October 2026 is shaping up as one of the stronger months on Xbox Game Pass this year. The Coalition's Gears of War prequel headlines the calendar, and a mix of day-one indies, co-op roguelikes, family games, and smaller narrative titles fill the weeks around it.
Microsoft has not published the full Wave 2 slate yet. That announcement usually arrives around mid-month. The list below covers every title that already has a confirmed October date as of late September 2026. Expect more additions before the month is over.
October 2: Keeper (Premium)
Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PC, Cloud
Tiers: Game Pass Premium (already available on Ultimate and PC Game Pass since October 2025)
Double Fine's wordless adventure follows a forgotten lighthouse that wakes up, grows legs, and travels with a seabird named Twig. You solve environmental puzzles by focusing the lighthouse beam. Keeper is not a new launch this month. It is expanding from Ultimate and PC Game Pass into the Premium tier.
October 6: Gears of War: E-Day
Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, Handheld, PC, Cloud
Tiers: Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
This is the biggest Game Pass drop of the month and a day-one Xbox console exclusive. The Coalition's prequel is set 14 years before the original Gears of War. You play as Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago on Emergence Day, when the Locust Horde first breaks the surface. The campaign includes co-op. Multiplayer brings a rebuilt Horde Siege PvE mode and Versus PvP. The game is built in Unreal Engine 5. Players who buy the Premium Edition can start five days early, on October 1.
October 8: Echo Weaver
Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PC, Cloud
Tiers: Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
Echo Weaver is a knowledge-based Metroidvania built around a time loop. You play as the last Weaver, using information from failed runs to exploit time anomalies, map what remains of the world, and eventually break the cycle.
October 8: Forever Ago
Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PC, Cloud
Tiers: Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
Annapurna Interactive and Third Shift's narrative road-trip adventure follows Alfred, an older man driving north after a personal tragedy. You travel through forests, deserts, and mountain passes, talk with people you meet, take photos, and solve small environmental puzzles. The soundtrack is by Clark Aboud. This is a day-one Game Pass release.
October 8: Neon Abyss 2
Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PC, Cloud
Tiers: Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
Veewo Games' cybermyth run-and-gun roguelike leaves Early Access and hits consoles on the same day it joins Game Pass. The sequel adds faster combat, more item synergies, new gods and enemies, and online co-op for up to four players.
October 13: Deep Dish Dungeon
Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PC, Cloud
Tiers: Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
This atmospheric dungeon crawler can be played solo or with up to two friends. You explore rooms and corridors, gather resources, cook meals at camp, and craft better gear while trying to understand what is hiding in the shadows.
October 13: Valor Mortis
Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PC, Cloud
Tiers: Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
Valor Mortis was delayed from late September. You play as William, a soldier of Napoleon's Grande Armee who dies on the battlefield and returns to a plague-stricken Europe with the disease's power in his veins. The game mixes action, exploration, and a dark alternate history.
October 15: Beyond These Stars
Platforms: PC
Tiers: Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
This city-builder puts your settlement on the back of Kewa, a space whale traveling across the universe. You manage the needs of your people (called Peeps), meet other species, and try to learn the truth about both your ancestors and the whales.
October 15: Bluey's Happy Snaps
Platforms: Console, PC, Cloud
Tiers: Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
Gameloft Brisbane built this family adventure in Bluey's hometown with Ludo Studio and BBC Studios. Bluey and Bingo find Dad's old camera and explore the Heeler home plus Brisbane locations from the show, including New Farm Park, South Bank, and Mount Coot-tha. You take photos, fill a scrapbook with stickers, and play local co-op for two. There are no in-game purchases. This is a day-one Game Pass release and an Xbox Play Anywhere title.
October 15: Chained Beasts
Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PC, Cloud
Tiers: Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
Featherweight Games' 1-to-4 player gladiator roguelike sends you through arenas in Carthage, Germania, and Rome. In co-op you are physically chained to your teammates. Poor timing wraps you around pillars. Good timing lets you trip enemies or drag them into hazards. Combat uses melee weapons, thrown objects, executions, and the arena itself. This is a day-one Game Pass release.
October 27: The Seance of Blake Manor
Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, Handheld, PC, Cloud
Tiers: Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
It is October 28, 1897. Private investigator Declan Ward arrives at Blake Manor looking for a missing woman and finds a gathering of mystics waiting for All Hallows' Eve, when they plan to speak with the dead. The game mixes investigation with supernatural mystery inside a hotel that is not what it seems.
October 29: Terrible Lizards
Platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PC, Cloud
Tiers: Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
Something is wrong at Dalton's Dinos, a shuttered Route 66 dinosaur attraction in New Mexico. The staff have vanished. A voice on a telephone asks you to find a missing child. The game is a parkour horror story set among abandoned animatronic dinosaurs.
Quick calendar
- October 2: Keeper (Premium expansion)
- October 6: Gears of War: E-Day
- October 8: Echo Weaver, Forever Ago, Neon Abyss 2
- October 13: Deep Dish Dungeon, Valor Mortis
- October 15: Beyond These Stars (PC), Bluey's Happy Snaps, Chained Beasts
- October 27: The Seance of Blake Manor
- October 29: Terrible Lizards
What is leaving?
No official October departure list has been posted yet. Eight games are already scheduled to leave Game Pass on September 30, including Atomfall, Sifu, and Little Nightmares 2 Enhanced Edition. October removals typically get a separate "leaving soon" notice closer to the date.
What to expect next
Xbox usually announces a second wave of Game Pass additions around October 20. That drop often includes extra mid-tier and catalog titles that do not have day-one dates yet. Treat this list as the confirmed core of the month, not the finished catalog.
If you only have time for a few downloads, start with Gears of War: E-Day on the 6th, then pick based on mood: Forever Ago for a quiet story, Neon Abyss 2 or Chained Beasts for co-op chaos, Bluey's Happy Snaps if you are playing with kids, and The Seance of Blake Manor if you want a late-month mystery.