Microsoft has announced the games that will join the Xbox Game Pass catalog during the back half of August and earliest days of September. That list includes four solid indie titles, two of which are day-one Xbox Game Pass releases. Unfortunately, the number of games leaving at the end of the month is greater than the number of games coming, and one of the games exiting the service is Immortality, one of Digital Trends’ favorite games of 2023.
To start with the positive, all four games coming to the service during the rest of August are pretty solid. Campo Santo’s Firewatch and Nomada Studios’ Gris are both excellent, emotional indie adventures that garnered critical acclaim in the year since their release. Firewatch hits the service on August 17, while Gris won’t be added until September 5. Then there’s the day one Xbox Game Pass launches. First up is The Texas Chain Saw Massacre game on August 18, which adapts the classic horror series into an asymmetrical multiplayer game, just like what happened to Evil Dead last year. Finally, there’s Sea of Stars, a retro-inspired RPG coming out on August 29 that’s also launching into the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog on the day it launches.
Sadly, six games will leave Xbox Game Pass on August 31, many of which are very good. The most notable for us is Immortality, a subversive and innovative game from Sam Barlow that has players scrubbing through the footage of three unreleased films to solve a mystery. The less you know about the game going into it, the better, but just know this was one of the best games to come out in 2022 and a must-play if you adore both film and video games.
Tinykin, Surgeon Simulator 2, and Nuclear Throne are all also great indie games that you won’t have a bad time playing. Here’s the full list of games leaving Xbox Game Pass on August 31:
- Black Desert
- Commandos 3 – HD Remaster
- Immortality
- Nuclear Throne
- Surgeon Simulator 2
- Tinykin
Overall, this is a pretty mixed update for Xbox Game Pass. Great games are coming, but just as many good titles are leaving. Thankfully, September is more than bound to make up for it, as Starfield will launch as a day one Xbox Game Pass game on September 6.
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