Dominik Bošnjak is a freelance writer from Croatia. He's been writing about games for as long as he can remember and started doing it professionally around 2010. If he had to pick a favorite genre, he'd go with RPGs, but he wasn't, so he didn't.
Death Stranding Director's Cut is now available at Xbox Game Passafter launching above most of its levels on January 21. Two more titles also joined the subscription service earlier today, bringing the total number of January Xbox Game Pass releases to 11.
Designed by Metal Gear creator Hideo Kojima, Death Stranding is one of the most unusual big-budget games of recent times, offering a gameplay loop that largely focuses on delivering in a harsh post-apocalyptic wasteland. It was originally released in November 2019 as a timed PlayStation exclusive before making its way to PC the following July. Although somewhat polarizing at launch, its premise resonated with many reviewers, as underscored by the game's “Strong” rating on OpenCritic, based on a 79% recommendation rating and an average score of 83. The original edition of Death Stranding was already offered to Xbox Game Pass subscribers for a year-long period starting in August 2022, but only on PC.
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Kojima's post-apocalyptic title has returned to Xbox Game Pass on January 21st in new and improved form. It is no longer limited to PC Game Pass and can instead also be played via Xbox Series X/S and Xbox Cloud Gaming. Death Stranding Director's Cut has joined Xbox Game Pass alongside Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound and another version of RoadCraftwhich marks the platform's first triple release date in 2026. RoadCraft has technically been available on Xbox Game Pass since September 2025, but only on the cloud and Series X/S consoles. Now, as an inverse Death Strandingit has also joined the PC Game Pass content catalog.
OpenCritic Ratings as of January 21 Xbox Game Pass Arrivals
- Death Stranding Director's Cut: 83 points, 79% recommendation rate
- Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound: 86 points, 93% recommended
- RoadCraft:81 points, 78% recommended
All of the January 21 arrivals have received high marks from players and critics alike. Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound is the highest rated of the bunch, with an average score of 86 on OpenCritic. The 2025 retro action platformer is the only title among the trio to receive a “Mighty” rating from the aggregator. It ranks in the top 4% of the highest-rated games in the OpenCritics database, dating back to 2015. Ragebound has reached Microsoft's subscription service just two days before the first anniversary of the Ninja Gaiden 2 Black joins Xbox Game Pass.
Upcoming Xbox Game Pass titles with confirmed release dates
|
Date |
Game |
Game Pass Level(s) |
Platform(s) |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Jan 21 |
Death Stranding Director's Cut |
Ultimate, Premium, PC |
Cloud, Handheld, PC, Series X/S |
The standard version was available on PC Game Pass during the period August 2022–Aug 2023. |
|
Jan 21 |
RoadCraft |
Ultimate, Premium, PC |
PC |
Console and cloud versions available from September 2025. |
|
Jan 21 |
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound |
Ultimate, Premium, PC |
Cloud, PC, Series X/S |
|
|
Jan 22 |
Nova Roma |
Ultimate, PC |
PC |
Day one release. |
|
January 27 |
The Talos Principle 2 |
Ultimate, Premium, PC |
PC, Series X/S |
|
|
January 28 |
Anno: Mutationem |
Ultimate, Premium, PC |
Cloud, console, PC |
|
|
January 28 |
Release Duchy |
Ultimate, Premium, PC |
Cloud, console, PC |
|
|
Jan 29 |
MySims: Cozy package |
Ultimate, PC |
PC |
|
|
Jan 29 |
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marines II |
Ultimate, Premium, PC |
Cloud, PC, Series X/S |
|
|
2 Feb |
Indicate |
Ultimate, Premium, PC |
Cloud, PC, Series X/S |
|
|
3 Feb |
Final Fantasy 2 |
Ultimate, Premium, PC |
Cloud, PC, Series X/S |
|
|
5 Feb |
Threat |
Ultimate, PC |
PC |
Game Preview; day one release. |
|
13 Feb |
High on Life 2 |
Ultimate, PC |
Cloud, PC, Series X/S |
Day one release. |
|
26 Feb |
Towerborne |
Premium |
Cloud, PC, Series X/S |
Day one 1.0 release. Available in Game Preview on XGP Ultimate and PC GP since April 2025. |
|
March 12 |
Replaced |
Ultimate, PC |
Cloud, PC, Series X/S |
Day one release. |
At least six more titles will join Xbox Game Pass in the last ten days of January 2026. The series includes Nova Roma on January 22 and The Talos Principle 2 five days later. Additional shadow drops are possible on the 22nd, as that's when Microsoft's annual Xbox Developer Direct is scheduled to take place. Looking further ahead, January 28th is slated to see a double release, with the deck building roguelite Release Duchy and cyberpunk side-scrolling RPG Anno: Mutationem both arrive at the service.
- Released
-
November 8, 2019
- ESRB
-
M for mature: blood, intense violence, partial nudity, strong language
