Xbox Game Pass Is About to Remove One of the Most Acclaimed Indies of the Generation

Xbox Game Pass subscribers are going to lose access to one of the most acclaimed indie games of this generation later in January. As of this week, Microsoft announced the first wave of additions that will be coming to Xbox Game Pass to kick off 2026. This slate is actually quite a strong one, as it includes titles like Resident Evil Village, Star Wars Outlaws, and the original Final Fantasy, just to name a few. As expected, though, these new additions won’t come without a handful of losses as well, but one game that is set to depart from Game Pass is a particularly major blow.

Set to leave on January 15th, Neon White will be making its way off of Xbox Game Pass. Developed by Angel Matrix, Neon White is a unique mix of a first-person shooter and a puzzle game that centers heavily around speedrunning. It was first released in 2022 across Switch and PC hardware and later came to Xbox platforms in 2024. Since the time of its launch, Neon White has been available on Game Pass, but that will now be coming to an end in a little under two weeks.

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To further stress just how big of a loss Neon White is for Xbox Game Pass, it has been one of the highest-rated indie games to come about in recent years. The game boasts a very impressive 89/100 aggregate review score on website Metacritic, with user scores also sitting at a great average of 8.2/10. This means that Neon White has comparable review scores to indie games like Hollow Knight, Stardew Valley, Disco Elysium, and Cocoon. Even though it doesn’t have the same name recognition as some of these fellow indies, it’s still very much worth checking out if you haven’t experienced it already.

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The good news here is that you still have time to play Neon White before it leaves Xbox Game Pass. The main game only clocks in around 10 hours, which means that those interested in playing Neon White should definitely be able to finish it before it departs from the service. And even if you don’t get around to playing Neon White in advance of its removal, the game is typically on sale and retails for $25 or less. So if you want to buy it outright, you should be able to do so without breaking the bank.

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