Xbox Game Pass October Lineup: Gears of War: E-Day and 11 More Games

What if you could jump into a brand-new Gears of War, fight alongside your friends in a co-op gladiator arena, and build a city on the back of a space whale—all in the same month? That's exactly what Xbox Game Pass has lined up for you in October. The subscription service just revealed its first wave of games, and it's stacked with day-one releases and big-name titles.

The headliner is Gears of War: E-Day, a Xbox console exclusive that's perfect if you're craving something gleefully loud, dumb, and violent. It's available now, alongside Minecraft Dungeons 2, which just launched. While Minecraft Dungeons 2 has a few flaws, it's a lot more ambitious than its predecessor, so dungeon crawlers should definitely give it a shot.

October 8 brings a trio of titles: Echo Weaver, an adventure game where time is your greatest resource; Forever Ago, a brand-new release focused on redemption as you set off on a single-player road trip adventure; and Neon Abyss 2, rounding out the day's offerings.

Mark your calendar for October 13, because that's when Battlefield 6 arrives for Game Pass Ultimate subscribers. If large-scale warfare isn't your thing, you can also check out Deep Dish Dungeon, a survival exploration game with hand-crafted dungeons and metroidvania elements, and Valor Mortis, a first-person soulslike set during the Napoleonic Wars era.

October 15 is packed with day-one releases across genres. You can shoot the Heeler family—with a camera, you sicko—in Bluey's Happy Snaps, or team up in Chained Beasts, a co-op gladiator roguelike where you fight side by side with your comrade in arms and chains. Then on October 16, PC players can build a city on the back of a Space Whale and learn to coexist with it as you explore the cosmos in Beyond These Stars.

But don't get too comfortable—several games are leaving Game Pass on October 15. You have only a few more days to try titles like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Evil West before they're gone. So if either of those has been sitting in your backlog, now's the time to dive in.

With this many games hitting the service, your October gaming schedule is pretty much set. Whether you're into brutal combat, cozy adventures, or building cities on cosmic whales, there's something here for you. What are you most excited to play first? Let us know in the comments!