Game Pass in October: Battlefield 6 Arrives and Clair Obscur Says Goodbye

October brings a big shake-up to Xbox Game Pass. As reported by Vandal, Microsoft has confirmed nine new additions to the service that will roll out between October 8 and 16. The two stealing the spotlight are Battlefield 6, Electronic Arts' multiplayer shooter, and Valor Mortis, the first-person soulslike from the studio behind Ghostrunner. Several indie titles round out the batch, and seven of the nine games arrive as day-one launches.

The other side of the coin carries almost as much weight. Nine more titles leave on October 15, and some of them are very big names: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, A Plague Tale: Requiem and Pacific Drive. In other words, the catalog is being swapped out almost one for one, and if you're partway through any of those games, you have roughly a week to finish before it disappears from the subscription.

What you need to know

• Nine games join Game Pass between October 8 and 16, 2026.
• Battlefield 6 and Valor Mortis headline the new additions.
• Seven of the additions are new releases launching directly on the service.
• Nine games leave the catalog on October 15, including Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, A Plague Tale: Requiem and Pacific Drive.
• Subscribers have about a week to finish the titles that are leaving.

Ins and outs: the two-week balance

Put the numbers side by side and it's a wash in terms of quantity: nine in, nine out. The difference is in the kind of games. What's arriving leans toward competitive multiplayer and fresh releases; what's leaving includes highly acclaimed single-player experiences, the kind you'd recommend to anyone with a subscription.

Who this matters to most

For the competitive scene, Battlefield 6 is the key piece. A multiplayer shooter of this scale landing on Game Pass instantly lowers the barrier to entry: more people trying it, fuller queues and better chances of putting a squad together without everyone having to pay up. For amateur teams and communities that run in-house tournaments, that means a wider player base to draw opponents and new members from.

Valor Mortis targets a different kind of player. A first-person soulslike from the makers of Ghostrunner promises precision and punishment, exactly the type of game that fuels speedruns, self-imposed challenges and high-skill content. For creators, its arrival on the service makes it easier for their audience to keep up without spending extra.

Our take

Here at the Underworld Lordz newsroom, we see this with a mix of excitement and skepticism. Having Battlefield 6 in the catalog is great news for any competitive player: trying out a major shooter without committing to the full purchase lets you decide calmly whether it deserves your practice hours. And for those of us who build communities, a game everyone can access is gold for setting up matches, meetups and challenges.

That said, the rotation feels more and more aggressive. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 leaving the service is an uncomfortable reminder that Game Pass is a rental, not a library. One week's notice for long, story-driven games is tight, to put it mildly. If you're recording a series or a full playthrough for your channel, departures like this can leave your project stranded halfway through.

Our practical advice: if you're a creator, don't build long-term content around a subscription game without first checking how long it will stay on the service. And if you're a competitive player, use these weeks to give Battlefield 6 a serious evaluation; when the day comes to invest hundreds of hours, it's best to do it in a game you know you'll keep.

What do you think?

One of the most anticipated shooters is arriving, and one of the most acclaimed single-player games in recent memory is leaving. Is the trade worth it for you, or do you think Game Pass is rotating too fast? Let us know in the team chat or on our Discord: are you going to sink hours into Battlefield 6, or rush to finish Clair Obscur before the 15th?