The 25 best games on Game Pass

polygon.com:

2021 was a banner year for Xbox Game Pass, and 2022 is already looking promising.

With Microsoft’s acquisition of Bethesda early last year, the service added a host of beloved games like Skyrimand Fallout3. And with Microsoft’s recent announcement that it’s acquiring Activision Blizzard, Game Pass’ reputation as the best deal in video games is potentially about to expand even further. It’s likely — although not confirmed — that we could see games like Overwatch, Diablo3, and maybe even World of Warcraft join the Game Pass lineup in the next few years.

But the service already features a massive, colorful library of indie and AAA games from across the industry. More games launch onto Game Pass on release day than ever before, and most are also available on Windows PC with PC Game Pass, which is included in Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

With such a large and diverse lineup, it can be hard to separate the wheat from the chaff. But we’re here to help. Here are the 25 best PC and Xbox Game Pass games that are worth your time.

[Ed. note: This list was last updated on Jan. 20, 2022. It will be updated as new games come to the service.]

Outriders is a third-person, class-based loot-shooter in which three-player squads upgrade their base, keep their community safe, improve their gear, and explore the game’s pseudo-open world. The setting, characters, and even the powers of each class seem like they were lifted from other popular games of the past 10 years, but that’s not a knock against it.

Outriders delivers the satisfying action and loot management gameplay loop that has kept me hooked on games like Destiny2, The Division 2, Gears of War, Fortnite, and all the other titans in the genre for this long. —Ben Kuchera

The Xbox brand