Xbox Game Pass Expands Again With a Big 2023 Open-World Game and a Fresh 2025 RPG

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is now available on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. Its arrival coincides with the addition of a 2025 RPG to the Premium tier of Xbox Game Pass.

Developed by Ubisoft subsidiary Massive Entertainment, Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is the latest video game based on James Cameron’s sci-fi franchise. It was released for PC and consoles in February 2025, generating predominantly positive press buzz, as underlined by its “Strong” rating on OpenCritic, based on an average score of 80 and an 83% reviewer recommendation rate. Critics praised Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora‘s authentic recreation of Pandora and compelling combat, while citing repetitive side content and a weak story as the game’s main drawbacks.

Xbox Game Pass Adds 2 Day-One Games, One With 4-Player Co-Op

Two more day-one releases join the Xbox Game Pass library, with one of them being a wacky early access title with four-player co-op.

Xbox Game Pass Rounds Out February 2026 Wave 1 Lineup with Two Final Additions

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora has now joined Microsoft’s subscription service for the first time ever, debuting on the PC Game Pass and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate tiers earlier today. The February 17 catalog update, which marks the end of this month’s Wave 1 lineup, also expanded the Xbox Game Pass Premium library, which now includes Avowed. Obsidian Entertainment’s fantasy RPG joins the middle tier of the service just one day shy of its first anniversary. Like any other title developed by a Microsoft subsidiary, Avowed has been part of the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate catalog from day one. Following today’s update, it’s available across every tier of the service besides Essential.

Who’s That Character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Who’s That Character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and Avowed formally round out the Xbox Game Pass Wave 1 lineup for February 2026. Based on Microsoft’s announcement patterns, the Wave 2 roster may be officially confirmed later today, February 17, most likely around 9 a.m. ET. The lineup will include the 1.0 release of Towerborne, Stoic Studio’s side-scrolling ARPG that’s scheduled to exit early access on February 17, which is also when it’s set to join Xbox Game Pass Premium. The Game Preview version of the colorful title has been available to PC Game Pass and Ultimate-tier subscribers since February 2025.

Upcoming Xbox Game Pass Titles with Confirmed Release Dates

Date	Game	Game Pass Tier(s)	Platform(s)	Notes
Feb 17	Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora	Ultimate, PC	Cloud, Handheld, PC, Series X/S
Feb 17	Avowed	Premium	Cloud, PC, Series X/S	Available on XGP Premium and PC GP since Feb 2025.
Feb 26	Towerborne	Premium	Cloud, PC, Series X/S	Day-one 1.0 release. Available in Game Preview on XGP Ultimate and PC GP since Apr 2025.
Mar 5	Planet of Lana 2	Ultimate, PC	Cloud, Console, PC	Day-one release.
Mar 12	Replaced	Ultimate, PC	Cloud, PC, Series X/S	Day-one release.
Mar 26	Nova Roma	Ultimate, PC	PC	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 for summer 2026.

With Xbox Game Pass set to lose five titles in February 2026, the ongoing month is on track to deliver a substantial net gain for its content catalog. The service has already added 14 titles since February 1, with the Wave 2 lineup still to be revealed. That’s already a massive improvement compared to February 2025, which saw only eight new arrivals and twice as many departures.

Looking further ahead, Planet of Lana 2, Replaced, Nova Roma, Forza Horizon 6, and Beast of Reincarnation are all scheduled to join Xbox Game Pass between March and August 2026, having already received concrete release dates. Over 20 other titles with tentative 2026 launch windows have previously been confirmed as day-one additions to Microsoft’s on-demand game library. These include Tropico 7, Witchbrook, Wildekin, Super Meat Boy 3D, and Subnautica 2, among others.