The Game Awards 2025 has nominated 71 different games across its various categories, and 15 of those are readily available to play on Xbox Game Pass through the Ultimate and PC Game Pass tiers. Even though it now costs $29.99 per month instead of $19.99 per month, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate remains one of the best deals in gaming. With an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription, one gets access to everything under the Game Pass umbrella, which includes a vast library of older titles along with brand-new, day one releases.

2025 will likely go down as one of the best years in the history of the Game Pass service. The unfortunate Game Pass Ultimate price hike aside, Game Pass added some all-timers this year, ranging from indie hits like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Hollow Knight: Silksong to big budget blockbuster titles like Doom: The Dark Ages and Ninja Gaiden 4. It's been a banner year for the service in terms of new releases, reflected by the fact that 15 Game Pass games have been nominated at The Game Awards.

xbox game pass new games 2026
The 4 Biggest Xbox Game Pass Games of 2026 Are Just the Tip of the Iceberg

Four huge Xbox Game Pass games are already on deck for 2026, with many more games expected to join the service next year as well.

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In fact, two games nominated for Game of the Year at The Game Awards 2025 are on Xbox Game Pass in the form of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Hollow Knight: Silksong. Expedition 33 has actually broken the record for most nominations at a single Game Awards event with 13 nods, making it even more remarkable that it has been available to play through Game Pass Ultimate since the very day of its release. Other Game Pass games nominated at The Game Awards include Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (technically a 2024 release), Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, South of Midnight, Ball x Pit, Blue Prince, No Man's Sky, Doom: The Dark Ages, Ninja Gaiden 4, Avowed, The Outer Worlds 2, The Alters, Rematch, and Atomfall.

Every Game Nominated at The Game Awards 2025

Bold = Game is currently available on Game Pass Ultimate/PC Game Pass

  1. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
  2. Death Stranding 2: On the Beach
  3. Donkey Kong Bananza
  4. Hades 2
  5. Hollow Knight: Silksong
  6. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2
  7. Ghost of Yotei
  8. Split Fiction
  9. Silent Hill f
  10. Battlefield 6
  11. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
  12. Consume Me
  13. Despelote
  14. Lost Records: Bloom & Rage
  15. South of Midnight
  16. Wanderstop
  17. Absolum
  18. Ball x Pit
  19. Blue Prince
  20. Dispatch
  21. Final Fantasy 14
  22. Fortnite
  23. Helldivers 2
  24. Marvel Rivals
  25. No Man's Sky
  26. Baldur's Gate 3
  27. Destiny: Rising
  28. Persona 5: The Phantom X
  29. Sonic Rumble
  30. Umamusume: Pretty Derby
  31. Wuthering Waves
  32. Alien: Rogue Incursion
  33. Arken Age
  34. Ghost Town
  35. Marvel's Deadpool VR
  36. The Midnight Walk
  37. Doom: The Dark Ages
  38. Ninja Gaiden 4
  39. Shinobi: Art of Vengeance
  40. Avowed
  41. Monster Hunter Wilds
  42. The Outer Worlds 2
  43. 2XKO
  44. Capcom Fighting Collection 2
  45. Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves
  46. Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection
  47. Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage
  48. LEGO Party
  49. LEGO Voyagers
  50. Mario Kart World
  51. Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds
  52. The Alters
  53. Civilization 7
  54. Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles
  55. Tempest Rising
  56. Jurassic World Evolution 3
  57. Two Point Museum
  58. EA Sports FC 26
  59. F1 25
  60. Rematch
  61. ARC Raiders
  62. Elden Ring Nightreign
  63. Peak
  64. Assassin's Creed Shadows
  65. Atomfall
  66. Genshin Impact
  67. Counter-Strike 2
  68. Dota 2
  69. League of Legends
  70. Mobile Legends: Bang Bang
  71. Valorant

It's quite likely that more of these games will join the Game Pass Ultimate lineup as time goes on. For example, a bunch of Ubisoft games have been added to Game Pass, and so chances are Assassin's Creed Shadows will join the library eventually. Fans can also count on all EA games coming to Game Pass Ultimate at some point down the line, so EA Sports FC 26, F1 25, and even the acclaimed Battlefield 6 are almost certainly on the way.

Xbox itself published multiple games that picked up nominations at The Game Awards 2025. These include Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, South of Midnight, Doom: The Dark Ages, Ninja Gaiden 4, Avowed, and The Outer Worlds 2. None of Xbox's games were nominated for Game of the Year, but it still has a significant presence at the event.

The 2026 Game Pass calendar is starting to take shape, and it will be exciting to see if it manages to secure even more nominations than The Game Awards 2025. While specific dates are not yet available, we know that the 2026 Game Pass lineup will include Forza Horizon 6, the Halo 1 remake, Gears of War: E-Day, and the long-awaited Fable reboot, so subscribers have plenty to look forward to in the year ahead. They can play the top Game Pass games of 2025 to tide them over in the meantime.