Xbox Game Pass Adds Day-One Game with Parkour, Drama, and Stealth

Sci-fi adventure Aphelion is now available on Xbox Game Pass, joining two of its tiers on day one. It arrives as the 13th new title added to the service in April 2026 and the 67th new Xbox Game Pass release of the year.

Aphelion is the latest title from Don’t Nod, the French studio best known for narrative-driven games such as Life Is Strange and Jusant. Originally revealed during the Xbox Games Showcase in June 2025, the game follows European Space Agency astronauts Ariane Montclair and Thomas Cross after a crash landing separates them on Persephone, an icy planet they are trying to survey as a potential new home for humanity. Aphelion thus offers Don’t Nod’s signature focus on character drama, but pairs it with a more physical survival framework: Ariane’s sections emphasize parkour-style traversal and alien planet exploration, while Thomas’s injured perspective is more centered on observation and investigation. The structure is further complicated by stealth sequences built around evading a hostile life form, giving the overall package an unusual combination of cinematic parkour, relationship-driven sci-fi drama, and tense survival gameplay.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Subscribers Have New Perks to Claim Right Now

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate adds over a dozen new perks, ranging from in-game currency and cosmetics to complimentary subscriptions and comic books.

Aphelion Bolsters Xbox Game Pass Sci-Fi Library

As previously announced, Aphelion joined Xbox Game Pass on April 28, debuting as the sixth day-one arrival to reach the service since the start of the month. It is currently limited to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass, which is a typical restriction for brand-new titles. Based on Don’t Nod’s track record on Microsoft’s subscription service, XGP Premium tier subscribers may see Aphelion join their library as early as winter 2026.

The cinematic action adventure marks the third Don’t Nod title to join Microsoft’s service in the last six months, after Lost Records: Bloom and Rage and Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, both of which are still available to subscribers. It not only bolsters the Xbox Game Pass sci-fi catalog, but does so in a distinctive way, with a story that the French studio crafted in collaboration with the European Space Agency. Persephone itself reflects that approach: the fictional icy world is framed as the newly discovered ninth planet in the Solar System, directly echoing the real-world hypothesis that such a body may still be hidden in its outer reaches.

All Upcoming Xbox Game Pass Arrivals with Confirmed Release Dates

Date	Game	Game Pass Tier(s)	Platform(s)	Notes
Apr 28	Aphelion	Ultimate, PC	Cloud, Handheld, PC, Series X/S	Day-one release.
Apr 29	Trepang2	Ultimate, PC, Premium	Cloud, PC, Series X/S
Apr 30	Sledding Game	Ultimate, PC	Cloud, PC, Series X/S	Day-one release.
Apr 30	Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era	Ultimate, PC	PC	Game Preview; day-one release.
Apr 30	TerraTech Legion	Ultimate, PC	Cloud, PC, Series X/S	Day-one release.
Apr 30	Inkonbini: One Store. Many Stories.	Ultimate, PC	Cloud, PC, Series X/S	Day-one release.
May 5	Final Fantasy V	Ultimate, PC, Premium	Cloud, PC, Series X/S
May 19	Forza Horizon 6	Ultimate, PC	Cloud, PC, Series X/S	Day-one release.
May 21	Beastro	Ultimate	Series X/S	Day-one release.
May 27	Echo Generation 2	Ultimate, PC	Cloud, PC, Series X/S	Day-one release.
May 28	Crashout Crew	Ultimate, PC	Cloud, PC, Series X/S	Day-one release.
Jul 13	Ascend to Zero	Ultimate, PC	Cloud, PC, Series X/S	Day-one release.
Aug 4	Beast of Reincarnation	Ultimate, PC	Cloud, PC, Series X/S	Day-one release.
Aug 14	Grave Seasons	Ultimate, PC	Cloud, PC, Series X/S	Day-one release.

Considering the current month is at its end, an unusually large number of titles are still scheduled to reach Xbox Game Pass in April 2026. Five of them remain on the calendar: Trepang2, Sledding Game, Heroes of Might & Magic: Olden Era, TerraTech Legion, and Inkonbini. Trepang2 is the only one currently set for April 29, while the other four are scheduled to follow on the 30th.

Guess the games from the emojis.

Easy (120s)Medium (90s)Hard (60s)

Looking toward May 2026, its first title will arrive in the form of Final Fantasy 5. The full wave 1 lineup will likely be officially announced on or around the same day that the JRPG joins the service, May 5.