Xbox Game Pass gets Blizzard’s original Diablo, another EA Sports title, and more

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Ready for some more games?

As the new year begins, we can expect regular updates to the Xbox Game Pass, Microsoft’s flexible gaming subscription service that caters to diverse budgets and preferences. Starting from 2025, numerous games will be added to the standard package, according to information released by Xbox Wire on Tuesday.

Standard members will shortly gain access to a handful of titles previously exclusive to the Ultimate plan, such as the open-world mech farming game Lightyear Frontier (currently in Game Preview). In the meantime, Ultimate subscribers are excited about upcoming games like EA Sports UFC 5, along with the original Diablo from Blizzard Entertainment. However, please note that Diablo is only playable on a PC platform at this time.

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Below, you’ll find the full list of games coming to different tiers of the service:

January 7

  • Road 96 (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows PC) – Ultimate, Standard, PC

January 8

  • Lightyear Frontier (Xbox Series X|S) – Standard
  • My Time at Sandrock (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One) – Standard
  • Robin Hood – Sherwood Builders (Xbox Series X|S) – Standard
  • Rolling Hills (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One) – Standard

January 14

  • EA Sports UFC 5 (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Cloud Gaming) – Ultimate
  • Diablo (Windows PC) – Ultimate, PC

What’s leaving Xbox Game Pass on January 15?

Typically, a few games will be removed from Xbox Game Pass in the near future if you wish to continue playing them, purchasing them is necessary. Keep in mind that while they are still part of the Game Pass library, you can benefit from discounts on your purchases, so don’t wait and you’ll save some money.

  • Common’Hood 
  • Escape Academy
  • Exoprimal 
  • Figment 
  • Insurgency Sandstorm
  • Those Who Remain

Another Blizzard game is nice, but it’s a slow start to the year

It’s quite exciting to notice that the classic game Diablo has been included in the PC Game Pass collection. This move not only strengthens the pattern of gradually incorporating Activision Blizzard games into Game Pass, but it also represents a significant milestone in gaming history. While Diablo 2 is undeniably where the franchise gained immense popularity and success, it wouldn’t have reached such heights without the groundwork laid by the original Diablo.

To put it simply, starting Game Pass in 2025 with these changes appears rather understated. The majority of the new inclusions are games that were already part of the Ultimate and PC Game Pass, now moving to the Basic version.

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Looking forward, the upcoming months might offer a variety of engaging games for gaming enthusiasts. Microsoft is planning to unveil several significant first-party titles this year, among them Compulsion Games’ South of Midnight and id Software’s DOOM: The Dark Ages. It would be great if we could get some release dates announced soon.

I’m still eager to find out about the ongoing addition of various Call of Duty games to the Microsoft Store, a development that’s persisted for several months. We should gather more information about this as soon as possible.

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2025-01-07 18:39