October is shaping up as what Polygon calls Xbox’s healthiest month of 2026 for new games, and subscribers get much of it without buying a thing. The Game Pass October 2026 slate confirmed so far includes 10 games, headlined by “Gears of War: E-Day” on Tuesday, Oct. 6, and the day-one Soulslike “Valor Mortis” a week later, according to a running list from Pure Xbox.
The Game Pass October 2026 list is not final. Microsoft typically reveals each month’s Game Pass additions in waves, so more titles could still be added.
Every confirmed Game Pass October 2026 game
Here is the lineup announced as of Sept. 28, with dates and tiers per Pure Xbox:
- Oct. 2: “Keeper” (Xbox Series X|S, PC, cloud; Game Pass Premium)
- Oct. 6: “Gears of War: E-Day” (Series X|S, PC, cloud; Ultimate and PC Game Pass)
- Oct. 8: “Echo Weaver” and “Neon Abyss 2” (Series X|S, PC, cloud)
- Oct. 13: “Valor Mortis” and “Deep Dish Dungeon” (Series X|S, PC, cloud)
- Oct. 15: “Beyond These Stars” (PC only) and “Chained Beasts” (Series X|S, PC, cloud)
- Oct. 27: “The Seance of Blake Manor” (Series X|S, PC, cloud)
- Oct. 29: “Terrible Lizards” (Series X|S, PC, cloud)
Everything from Oct. 6 onward is listed for Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass, so console players on lower tiers should check before planning their Game Pass October 2026 queue.
3 picks worth clearing space for
“Gears of War: E-Day.” The Coalition’s prequel shows how Emergence Day unfolded, with Marcus Fenix and Dom Santiago and a revamped Horde mode. Early access opened Oct. 1, and first impressions are mixed: critics love the combat but not the story, as our roundup of early “Gears of War: E-Day” reviews explains.
“Echo Weaver.” This Metroidvania gives you every power from the start and asks you to work out how each one bends time, Polygon wrote. Microsoft has promoted it as a Game Pass indie for years.
“Valor Mortis.” From One More Level, the studio behind “Ghostrunner,” this first-person Soulslike casts you as a resurrected soldier from Napoleon’s army fighting a plague that has twisted 19th-century Europe into a monster-filled nightmare.
Big October Xbox releases outside Game Pass lists
Two other major Xbox games land this month but do not appear on the confirmed Game Pass list yet. “Star Wars: Galactic Racer,” a Burnout-style racer with slow-motion crashes and a roguelike campaign, arrives Oct. 6. “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4,” which brings back the DMZ extraction mode, follows Oct. 23, according to Polygon.
PS Plus subscribers get 3 games Oct. 6
On the PlayStation side, Sony’s October Essential lineup unlocks the same day as “E-Day”: “F1 25,” “Hunt: Showdown 1896” and “Earth Defense Force: World Brothers 2.” We break down each one, plus the Nov. 2 claim deadline, in our PS Plus October 2026 guide. For more, browse our gaming news.
