Xbox Game Pass Ultimate finally has new day-one games that have the attention of subscribers. Fittingly, at the top of the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate “Most Popular” chart are three recent day-one games, which is to say, games that were added to the expensive tier of the Microsoft subscription service the moment they launched, and not added to the Premium or Essential tiers.
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One of these games, which happens to be the game at the very top, is not surprising whatsoever. And this game is Halo: Campaign Evolved, the new remake of the campaign of Halo: Combat Evolved. While the reaction to the new remake has been a mixed bag, it’s a new Halo release, so obviously it has attracted considerable attention on Xbox Game Pass. The other two new day-one Xbox Game Pass subscribers are flocking to are smaller indie games. One is called Shift at Midnight, and the other is called The Planter Crafter
Halo: Campaign Evolved
Halo: Campaign Evolved is a single-player first-person shooter from Halo Studios — formerly known as 343 Industries — and Xbox Game Studios. It is a remake of the first-ever Halo game, the highest-rated Halo game, Halo: Combat Evolved, which was released by Bungie back in 2001. Where the original earned a 97 on Metacritic, the remake has a range of 77 to 84.
Its user review score on Steam is noticeably lower, with the remake sitting at only a 63% approval rating on the PC platform.
Shift at Midnight
Shift at Midnight is a debut release from solo developer Bun Muen, who brought the game to the market with publisher Kwalee. It is a co-op horror game that currently does not have a Metacritic score, but it has glowing user reviews on Steam. To this end, it has a 95% approval rating, which is enough to earn it an “Overwhelmingly Positive” rating, the highest a PC game can earn on the platform. Meanwhile, it has 4/5 stars on the Xbox Store.
The Planet Crafter
The Planet Crafter is another debut release, but from Miju Games. It is a sci-fi open-world survival crafting game that has actually been around since 2022 via Steam Early Access. And it has quietly been quite popular in early access.
On Metacritic, the debut release was an 81, and like Shift at Midnight, it has glowing user reviews. More specifically, it has the same 95% approval rating and “Overwhelmingly Positive” score, but across far more reviews, which is inherently more impressive.
As for how long The Planet Crafter and Shift at Midnight will be available via Xbox Game Pass, we do not know. Halo: Campaign Evolved is a permanent addition, though. Meanwhile, as long as each game is available via Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, subscribers can purchase each game outright with an exclusive 20% discount.
It is worth noting that Xbox Game Pass subscribers should enjoy day-one games while they still can because it looks like the number of them going forward will be reduced, if not stopped entirely.
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