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Game Pass moves fast enough in any given month that it's easy to lose a game you meant to finish, or miss one worth starting, in the shuffle between waves. September delivered two separate addition waves plus a genuinely large exit list — here's the full picture.
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What Was Added This Month
Wave 1 opened the month with seven titles: Shelldiver (September 1), Speedrunners 2: King of Speed (September 3), Dice a Million (September 4), Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (September 8), The Royal Writ and Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage (both September 10), and RuneScape: Dragonwilds (September 15).
Wave 2 was bigger — 13 titles including four Day One releases. Marvel Cosmic Invasion, Planet of Lana 2, Routine, and Ultimate Sheep Raccoon landed September 16, followed by Kernel Hearts (Day One) and Ninja Gaiden 4 on September 17. Dune: Awakening and Well Dweller (Day One) arrived September 22, Mad King Redemption on September 23, and a second Call of Duty title, Black Ops 6, joined September 25 — meaning subscribers effectively got two full Black Ops games in the same month. Minecraft Dungeons 2 closed out the month as a Day One addition on September 29.
What's Leaving
The mid-month exit list on September 15 was one of the larger ones in a while: NBA 2K26 left first on September 6, followed by Commandos: Origins, Cricket 24, Cyberpunk 2077 (console and cloud only — it stays on PC Game Pass), Dead Cells, Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor, Frostpunk 2 (PC), Mullet Madjack, Spiritfarer, Superliminal, and Train Sim World 5. Microsoft applied at least 20% discounts on all of these between September 6 and 15 for anyone who wanted to buy rather than lose access.
September 30 brings a second wave out the door: Atomfall, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, Little Nightmares 2 Enhanced Edition, Little Rocket Lab, Sifu, SOPA: Tale of the Stolen Potato, Sworn, and Terminull Brigade. As always, the purchase discount window applies before removal if any of these were on your list.
What to actually check before the window closes
- Buy before it's gone, not after. Once a game leaves Game Pass, any discount tied to the departure disappears with it — decide before the listed exit date, not on it.
- Platform-specific exits. A handful of removals (like Cyberpunk 2077 this month) only apply to console and cloud, while the PC version stays in the library — always check the platform breakdown before assuming a title is fully gone.
- Day One doesn't mean permanent. A Day One Game Pass release can still leave the service later; it just means it launched in the catalog rather than being added afterward.
What Came Next
October opened with Keeper on October 2 (also moving into the Premium tier) and Gears of War: E-Day as a Day One release on October 6. Echo Weaver and Neon Abyss 2 follow on October 8, Deep Dish Dungeon and Valor Mortis on October 13, and Beyond These Stars and Chained Beasts on October 15. If you let your subscription lapse after September, E-Day alone is a reason to come back.
Bottom line
Between two Call of Duty entries, a Day One Ninja Gaiden 4, and a genuinely deep exit list, September was one of the busier months for Game Pass churn in a while. If Cyberpunk 2077 or Dead Cells were on your list, they have already left console and cloud, so check whether you still have a discounted purchase option. Want the console side of the free-games picture too? Our PlayStation Plus September 2026 lineup covers what Sony's subscribers are getting this month.
For more ways to play for less, our Best Gaming Deals hub covers free games, subscriptions and how to spot a real discount.
Sources: PureXbox — October 2026 lineup, WindowsReport — October 2026, PureXbox — games leaving early September, WindowsReport — games leaving September 30, Insider Gaming — Wave 1, Insider Gaming — Wave 2
