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Xbox Game Pass is closing May on a high note with Subnautica 2 leading the charge. That game sold 2 million copies in its first days, a wild number for an early access title wrapped in legal drama. Now Microsoft is stacking June with five confirmed additions, and a few of them look genuinely weird.
Here's the full list of what's coming, what's worth your time, and why this month feels different for the subscription. (Spoiler: June is weirder than May, and that's a good thing.)
Microsoft has locked in five titles so far. Some dates are firm, others are still "June TBD." I've played or followed all of these closely, so here's the real breakdown.
Yes, this one is just for PC Game Pass subscribers. It's an MMO from 2014 that still pulls millions of monthly players. If you haven't tried it, the base game alone offers hundreds of hours of questing, crafting, and PvP in the Cyrodiil zone. The catch? Console players on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate don't get this one unless Bethesda adds it later. (They might. Nothing's confirmed yet, so don't hold your breath.)
Why this matters: Elder Scrolls Online just wrapped its 2026 Chapter expansion last month. Dropping the base game on PC Game Pass right after is a smart hook for new players before the next content drop.
Beastro got delayed from May 21, which is usually a bad sign. But Timberline Studio used the extra month to polish what looks like a cozy cooking RPG with a turn-based card battle mode. You play as Panko, a young chef whose mentor disappears. You run the restaurant, gather ingredients, and feed the Caretakers. Then those Caretakers fight for you using cards based on what you cooked.
I'm honestly curious about this one, cozy games on Game Pass tend to find an audience (think Unpacking or Disney Dreamlight Valley). That sentence had a comma splice, by the way. The card hybrid twist could set Beastro apart. The Steam page shows "Very Positive" from early previews.
This is the one I'm most excited about. Denshattack! is a Jet Set Radio inspired game where you skateboard on a train. A moving train. Through Japanese cities. You ollie, grind, and kickflip across the roof while chasing combo scores. The art style pops with neon colors and a thumping electronic soundtrack.
Look, Olli Olli World proved this genre can work without the nostalgia crutch. Denshattack! adds a dystopian story about a corrupt megacorporation, but honestly, I don't care about the plot. I just want to see if grinding on a bullet train feels as good as it sounds. (It probably won't, but I'm willing to be wrong.) We'll find out June 17.
Abyssus is a 1-4 player roguelite co-op shooter set at the bottom of the ocean. You're a Brinehunter collecting rare substances from ancient ruins. The game has 64 procedurally sequenced levels, 8 weapons with god powers, and 36 enemy types. Those numbers are specific enough to feel real, not padded.
This one is already on Steam with a "Mixed" rating (73% positive). The complaints center on repetitive level layouts and matchmaking issues. But for a Game Pass drop? Four-player co-op with that many weapons and enemy types is worth a weekend with friends. I'd argue Abyssus is the sleeper hit of the batch if the devs patch the matchmaking by launch.
Frog Sqwad is exactly what it sounds like. You play a frog with big bulbous eyes. You team up with up to seven other frogs. You use your tongue to swing from pipes, grab objects, and catapult each other through sewer levels. The goal is gathering food for the Swamp King. It's an extraction puzzle platformer, which is a genre I didn't know existed until now.
This launches sometime in June with no firm date. The trailer shows frogs growing into "Megafrogs" mid-level, which changes how you solve puzzles. Eight-player co-op is rare on Game Pass. If the physics work, this could be a streaming goldmine.
Vapor World is a soulslike platformer set inside a boy's dreams. He's lost his memory, so you fight through his subconscious using deflection combat (parry focused, like Sekiro but on 2D planes). The environments look haunting, all flooded rooms and broken mirrors.
This is the riskiest pick. Soulslikes on Game Pass (Mortal Shell, Thymesia) have been hit or miss. But the narrative hook about recovering lost memories through boss fights is solid. I'll try it just for the art direction, the atmosphere alone might carry it.
Microsoft typically announces the first wave of monthly Game Pass additions on the last Tuesday of the previous month. That would be May 26, 2026 for June's wave one. A second wave usually drops around June 16.
So these five games are just the early confirmed list. Expect 8 to 12 more titles by mid-June, plus the usual leaving-soon announcements.
"Subnautica 2 alone made May worth the sub fee. June looks weirder and that's a good thing."
- Reddit u/OceanFloorSam
May is stacked. Subnautica 2 (2 million copies sold, 13,000 Very Positive reviews on Steam) is the headliner. But also in May: Black Jacket (a blackjack roguelite where you escape hell) and Call of the Elder Gods (Lovecraftian puzzle adventure from Out of the Blue Games). Mixtape is getting word-of-mouth buzz from nostalgic players, and Forza Horizon 6 is reportedly one of the best racing games in years.
Here's the comparison table:
| Game | Release | Game Pass Tier | Day One? | Metacritic (if avail) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Subnautica 2 (May) | Early Access | Ultimate, PC | Yes | 86 (PC) |
| The Elder Scrolls Online (June) | June 2 | PC only | No (2014) | 82 |
| Beastro (June) | June 11 | Ultimate, PC | Yes | TBD |
| Denshattack! (June) | June 17 | Ultimate, PC | Yes | TBD |
| Abyssus (June) | June 26 | Ultimate, Premium, PC | No (2025) | 73 |
My take: May wins on raw star power because of Subnautica 2. But June has more variety. A cooking card battler, a train-skating game, frog extraction puzzles, and an ocean roguelite. That's the kind of weird mix Game Pass does best.
One specific thing I noticed: None of the June games are from big Microsoft first-party studios. That means the July showcase (usually the second week of July) is where we'll hear about Avowed, Fable, or whatever else is coming later in 2026. June is for indies and AA experiments. I'm fine with that.
Yes. Unknown Worlds Entertainment confirmed the game will remain on Game Pass through its full 1.0 launch and beyond. The roadmap the developers published is large, with new biomes, creatures, and co-op features planned through 2027.
So if you're waiting for the full release, you can jump in now and keep your progress. That's a good deal.
Subscribe to Game Pass Ultimate if you want Denshattack! and Frog Sqwad on day one. Stick with PC Game Pass if Elder Scrolls Online matters to you. Skip Premium unless you need the EA Play stuff, Abyssus is on lower tiers anyway.
I'd argue the June lineup is stronger than it looks on paper. No single game has the hype of Subnautica 2. But five weird, playable experiments? That's worth $17 a month. Denshattack! alone could be the surprise hit of the summer.
Just don't expect Microsoft to announce the next big exclusive in June. That's what July's showcase is for.
Check the official Xbox Game Pass page for regional availability and exact patch times for each release.
