There are five games being removed from Xbox Game Pass today. While it would be nice if the service would only add games and never remove them, it's a give and take of sorts where games will be added and then removed after a while. A handful of new games for Xbox Game Pass were announced recently, so the removal of a few should come as no surprise.
Microsoft typically announces game additions for Xbox Game Pass at the last minute, sometime mere days before the games are added. Thankfully the company usually gives gamers a fair heads up about which games are leaving the service and when through a dedicated section in the menu. For example, there are several games being removed from Game Pass on June 15, including Soulslike Mortal Shell, strategy title Total War: Three Kingdoms, and first-person shooter Serious Sam 4.
The five games leaving Xbox Game Pass today are a mixed bag. The list includes Europa Universalis 4, a grand strategy game from Paradox Interactive, satirical real-time strategy game Evil Genius 2: World Domination, turn-based card battler Floppy Knights, as well as Lawn Mowing Simulator and FIFA 21, which should need no introduction as the world's premiere yard work sim and the 2021 edition of the long-running soccer series which EA lost the development license for in recent times.
- Europa Universalis 4 (PC) - May 31
- Evil Genius 2: World Domination (Cloud/Consoles/PC) - May 31
- FIFA 21 (Consoles/PC) - May 31
- Floppy Knights (Cloud/Consoles/PC) - May 31
- Lawn Mowing Simulator (Cloud/Consoles/PC) - May 31
It might seem like Xbox Game Pass is losing more games than its receiving, but it is likely that a new batch of games will be announced for the service in a week or two. That said, one can only speculate about when new games will be added or announced. Generally, Xbox Game Pass day one titles are typically known well in advance, but there aren't any apparent hard and fast rules about how and when Microsoft adds or removes titles.
The biggest game coming to Game Pass this year is Starfield, Bethesda Game Studios' hotly-anticipated space faring RPG that arrives on September 6 as a day one title. Starfield is also Bethesda Game Studios first release since Fallout 76 landed in 2018. Unfortunately, Redfall, which was supposed to be the other big release from Microsoft's stable for 2023, released earlier this year to lackluster reviews.