Xbox Game Pass loses 4 games with “very positive” reviews today

Xbox Game Pass is losing Wild frost and three other titles with “Very Positive” player reviews later today, December 15th. With these departures, Xbox Game Pass will have removed a total of 126 titles from its library by 2025.

Throughout this year, Microsoft stuck to its usual pattern of pulling titles from its subscription service every 15 days. The most recent of these catalog rotations took place on November 30, when Xbox Game Pass lost several critically acclaimed JRPGs in Octopath Traveler 1 and 2as well as SteamWorld Build, Barbie Project Friendshipand Lords of the Fallen.

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Wildfrost and 3 more titles are leaving Xbox Game Pass today

Four more titles are expected to follow later today, when Microsoft's subscription service drops Wild frost, Still Wakes the Deep, Mortal Kombat 11and Paw Patrol World. While the December 15th Xbox Game Pass departures span a variety of genres, they share one common trait: excellent player reviews. Over on Steam, Paw Patrol World is the lowest rated of the bunch, but its user impressions are still nearly 80% favorable – largely due to its much-vaunted co-op mode – qualifying it for a “Very Positive” review label.

All Xbox Game Pass games depart December 15th

Paw Patrol World had the shortest time on the service of the upcoming wave of departures, having only been added to Xbox Game Pass back in September 2025. However, it was previously available from March 2024 to February 2025, meaning it will soon achieve the rare feat of leaving Game Pass twice in a single year. No official reasoning was given for this unusually short period. In fact, Paw Patrol World wasn't even mentioned in the official Xbox Game Pass December 2025 catalog rotation announcement from earlier this month, though the Xbox app has had it listed as leaving today since late November.

Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition was also listed in the Xbox app last month as departing Xbox Game Pass on December 15, but has since been removed from the “Leaving Soon” section. While such erroneous listings do occur (and are corrected) occasionally, they often indicate that a game will indeed be released soon. For example, MLB The Show 24 was originally listed as retiring on March 15, then removed from the list, but ultimately left the position just two weeks later earlier this year. Since the first one Hollow Knight has been part of the Xbox Game Pass catalog since mid-2019, Microsoft has likely renewed its license to keep it on the service several times already.

What's next for Xbox Game Pass?

There are no more confirmed Xbox Game Pass releases for the rest of 2025. In a typical month, Microsoft would have announced the second wave of monthly revenue by now, but the company has condensed its December schedules into a single announcement in recent years. As a result, the Wave 1 lineup for January 2026 may not be announced until early next year. Meanwhile, two more titles will be leaving this month, Carcass and All hell breaks loosewith both scheduled to retire on December 31. Described as a “reverse horror game” where players control a monster that haunts NPCs, Carcass was the first title added to Xbox Game Pass in 2025. Conversely, All hell breaks loose is a tactical multiplayer shooter that has been on the service since January 2024.