A day after Xbox suffered a massive service outage (again), the newest iteration of the gaming company’s most iconic title, Halo: Campaign Evolved, is now available to play through Game Pass.
Between restructurings, layoffs, hardware price increases, and several outages, it’s been a hard year for Xbox. Its flagship video game subscription service—Xbox Game Pass—has also been through the wringer, with a steep price hike taking effect last October, followed by a smaller, yet surprising price drop in April. But, if you’re a dedicated gamer, it’s hard to beat the allure of spending a set amount of money each month for access to hundreds of games across console, PC, and cloud.
With Halo now available on Game Pass, it might be time to turn your Xbox subscription back on. This week and next, we’ll see some heavy hitters debut on this video game streaming service. Here’s everything that’s coming to Game Pass and how to decide if it’s worth paying for.
New to Game Pass for July 28 – August 2026
Here’s what’s dropping this week and the week of August 3rd:
1. Halo: Campaign Evolved – July 28
Coming to:Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
Remember Halo? Microsoft has remade and modernized the first campaign of its famous game as Halo: Campaign Evolved. It won’t include the multiplayer modes from the original release, but players can enjoy online co-op, three new missions, and additional weapons, vehicles, and enemies. Cortana, I think it’s safe to say we’re just getting started.
2. Mistfall Hunter – July 30
Coming to:Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
Available on the first day it drops, Mistfall Hunter is a dark fantasy extraction action role-playing game from Bellring Games that’s full of monsters and loot.
3. Corsair Cove – July 31
Coming to:Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
This sprawling pirate-themed city builder sets sail on Game Pass for Ultimate and PC subscribers at the end of the month.
4. Heretic + Hexen – August 4
Originally released in the ’90s, this first-person shooter game from Raven Software has been restored and enhanced by Nightdive Studios.
5. Beast of Reincarnation – August 4
Coming to:Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
Game Freak, the developer behind Nintendo’s Pokémon games, has created its first Triple-A game with Beast of Reincarnation. This action RPG follows a woman and her dog through a post-apocalyptic Japan that has been corrupted by a mysterious creature.
Xbox also released Shift at Midnight and Hell Is Us on Game Pass last week.
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Here’s what’s leaving the service on July 31:
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How Much Does Game Pass Cost?
The original promise of Xbox Game Pass was that if you give Microsoft money every month, you’d get a large collection of games to play without any additional costs. That dream remains mostly intact, though several price changes and plan adjustments have made things a little more complicated for the game streaming service.
Here’s how much each Xbox membership currently costs and what you get for the money:
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Essential:At $9.99 per month, Essential is Xbox’s cheapest plan, offering around 50 games—mostly Xbox originals—as well as cloud gaming and online multiplayer.
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Premium: Increasing to $14.99 per month for the Premium plan will up your number of available games to 200. It also promises access to new Xbox-published games within one year of launch.
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Ultimate: For $22.99 per month, the Ultimate plan promises 500+ titles and new games on day one (except for new Call of Duty entries), and offers access to EA Play, Fortnite Crew, and Ubisoft+ Classics.
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PC: For $13.99 per month, PC Game Pass offers 300+ games, new games on day one, and access to EA Play.
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Is Game Pass Worth the Money?
Paying for a subscription is not the same as owning a game outright. Just like video streaming services, your Game Pass library is constantly changing. New titles are added each month to bring in subscribers, but others are also removed to make room. You’ll need to keep track of how long games will be available to make sure you don’t miss out.
As an example, let’s say you plan to play Halo: Campaign Evolved (starting at $49.99), Beast of Reincarnation (starting at $59.99), Dune: Awakening (starting at $49.99), and Gears of War: E-Day (starting at $69.99) this year. If you plan to play all four before the end of the year (roughly six months from now), you’d spend $137.94 through Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and $229.96 to buy the standard editions. So Game Pass Ultimate could save you $92.
Of course, there are a lot of caveats here. While you’re saving money, you won’t ever own the games this way. And since titles are routinely removed from Game Pass, you’ll want to pay attention and play strategically. On the other hand, the next month, you’ll also gain access to more titles. There are some benefits to each method. It all comes down to how you game.
You can also cancel your monthly subscription before your billing date and turn it back on when titles you want to play pop up. Rotating subscriptions can be a good way to keep your monthly subscription costs low.
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As PCMag’s editor of how to content, I have to cover a wide variety of topics and also make our stories accessible to everyday users. Considering my history as a technical writer, copywriter, and all-around freelancer covering baseball, comics, and more at various outlets, I am used to making myself into an expert.
I believe tech corporations are bad, but you might as well know how to use technology in everyday life. Want more how to content delivered right to your inbox? Sign up for the tips and tricks newsletter that I curate three times a week.
My job as how-to guru means I use just about every gadget under the sun, so I can figure out how everything works. I work from a Lenovo ThinkPad running Windows 11, but also have a very large Dell Inspiron 17 3000 and Apple silicon MacBook. I have a Google Pixel 6a for personal use and use a Galaxy Z Flip 4 for additional Samsung-related testing. For iOS coverage, an iPhone 13 mini works like a charm, though it’s already becoming a little long in the tooth.
My desktop situation includes a dual monitor setup with a modest Acer monitor. I also use a Logitech vertical mouse (who can use these ThinkPad trackpads) and a Havit keyboard (my first mechanical keyboard; I love it but my wife hates it!). I’m a recent convert from wired headphones; I have Anker Soundcore Liberty Air wireless earbuds for personal use and have taken to the Sennheiser HD 450BT headphones for work.
Whenever I have a second to myself, I’m probably gaming on my Nintendo Switch 2, Steam Deck, or Xbox Series S. I also still have a bunch of classic consoles lying around as well.
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