The first wave of Xbox Game Pass additions for August 2026 has been revealed, and while there are no exceptional surprises, there’s a decent bunch of existing games that were previously exclusive to the Ultimate tier of the subscription and are now moving over to the cheaper Premium version. Also, Game Freak’s decent but flawed stab at the Soulslike genre, Beast of Reincarnation, arrives as a day-one Game Pass Ultimate game today for players on console and PC.
Those subscribers will also get access to the Gears of War: E-Day Early Access Open Beta on August 6. Here’s everything joining Game Pass Ultimate and the Netflix-like library’s various other tiers in the first wave of additions for August 2026:
- Heretic + Hexen (Cloud, Console, Handheld, and PC) – August 4
Now with Game Pass Premium; joining Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass- Beast of Reincarnation (Cloud, XBOX Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) – August 4
Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass- Monsters Are Coming! (Cloud, XBOX Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) – August 6
Now with Game Pass Premium; joining Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass- PowerWash Simulator 2 (Cloud, XBOX Series X|S, and PC) – August 6
Now with Game Pass Premium; joining Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass- Bounty Star (Cloud, XBOX Series X|S, and PC) – August 11
Now with Game Pass Premium; joining Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass- Date Everything! (Cloud, XBOX Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) – August 11
Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, PC Game Pass- Grounded 2 (Game Preview) (Cloud, XBOX Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) – August 11
Now with Game Pass Premium; joining Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass- Ball x Pit (Cloud, XBOX Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) – August 12
Now with Game Pass Premium; joining Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass- Cricket 26 (Cloud, Console, and PC) – August 13
Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, PC Game Pass- Mio: Memories in Orbit (Cloud, XBOX Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) – August 13
Now with Game Pass Premium; joining Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass- Sandustry (Game Preview) (PC) – August 13
Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass- Egging On (Cloud XBOX Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) – August 18
Now with Game Pass Premium; joining Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass
First, a refresher on the difference between Game Pass Ultimate and Game Pass Premium. Ultimate is $23 a month and Premium is just $15. The big difference is that Premium doesn’t get day-one games and other additions at the same time as Ultimate. Instead, they filter down to the lower tier on a rolling basis. Basically, for an extra $5 on top of the cost of paying for access to Xbox multiplayer each month, fans get access to a smaller but still decent-sized library of games. And in August Premium is getting some good stuff.
The highlight is Ball x Pit, an easy-to-pick-up but very hard-to-put-down roguelite bullet heaven game that mixes elements of Breakout with Vampire Survivors. It just got its final free update, too. Mio: Memories in Orbit is another good Game Pass Premium addition. It’s an evocative, atmospheric action platformer metroidvania with some really beautiful art, even if the combat is a bit under-cooked. Monsters Are Coming! and PowerWash Simulator 2 are also both excellent.
One game not to sleep on this month is Sandustry. It’s a day-and-date Game Pass Ultimate release from strategy game publisher Hooded Horse. It’s a 2D, lo-fi open-world survival crafting game that looks a bit like Terraria with a jetpack. The Steam demo last year got a fair bit of positive buzz. And if you’ve never played Firewatch before, you’ve got just over a week left before it leaves Game Pass on August 15.
