Xbox Game Pass loses 7 games today, one of which is gone forever

Summary

• Xbox Game Pass will drop seven games later today, December 15th.
• The new wave of departures includes Forza Horizon 4, which is unlikely to ever return to the service due to its expected delisting as music and vehicle licenses expire.
• All editions of Forza Horizon 4 are currently available at an 80% discount on Steam and the Xbox Store. The game's servers will remain online after its removal.

Xbox Game Pass he's losing The Rise of Tomb Raider and six more games later today, December 15th. It's unlikely that any of these upcoming titles will return to Xbox Game Pass anytime soon because they aren't simply leaving the service but will be removed from the list.

Throughout 2024, Microsoft has largely limited itself to removing content from the XGP library every two weeks, at the end and in the middle of each month. It did so as recently as November 30th when Xbox Game Pass lost The Walking Dead: The Final Season and eight other titles.

Seven more matches will now follow suit by the end of Sunday 15 December. The next wave of departures consists of Forza Horizon 4, The Rise of Tomb Raider, Amnesia: The Bunker, Binder, Rainbow Billy: Curse of Leviathan, The QuarryAND Tin hearts. In terms of critical acclaim, The Rise of Tomb Raider AND Forza Horizon 4 they're both big losses for Xbox Game Pass, as they're some of the highest-rated titles on the service.

Xbox Game Pass games releasing December 15, 2024

Forza Horizon 4 will permanently leave Xbox Game Pass

While games from Microsoft-owned developers usually don't leave Xbox Game Pass, Forza Horizon 4 is about to do so due to licensing issues. Specifically, the open-world arcade racing game will be removed from all stores due to music and vehicle licenses expiring. As such, Forza Horizon 4 it seems almost certain that it will disappear from Xbox Game Pass for good. The Steam and Xbox Store versions are currently available at an 80% discount, bringing the prices of the Standard and Ultimate editions of the game to $11.99 and $19.99 respectively. Forza Horizon 4 the servers will continue to operate after its removal from the list, and Playground Games currently has no plans to shut them down in the foreseeable future.

None of the titles from the December 15 wave of departures are easily beatable in a single day. That said, achievement hunters looking to boost their Gamerscore totals may still have enough time to hurry Amnesia: The Bunker before it leaves Microsoft's subscription service.

These seven upcoming removals will completely offset the December 2024 additions to Xbox Game Pass, leaving its library with no net gain for the month. Even more departures have already been confirmed, with Xbox Game Pass losing six more titles on December 31st. Microsoft has yet to announce the second wave of December 2024 additions to its service. Given that the Wave 1 announcement already included some January 2025 games, it's unclear whether there will be a second wave this month.