The second day-one Xbox Game Pass game of 2026 has arrived, and reviews for it are also now starting to populate. To this end, and right now, the new Xbox Game Pass day one game is the third highest-rated game of the year, so far. Obviously, the year is young, so this isn’t the most remarkable achievement, but its score of 83 on Metacritic is nonetheless very solid, and much higher than the Metacritic score of the first day-one Xbox Game Pass game of 2026, which registered an underwhelming 68 on Metacritic.
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More specifically, Xbox Game Pass subscribers across PC, Xbox Series S, and Xbox Series X can now play MIO: Memories in Orbit, which was just released this week. This saves Xbox Game Pass subscribers on the platforms above from a $20 purchase. However, the Ultimate tier is needed to access the game — this is the most expensive tier of the subscription service at $30 a month — and there is unfortunately no Xbox One version for those with a subscription on the last-gen machine.
A Sci-Fi Action-Adventure Game
While critics are generally praising MIO: Memories in Orbit, its user review scores are a bit less impressive. On Steam, it has a 79% approval rating. Meanwhile, on the Xbox Store, it only has a 3/5 star rating. The majority of the negative reviews for the game specifically criticize a very specific mechanic that appears imbalanced. In the game, as it progresses, your character suffers permanent health loss. In fact, the more you explore, the worse it is. For some, it hasn’t been a problem, but others have signaled that it is not balanced and can make the game impossible to beat toward the end.
As for the game itself, it is a sci-fi metroidvania where you play as an android named MIO, who has to save a spaceship and its residents from oblivion and the machines on it that have gone rogue. The story premise is pretty simple, and its execution is pretty simple. And this is because the focus of the game is its gameplay and exploration rather than its narrative.
How long the new metroidvania is going to be available via Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, we do not know. This information, per usual, has not been divulged. As long as it is available via the subscription service, subscribers can purchase it outright with an exclusive 20% discount. Meanwhile, those who check it out should expect to sit down with the sci-fi game for roughly 15 hours.
All of that said, and as always, feel free to leave a comment or two letting us know what you think, or join the conversation over on the ComicBook Forum.
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