Ten day‑one blockbusters and evergreen bangers that still make Ultimate worth it—despite the 2025 price hike.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate just got pricier—and clearer. On October 1, 2025, Xbox reorganized Game Pass into Essential, Premium, and Ultimate, with Ultimate at $29.99/month and the only plan (besides PC Game Pass) that still includes day‑one releases. If you’re wondering whether the new sticker price is still worth it, start here. These ten picks mix recent day‑one drops with evergreen comfort‑food—games that showcase cloud perks, cross‑save convenience, and the kind of long‑tail value subscriptions were built for. We prioritized first‑party mainstays and heavy hitters that regularly update, so you’re not chasing expiring deals. Fire up your backlog: Ultimate may cost more, but these are the titles that keep paying you back in playtime.
10) Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (2024)
Black Ops 6 arriving day‑one on Game Pass wasn’t just a headline—it was a watershed for value. This campaign leans into spy‑thriller swagger with stealthy infiltration, punchy firefights, and mission hubs that invite playful experimentation and replays. Zombies remains a co‑op time vortex, perfect for squads that want nightly rituals built around Easter‑egg hunts, weapon metas, and round pushing. Meanwhile, multiplayer mixes classic lane maps with expressive movement tech and plenty of progression ladders to climb. Because it’s first‑party now, the game’s seasonal cadence and meaty free updates feel like dividends on your sub, not nickel‑and‑diming. Ultimate’s cloud play helps you squeeze in a few matches anywhere, and cross‑save means your guns and operators follow across devices. If you keep a shooter in your rotation, BO6 alone can fuel months of play—weekend events, battle pass grinds, and league‑ready arsenals—making Ultimate’s higher sticker price easier to swallow, especially for friends who squad up nightly. And Zombies never sleeps.
9) Starfield (2023)
Starfield remains Game Pass’s flagship time sink: a sprawling, systems‑rich space RPG where curiosity is always rewarded. Chart bespoke starships, role‑play a smuggler or scientist, and make hard choices that ripple across factions from the United Colonies to the Freestar Collective. The opening hours are measured, but the game blooms as you bounce between handcrafted cities, eerie anomalies, and emergent encounters in deep space. Shipbuilding is a hobby unto itself; outpost networks turn stray planets into supply chains; and the Constellation questline quietly pulls you toward big, mind‑bending reveals. New Game Plus reframes the journey in clever ways, encouraging multiple playthroughs without wasting time. Whether you’re photo‑mode sightseeing or min‑maxing particle beam builds, there’s always a new rabbit hole to tumble down. It’s the sort of long‑tail epic that makes an all‑you‑can‑play sub feel like a cheat code—especially because it lives in the library long‑term as a first‑party release and keeps receiving meaningful updates and performance refinements. Over time.
8) Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 (2024)
If Ultimate is about wow‑per‑dollar, Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 is pure spectacle with purpose. Asobo turns aviation into a life sim: aerial firefighting, cargo hauling, search‑and‑rescue, agricultural crop‑dusting, VIP charters, bush trips, even hot‑air balloons—each with bespoke mechanics and progression. It’s a technical flex, too: photogrammetry cities, live weather, beautiful atmospherics, and richly modeled aircraft that make controller flying approachable while rewarding sim hardware. New structured careers give you short‑session goals as well as long‑term mastery, and the community marketplace keeps the world fresh with aircraft and scenery. Cloud play is shockingly usable for sightseeing laps on the couch; a Series S or modest laptop becomes a window seat. Whether you’re learning IFR procedures or buzzing a friend’s hometown, MSFS 2024 is that jaw‑drop game you use to justify the sub to non‑gamers. It’s relaxing, educational, and endlessly replayable—an evergreen showpiece that makes Ultimate feel premium every time you take off. Career ladders keep goals clear and satisfying.
7) Indiana Jones and the Great Circle (2024)
MachineGames finally gave Indy the game he deserves: a first‑person adventure that marries whip‑smart puzzles, crunchy brawling, and globe‑trotting set pieces worthy of a matinee. Set in 1937 between Raiders and Last Crusade, you’ll thread catacombs, bluff jackboots, decipher relics, and sprint from calamity with John Williams‑esque brass in your ears. The whip isn’t a gimmick; it’s traversal tool, combat equalizer, and puzzle key, giving encounters a playful rhythm as you yank guns, cross gaps, and stun foes. The campaign is streamlined enough for a weekend binge yet hides optional paths, journals, and relic detours for completionists. A recent anniversary update added New Game Plus and performance tweaks, encouraging second runs to see alternate outcomes and shiny cosmetics. As a day‑one first‑party drop, it’s quintessential Game Pass value: a blockbuster you can knock out in a few cozy evenings without buyer’s remorse, then recommend confidently to your whole friends‑list. Cloud streaming helps everyone sample it instantly, anywhere on any device.
6) Avowed (2025)
Obsidian’s return to Eora trades isometric tactics for nimble first‑person adventuring, but the studio’s trademarks—sharp writing, reactive quests, and meaningful builds—are gloriously intact. Each island zone oozes color and personality, from luminous fungal groves to sun‑bleached coasts where rival factions strain polite smiles over simmering grudges. Combat flows as a satisfying rhythm between steel and spell: bull‑rush with a shield bash, then weave in frost lashes, explosive arrows, or soul‑anchored buffs to bend fights your way. It’s happily role‑play‑forward, too, letting a silver tongue or specialist background change outcomes without a sword drawn. Post‑launch updates improved performance, rebalanced enemies, and added new abilities, while quality‑of‑life tweaks smoothed crafting, menus, and respecs. Avowed isn’t the longest RPG you’ll play this year, yet its density makes it ideal subscription fare: big enough to satisfy, compact enough to finish, and flexible enough for a second run that feels meaningfully different. Landing day‑one on Game Pass sealed the deal for Ultimate members.
5) Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II (2024)
Hellblade II proves “short” and “cinematic” need not be dirty words. In roughly eight taut hours, Ninja Theory delivers a sensory marvel: binaural voices that needle doubts and muster courage; Icelandic vistas that look documentary‑grade; and intimate, bruising combat that values timing and intent over button‑mashing. Senua’s journey feels human—raw with grief, resilient in small triumphs—and puzzles braid environmental perception with folklore in ways that invite quiet focus. It’s a headphones game, a lights‑dimmed game, and a show‑your‑friends game that routinely elicits a stunned “wow.” The campaign encourages revisits, whether for collectibles, photo‑mode compositions, or simply to inhabit its world again without pressure. On Game Pass, that premium presentation becomes an easy weeknight watch‑through rather than a risky purchase, and cloud play lets curious friends sample the spectacle instantly. If Ultimate’s price left you wincing, a single evening with Hellblade II’s audiovisual tour de force makes a persuasive counterargument—and a perfect demo of Xbox hardware chops. Today.
4) Forza Horizon 5 (2021)
Forza Horizon 5 remains Xbox’s happiest open‑world playground: a sun‑splashed Mexico of jungles, deserts, switchback canyons, and dusty towns built for cruising. It’s the rare racer that welcomes everyone. Newcomers can toggle assists and treat it like an interactive travelogue; veterans tune absurd engine swaps, hunt wheelspins, and chase leaderboard tenths in Rivals. The Festival Playlist ensures there’s always a reason to hop in—weekly challenges, limited‑time cars, themed championships, and goofy PR stunts that double as driving lessons. EventLab turns players into zany level designers, birthing bowling alleys, Hot Wheels‑style tracks, and skill‑chain obstacle courses. The base game alone is hundreds of hours deep; Ultimate’s cloud play makes quick seasonal tasks painless on lunch breaks, while cross‑save keeps your garage synced everywhere. Expansions are extra, but the core Horizon loop—earn cars, explore, express—makes this a perennial comfort‑food install and a powerful argument for keeping Ultimate active year‑round. It’s social, gorgeous, and reliably generous with meaningful weekly rewards.
3) Sea of Thieves (2018)
Sea of Thieves has quietly become one of gaming’s great hangout spaces, a sandbox where tall tales, slapstick disasters, and improbable heroics bloom every session. Rare’s shared world is simple to grasp—sail, loot, sell—but endlessly variable thanks to unpredictable crews, ghost fleets, krakens, and storms that turn routine voyages into capers. Seasonal updates keep layering story beats, world events, cosmetics, and quality‑of‑life touches without bloating the core loop. Play solo as a stealthy sloop rat or crew a galleon with friends and trade sea shanties for cannon broadsides; either way, emergent drama finds you. Cross‑play and cross‑save make assembling a crew trivial, and cloud streaming lets deckhands hop aboard from almost anywhere. As an evergreen service game included with Game Pass, it’s the definition of recurring value: endless shared memories for the price of a month. If Ultimate costs more now, Thieves pays you back in stories you’ll retell for years—complete with screenshots of grog‑fueled triumphs. Together.
2) Diablo IV (2023)
Diablo IV is the subscription’s forever snack: a dark action‑RPG you can binge for a season or nibble between bigger releases. Each class has a distinct fantasy—Rogue’s kinetic ballet, Necromancer’s macabre orchestra, Barbarian’s blunt catharsis, Sorcerer’s elemental fireworks, and Druid’s shapeshifting brutality—while buildcrafting hums with synergies that reward tinkering. Sanctuary’s open regions stitch campaign chapters, Helltides, Legion events, and world bosses into a perpetual to‑do list, perfect for thirty‑minute blasts or late‑night marathons. Seasonal resets keep the meta lively with fresh mechanics and uniques, and couch co‑op remains a rare, glorious option for dungeon‑crawling dates. Cross‑play and cross‑progression mean friends gather easily regardless of platform, and the endgame—Nightmare dungeons, whispers, Pit challenges—scales appetite wonderfully. As a Game Pass staple, Diablo IV fills the gaps between tentpoles without feeling like filler; it’s comfort food with bite, forever ready when boredom hits and the loot itch returns. It simply lives there, always installed, always devilishly tempting to revisit.
1) Hi‑Fi Rush (2023)
Hi‑Fi Rush is the surprise‑and‑delight spirit of Game Pass distilled: a rhythm‑action romp that plays like a Saturday‑morning cartoon conducted by a metronome. Every swing, dodge, parry, and grapple snaps to the beat; even platforms and enemy telegraphs pulse with the soundtrack, helping newcomers feel stylish while speedrunners chase immaculate S‑ranks. Over time the combat blossoms with companion cameos, tag‑team abilities, and crowd‑control toys that let you improvise rock‑opera combos. The visual direction is a confident cel‑shaded pop‑art blast, the gags actually land, and the campaign’s brisk length means it respects your time without skimping on crescendo moments. As a day‑one first‑party drop that never left the library, it embodies the subscription’s best trick: surfacing something fresh, polished, and joyous that you might have otherwise skipped. Whenever Ultimate’s price nags, a few chapters of Hi‑Fi Rush obliterate buyer’s remorse with pure fun and infectious groove. It’s replayable, streamable on the couch, and perfect for show‑and‑tell nights with friends and family.
