Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Update Adds Surprise New Game

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate has added a surprise game in the form of EA Sports College Football 25. This unexpected addition brings the total number of March 2025 Xbox Game Pass Ultimate releases to nine.

Microsoft previously announced that this month’s Xbox Game Pass Wave 2 lineup would include six titles. The last of those was Atomfall, a new open-world action RPG that arrived in the early morning hours (PT) on March 27.

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However, a few hours after Atomfall made its way to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, EA Sports College Football 25 did the same, with no prior notice. Since the hit football sim was only released for the current-generation consoles, Microsoft’s subscribers will need an Xbox Series X/S to play it locally. Alternatively, EA Sports College Football 25 is also supported by the Xbox Cloud Gaming streaming service, which technically makes it playable on PC and the Xbox One, as well as mobile devices.

New and Upcoming Xbox Game Pass Games

The timing of this surprise addition suggests EA is using it as a way to drum up even more interest for the recently confirmed EA Sports College Football 26, which is presently targeting a summer 2025 release. While most Xbox Game Pass Ultimate titles stay on the service for at least a year, those offered as part of the EA Play catalog can be more short-lived, so it remains to be seen just how long EA Sports College Football 25 will be on offer to Microsoft’s subscribers.

The 2024 game marked a revival of EA’s series following a decade-long hiatus. The move went swimmingly, with EA Sports College Football amassing 2.2 million early access players who paid for its $100 Deluxe Edition in order to be able to play the game a few days ahead of everyone else. Another 600,000 people were playing it at launch, for a total of 2.8 million early adopters. EA Sports College Football 25 also reviewed well, as highlighted by its “Strong” rating on OpenCritic, derived from an average score of 81 and an 84% recommendation rate.

Xbox Game Pass Is Losing More Games Than It Added in March 2025

Assuming no more surprises are in the works, this addition rounds out the March 2025 Xbox Game Pass lineup, which ended up featuring nine new titles. However, the service is still on course to lose more games than it received over the course of this month, having already removed eight titles on March 15, with another ten being set to depart on the 31st. March 2025 is hence poised to become the second consecutive month to see a net loss in the overall size of the Xbox Game Pass content catalog.

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