Xbox Game Pass Gets Some Must-Play Games In July

Welcome to July 2024! You made it. We are past the halfway point of the year and to celebrate, Xbox has announced a nice list of new and old games coming to its ever-growing Game Pass service. And it’s also revealed five games are leaving, too. It can’t all be good news.

On July 2, as it usually does at the start of a new month, Xbox revealed what’s coming to Game Pass. For years now, Xbox has done a great job of expanding and maintaining its Netflix-like subscription for games, adding a mix of big and small titles to the service. This month continues that trend with some real bangers worth checking out if you are a subscriber.

Here’s the list of games coming to Game Pass over the next few weeks and which platforms they will be available on:

• Journey to the Savage Planet (Cloud, Console, and PC) – July 3
• Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 (Cloud, Console, and PC) – July 3
• Cricket 24 (Cloud, Console, and PC) – July 9
• The Case of the Golden Idol (Cloud, Console, and PC) – July 9
• Neon White (Cloud, Console, and PC) – July 11
• Tchia (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) – July 11
• Magical Delicacy (Cloud, Console, and PC) – July 16
• Flock (Cloud, Console, and PC) – July 16

Some standouts this month include Journey to the Savage Planet, which has a less-than-stellar name but is still a fun semi-open-world survival-action game about exploring an alien environment filled with weird creatures and colorful art.

I also loved Neon White, a first-person hyper-fast action platformer built around mastering short, gorgeous levels set in a fucked-up version of Heaven.

I haven’t played The Case of the Golden Idol, but it has a reputation for being one of the best detective games in recent years, so maybe I’ll finally take this opportunity to check it out.

And hey, Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 might not be as good as Smash Bros. but it will be free on Game Pass on July 3 and might be a perfect party game to load up the next time you and your friends get together. You can all pick your favorite cartoon characters and beat the shit out of each other over the 4th of July.

But, as new games arrive, old games must leave as deals expire. According to Xbox, these are all the games leaving Game Pass on July 15:

• Coffee Talk Episode 2: Hibiscus & Butterfly 
• Figment 2: Creed Valley
• Sins of a Solar Empire: Rebellion
• TOEM
• The Wandering Village 

If you’re playing any of these titles, you need to finish them up soon. Or take advantage of the Game Pass discount and buy one or more of these games so you can play it forever. Or well, until Xbox decides to shut off the servers. So at least a decade or so. That seems like plenty of time to beat Coffee Talk Episode 2.

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