Indie co-op hit Absolum is now available on every tier of Xbox Game Pass except one. Its arrival marks the 11th addition to Microsoft’s content catalog in March and the 49th Xbox Game Pass release of 2026.
Absolum is a critically acclaimed roguelite with beat-’em-up-like combat that is fully playable in co-op or solo. Developed by French studio DotEmu and Montreal-based Guard Crush Games, it was originally released in October 2025 to highly favorable reviews, as underlined by its 86 average score and 97% recommendation rate on OpenCritic. Player response broadly matched its critical reception, with Absolum accumulating an 89.97% positive user review rating on Steam and a 4.8-star average on the PlayStation Store in its first five and a half months, with each figure based on roughly 4,000 owner ratings. How those scores compare to its Xbox Store reviews remains to be seen because Absolum skipped Microsoft’s consoles at launch.
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Absolum Joins Xbox Game Pass Alongside Series X Port
Absolum‘s belated Series X/S version is officially available as of today, March 25. Its launch coincides with the roguelite’s arrival on Xbox and PC Game Pass. While the Series X/S port is technically a day-one addition to the catalog, both versions of Absolum can already be accessed by Xbox Game Pass users on the Premium tier, in addition to those paying for the true premium that is the Ultimate membership. Since Microsoft’s streaming infrastructure runs on custom Series X models, Absolum can now also be played via Xbox Cloud Gaming in supported regions.
Drag weapons to fill the grid
Drag weapons to fill the grid
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Absolum can be played solo from start to finish, but it works best as a cooperative experience, with its full campaign available to explore in online or local co-op for two players. The couch co-op mode does not use split-screen; instead having both players share the same screen. Multiplayer expands the roguelite’s strategic options through team combinations available only to pairs. The 2025 title also includes a wide range of accessibility settings, allowing players to tailor the difficulty to their preferences. While such a broad approach can be risky because catering to everyone can mean failing to impress anyone, Dotemu executed it well enough for Absolum to become one of the highest-rated two-player co-op games of 2025.
Despite Barely Having Any Day-One Games, March 2026 Was Another Huge Month for Xbox Game Pass
Despite featuring only a modest number of day-one releases, March 2026 is still shaping up to be a meaningful month for Xbox Game Pass. Much of that is down to the makeup of this month’s 14-game lineup, more than a third of which consists of AAA titles, including Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Cyberpunk 2077, and Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. While not as mainstream as those big-budget projects, fan-favorite indies such as Disco Elysium and Absolum are also playing a notable role this month, both in terms of quality and variety that they bring to the table.
Looking at the slightly bigger picture, the March 2026 lineup illustrates how even a comparatively quiet period for new releases can still materially strengthen the Xbox Game Pass library, underlining its core pitch of being the best value proposition in the entire gaming industry. Microsoft has been particularly keen to emphasize that dynamic since the backlash to its late-2025 price hike, which raised the cost of Game Pass Ultimate from $19.99 to $29.99 and marked the service’s third increase in three years.
Busy Days Are Ahead for Xbox Game Pass
Three more titles are due to join the Xbox Game Pass library in the final days of Q1 2026, beginning with city builder Nova Roma on March 26. The Long Dark is then scheduled to arrive on March 30, followed by Resident Evil 7: Biohazard 24 hours later. That’s only the beginning of what’s shaping up to be a super busy early spring period for the Xbox service.
Xbox Game Pass Spring 2026 Release Calendar
|
Date |
Game |
Game Pass Tier(s) |
Platform(s) |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Mar 25 |
Absolum |
Ultimate, Premium, PC |
Cloud, PC, Series X/S |
Day-one (Series X/S) release. |
|
Mar 26 |
Nova Roma |
Ultimate, PC |
PC |
Game Preview; day-one release. |
|
Mar 30 |
The Long Dark |
Ultimate, Premium, PC |
Cloud, Console, PC |
|
|
Mar 31 |
Resident Evil 7: Biohazard |
Ultimate, Premium, PC |
Cloud, Console, PC |
|
|
Apr 2 |
Barbie Horse Trails |
Ultimate, Premium, PC |
Cloud, Console, Handheld, PC |
|
|
Apr 2 |
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 |
Premium |
Cloud, Handheld, PC, Series X/S |
Available on PC GP and XGP Ultimate since Apr 2025. |
|
Apr 7 |
Final Fantasy 4 |
Ultimate, Premium, PC |
Cloud, PC, Series X/S |
|
|
Apr 14 |
Replaced |
Ultimate, PC |
Cloud, PC, Series X/S |
Day-one release. |
|
Apr 23 |
Kiln |
Ultimate, PC |
Cloud, Handheld, PC, Series X/S |
Day-one release for spring 2026. |
|
Apr 28 |
Aphelion |
Ultimate, PC |
Cloud, PC, Series X/S |
Day-one release. |
|
May 19 |
Forza Horizon 6 |
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. |
Next month’s Wave 1 lineup is likely to be announced on April 7 in the early afternoon ET, based on Microsoft’s usual catalog announcement cadence. Two more titles will join the service by then: Barbie Horse Trails and Final Fantasy 4. Beyond that, cyberpunk platformer Replaced and inventive pottery brawler Kiln have already been confirmed as day-one Xbox Game Pass releases for April 2026. Also joining next month’s lineup is Aphelion, an otherworldly sci-fi stealth adventure that wears its Alien influences on its sleeve.
- Released
-
October 9, 2025
- ESRB
-
Everyone 10+ / Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood, Mild Language, Use of Tobacco
- Developer(s)
-
Guard Crush Games, Supamonks, Dotemu
- Publisher(s)
-
Dotemu, Gamera Games
- Multiplayer
-
Online Co-Op, Local Co-Op
