In just a few years, Xbox Game Pass has become the spearhead of Microsoft’s gaming strategy. But 2025 will have been a pivotal year, marked by price increases and a restructuring of its formulas. Far from slowing down, the service has strengthened its ambitions, banking on a narrower, but qualitative, selection of “day one” games to maintain subscribers’ interest.
While the year has barely ended, the 2026 calendar is revealed with two first titles confirmed. This quick start shows that Microsoft wants to make an impact from January, by combining diversity of gameplay, aesthetic richness and bold proposals.
The inner journey of MIO Memories in Orbit
The first to exit the airlock is MIO Memories in Orbitan independent metroidvania which intends to renew the codes of the genre. The player plays an evolving android, the only survivor in a huge spaceship invaded by hostile machines. The objective: to save this mechanical ecosystem drifting in the void.
But MIO is not just a simple exploration game. It is also a sensory quest. Its careful soundscape, its artistic direction oscillating between retro SF and abstract art, and its advanced agility mechanics make it a hybrid experience, between action and mechanical poetry. Available from January 20, 2026the title will be playable directly via Xbox Game Pass on console and PC.
Nova Roma: the ancient city to be rebuilt according to your laws
Another style, another era. The second expected game is Nova Romaa strategic city-builder that propels you to the head of a weakened Rome. It is not just a question of building roads and thermal baths, but of breathing new life into a civilization on the verge of collapse. The player embodies an urban planner endowed with divine powers, juggling urban development, ecological balance, social policy and religious worship.
The management of deities and governance choices offer a depth rarely seen in historical simulations. The challenge: maintaining cohesion and stability in a world that is both mythological and realistic. This title, particularly awaited by strategy fans, will be available from January 22, 2026 in Game Pass.
Why these two games send a strong message
By offering two such contrasting exclusives from January, Microsoft is asserting a clear strategy for 2026: focusing on the variety of game universes and mechanics, while moving away from only spectacular AAAs. MIO targets players hungry for metaphorical exploration and demanding gameplay. Nova Romafor its part, will appeal to analytical minds, keen on urban planning and implicit narration.
This duality marks a desire to broaden the Game Pass audience while promoting studios with a strong identity. If the rest of the catalog follows this line, 2026 could well be the year that Game Pass reaffirms its leading position in subscription gaming services.