sunday, November 15, and Game Pass is marking it with eight older first-party games for Essential, the cheapest tier. The batch includes Banjo-Kazooie, its two sequels, Perfect Dark, Gears of War: Judgment, Halo: Spartan Assault and both Viva Piñata games. All but Halo are console and cloud only.
Ultimate and PC Game Pass members get six new games first, from November 10 to 12, including Warhammer Survivors, Hope in the City and Toxic Commando. Premium gets only two of them.
If you're midway through a departing game, finish it this week or buy it at the member discount before Sunday.
On Sunday, November 15, the day Xbox turns 25, Microsoft is adding eight of its older games to Game Pass Essential, the cheapest tier of the service. The Xbox Game Pass 25th anniversary lineup includes Banjo-Kazooie, Perfect Dark and both Viva Piñata games. The twist is that GoldenEye 007 leaves the service that very same day.
If you pay for any Game Pass tier, this week matters. Essential members get a rare batch of classics, Ultimate and PC Game Pass members get six new games in the days before the birthday, and anyone halfway through one of the 13 departing games has until November 15 to finish it or buy it at a member discount.
Eight games from Xbox’s own back catalog join Game Pass Essential on November 15. Because Essential is the entry tier, the higher tiers get them too. Here is the full set:
Note the platforms. Only Halo: Spartan Assault also runs on PC. The other seven are console and cloud only, so a PC Game Pass member without an Xbox will have to stream them.
Microsoft’s official schedule lists the dates and games without tying them to the birthday, but the classics landing on the anniversary itself is hard to miss.
The week opens with fresh releases. Microsoft’s schedule for the first half of November puts six new games on Game Pass between November 10 and November 12, most of them on day one:
Warhammer Survivors is the one to watch for fans of Vampire Survivors. It is a bullet-heaven game, meaning you steer a hero through endless waves while attacks fire automatically, and it was made by Auroch Digital with poncle, the Vampire Survivors team.
After the birthday, two more games follow on November 17: Aphelion and Paw Patrol: Dino World. Arkheron is listed for November 27.
This is where people get caught out. Game Pass now has four flavors (Essential, Premium, Ultimate and PC Game Pass), and the new week’s releases are not spread evenly.
One wrinkle: one published list includes Premium for the console version of Football Manager 27, while Microsoft’s own listing, as other outlets report it, gives that day-one launch to Ultimate and PC Game Pass only. If you’re on Premium and want it, check the game’s store page on November 10 before you plan around it.
Aphelion is a different case. It already sits in Ultimate and PC Game Pass and joins Premium on November 17.
Thirteen games leave the service on the anniversary itself. If any of these are in progress on your console, the clock is running:
One list also counts Football Manager 26 as leaving, which makes 14. That one has an obvious replacement, since Football Manager 27 is already on the service.
Microsoft says subscribers can buy departing games at a discount before they go. After November 15, the games are no longer playable through the subscription.
Game Pass is only one part of the anniversary. Two other offers are worth knowing about if you are shopping this month.
The first is the Xbox Series X25 Special Edition, a translucent green Series X with a design inspired by the original Xbox. It costs $899.99 and comes with a matching controller and Halo: Campaign Evolved. Each of the 25,000 units carries its own engraved number, and the console ships on November 15. For comparison, a regular Series X in the same setup costs $800, without a game or the green shell. The anniversary controller alone sells for $80.
If you missed the preorders, Best Buy is running another drop on November 25 through its Best Buy Drops feature. It works only in the Best Buy mobile app, so set up an account and turn on notifications ahead of time. No start time has been announced.
The second offer is for PC buyers in the US. New Windows 11 PCs and handhelds come with a 25-game Xbox bundle valued at more than $500, claimed through the Microsoft Store app. The bundle should appear on eligible machines by the end of November, and the promotion runs through December. It includes Doom, Quake, Skyrim Special Edition, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, Fuzion Frenzy and Crimson Skies.
The eligibility rules are strict. Machines that ship with Windows Home qualify, while Windows Pro machines count only if they run Nvidia RTX Spark chips. Refurbished PCs and ones bought from marketplaces or auction sites don’t count, and Microsoft can take the games back if you return the PC.
For most people, the cheapest tier is the quiet winner. Essential members, who usually get the thinnest library, receive eight first-party games on the birthday, while the shiny new releases stay with Ultimate and PC Game Pass.
Before you change plans, though, line up what you actually want to play. If it is Warhammer Survivors or Hope in the City, you need Ultimate or PC Game Pass. If it is Banjo-Kazooie or Perfect Dark on a console, Essential covers you. And if GoldenEye 007 is half finished, you have until Sunday.
November 15, which falls on a Sunday this year. The X25 console ships that day and the eight classic games join Game Pass Essential.
Yes. It is one of 13 games leaving on November 15. You can buy it at a member discount before then if you want to keep playing.
Only Halo: Spartan Assault is listed for PC. The other seven are console and cloud games, so on a PC you would need to stream them.
You're reading the quick version.
Read next
Is GTA 6 60fps on PS5? What’s confirmed, and the 40fps hope
Rockstar still won't talk frame rates before the November 19 launch. Here's what the footage, the leaks and the hardware actually tell PS5, PS5 Pro and Xbox owners.
Sony's new PlayStation Plus extras include trials, credits and discounts, but only members in three European countries can claim them, and the best one has strings.
Microsoft's new Xbox Cloud Gaming preview turns an iPhone or Android phone into a gamepad for smart TVs, no app needed. Here's the setup and the limits.
Santa Monica Studio moved its PS5 spinoff three months later for polish. Here is the new date, the old one, and what the gap means for players.
The Daily Brief
Every morning, the news that matters from AI, phones, apps and the people shaping tech. Explained in plain English. Free.
One email a day. No spam, unsubscribe anytime. Privacy policy
