Summary
- Xbox Game Pass is losing seven games later today, December 15.
- The new wave of departures includes Forza Horizon 4, which is unlikely to ever return to the service on account of being slated for a delisting due to expiring music and vehicle licenses.
- All editions of Forza Horizon 4 are currently available at an 80% discount on Steam and Xbox Store. The game’s servers will remain online following its delisting.
Xbox Game Pass is losing Rise of the Tomb Raider and six other games later today, December 15. One of these soon-to-be departing titles is unlikely to ever return to Xbox Game Pass because it’s not merely leaving the service but being delisted.
Throughout 2024, Microsoft has largely stuck to removing content from the XGP library every two weeks, at the end and in the middle of each month. It most recently did so on November 30, when Xbox Game Pass lost The Walking Dead: The Final Season and eight other titles.
2:09
Related
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Adds 2 Games, Including Day-One SRPG
The Xbox Game Pass Ultimate library adds its 139th and 140th new game of 2024, including a day-one strategy RPG with decent reviews.
Another seven games will now follow suit by the end of Sunday, December 15. The next wave of departures consists of Forza Horizon 4, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Amnesia: The Bunker, Forager, Rainbow Billy: The Curse of the Leviathan, The Quarry, and Tin Hearts. In terms of critical acclaim, Rise of the Tomb Raider and Forza Horizon 4 are both big losses for Xbox Game Pass, as they happen to be some of the highest-rated titles on the service.
Xbox Game Pass Games Leaving December 15, 2024
|
Game |
Platform(s) |
Added |
How Long To Beat |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Amnesia: The Bunker |
Cloud, Console, PC |
Jun 2023 |
5–13 hours |
|
Forager |
Jul 2020 |
15–40 hours |
|
|
Forza Horizon 4 |
Oct 2018 |
14–151 hours |
|
|
Rainbow Billy: The Curse of the Leviathan |
Dec 2022 |
11–24 hours |
|
|
Rise of the Tomb Raider |
Dec 2023 |
13–35 hours |
|
|
The Quarry |
Cloud, Console |
Mar 2024 |
9–33 hours |
|
Tin Hearts |
Cloud, Console, PC |
Dec 2023 |
16–30 hours |
Forza Horizon 4 Is Leaving Xbox Game Pass For Good
While games from Microsoft-owned developers don’t usually leave Xbox Game Pass, Forza Horizon 4 is about to do so due to licensing issues. Specifically, the open-world arcade racer is getting delisted from all storefronts on account of expiring music and vehicle licenses. As such, Forza Horizon 4 seems all but certain to be gone from Xbox Game Pass for good. Its Steam and Xbox Store versions are both currently available at a deep 80% discount, bringing the prices of the game’s Standard and Ultimate Editions to $11.99 and $19.99, respectively. Forza Horizon 4 servers will keep working following its delisting, with Playground Games currently having no plans to shut them down in the foreseeable future.
None of the titles from the December 15 wave of departures are easily beatable in a single day. That said, achievement hunters looking to add to their Gamerscore totals might still have enough time to rush through Amnesia: The Bunker before it leaves Microsoft’s subscription service.
These seven upcoming removals will completely offset the December 2024 additions to Xbox Game Pass, leaving its library with no net gain for the month. Even more departures have already been confirmed, with Xbox Game Pass being set to lose another six titles on December 31. Microsoft has yet to announce the second wave of December 2024 additions to its service. Given that the Wave 1 announcement already included some January 2025 games, it’s uncertain whether this month will have a second wave at all.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is the highest tier of Microsoft’s flagship game subscription service that offers over 100 game titles that you can play with a single purchase, making it one of the most outstanding value propositions of the Xbox ecosystem to date.