Two Best Games This Year Are Day One Xbox Game Pass Games

Two of the best games this year, according to Metacritic, have been day one Xbox Game Pass games, showing the value of the subscription service. We are a little over halfway through 2025, and right now the Game of the Year conversation includes Death Stranding 2, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, Donkey Kong Bananza, Blue Prince, and Split Fiction. All of these are great games, and two of them were “free” with an Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription the moment they released earlier this year.

One of these games is Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, the current frontrunner for 2025 Game of the Year, and which is currently the highest-rated game of 2025, thanks to its 93 on Metacritic. Developed by Sandfall Interactive — a French studio who debuted with the release — and published by Kepler Interactice, Clair Obscur: Expedition hit back on April 24, 2025, and was instantly available via Xbox Game Pass. For those unfamiliar with it, it is a role-playing game with strategy elements.

How long it is going to be available via Xbox Game Pass, we do not know. Microsoft does not divulge this information, nor the aforementioned duo responsible for the RPG. However, as long as it is available via Xbox Game Pass, subscribers can score an exclusive 20 percent discount on the game, which means pay $39.99 rather than $49.99.

The other Xbox Game Pass game in question is Blue Prince from developer Dogubomb and publisher Raw Fury. Interestingly, this was also a debut release for the former, and another stellar introduction. Blue Prince, with a 92 on Metacritic, is the second highest-rated game of 2025.

Also released on April, but April 10, Blue Prince is a puzzle adventure game. And just like with Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, it is unclear how long it will be available via Xbox Game Pass, but with the Xbox Game Pass discount, subscribers can grab it, before it leaves, for $24 rather than $30. It is possible both games could be permanent additions based on what kind of deals they signed with Microsoft, but there have been no concrete examples of this in the past, and no reason to expect such deals here.

Xbox Game Pass is available, in different forms, via PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series S, and Xbox Series X. For more coverage on the Microsoft subscription service — including all of the latest Xbox Game Pass news to the latest Xbox Game Pass rumors and leaks to the latest Xbox Game Pass deals — click here.