What you need to know
- 2024 is here, with the Xbox Game Pass team sharing the first batch of games headed to the service this year.
- The additions include Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Resident Evil 2, and more.
- A handful of games are leaving at the end of the month, including Grand Theft Auto 5.
The new year is underway, and that means more games.
As shared via Xbox Wire, Xbox Game Pass subscribers can look forward to a number of additions throughout the next couple of weeks, including some massive games like Ubisoft’s Viking RPG adventure, Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. Capcom is also present for the start of 2024, bringing the Resident Evil 2 remake to the subscription service.
We Happy Few is also coming, a title developed by Compulsion Games, a team that’s now part of Xbox Game Studios and working on the southern fantasy title South of Midnight. We Happy Few was published by Gearbox, as the game was also done before the studio was acquired by Microsoft.
Here’s the full list of games being added to Xbox Game Pass:
Today
- Close to the Sun (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows PC)
January 4
- Hell Let Loose (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows PC)
January 9
- Assassin’s Creed Valhalla (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows PC)
- Figment (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows PC)
January 11
- Super Mega Baseball 4 (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows PC)
- We Happy Few (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows PC)
January 16
- Resident Evil 2 (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows PC)
- Those Who Remain (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows PC)
Leaving soon
As always, there’s a handful of games that are exiting the service. If you want to keep playing them, you’ll need to make sure to buy them before they leave, and you’ll get a discount for doing so. While Grand Theft Auto 5 is heading out on January 5, here’s the other games leaving on January 15:
- Garden Story
- MotoGP 22
- Persona 4 Golden
- Persona 3 Portable
Analysis: A solid way to start the year
There’s some big games in these additions, making this a strong start to 2024. I already own both Assassin’s Creed Valhalla and Resident Evil 2, but if you don’t, those are absolutely both worth checking out now that they’re coming to Xbox Game Pass. Resident Evil 2 is one of the best survival-horror games ever crafted, while Assassin’s Creed Valhalla provides dozens of hours of adventure, so you won’t be running out of things to do anytime remotely soon.
As an aside, what’s everyone looking forward to the most this year? Personally, it has to be Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2, but I’m also extremely excited for Shattered Space, the first expansion for Bethesda Game Studios’ science-fiction RPG, Starfield.
