Xbox Game Pass September 2026 Wave 1: Every Game Coming and Leaving the Service
- Sagar Mankar
- 2 days ago
- 6 min read
Xbox Game Pass has revealed its September 2026 Wave 1 lineup, bringing 7 new games to the service across the first half of the month.
This wave covers a solid range of genres, from a competitive party platformer and a Cold War shooter to a 3D fighting game and a survival RPG set in the RuneScape universe. RuneScape: Dragonwilds hits its full 1.0 release on September 15, making it one of the more notable additions this wave. TCG Card Shop Simulator is also graduating from Game Preview to its full 1.0 launch on the same date.
On the departures side, 10 titles are leaving on September 15, and the headline loss is Cyberpunk 2077. Dead Cells, Frostpunk 2, Spiritfarer, and Deep Rock Galactic Survivor.
Here is the full breakdown.
Games Coming to Xbox Game Pass: September 2026 Wave 1
September 1
Shelldiver (Cloud, Console, and PC) - Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, and PC Game Pass
September 3
Speedrunners 2: King of Speed (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC) - Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass (Day One)
September 4
Dice a Million (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) - Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, and PC Game Pass
September 8
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War (Cloud, Console, and PC) - Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, and PC Game Pass
September 10
The Royal Writ (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) - Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, and PC Game Pass
Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC) - Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, and PC Game Pass
September 15
RuneScape: Dragonwilds (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC) - Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, and PC Game Pass
Game Update: September 15
TCG Card Shop Simulator 1.0 Full Release (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) - Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, and PC Game Pass
Key Highlights
Shelldiver is already live on Game Pass as of September 1, having carried over from the August Wave 2 announcement. Developed and published by Gagonfe, it is a cozy incremental arcade game where you play as a senior turtle piloting a submarine, catching jellyfish with a bubble gun, selling them at a shop, and using the proceeds to upgrade your gear and explore deeper oceanic biomes. The simple dive, catch, sell, and upgrade loop is backed by oxygen management that adds gentle tension at greater depths. It launched on PC in late 2025 and currently holds a 98% positive rating on Steam from over 17,000 reviews.
Speedrunners 2: King of Speed is the sequel to the beloved 2013 competitive party platformer, developed by Fair Play Labs and published by tinyBuild, launching on September 3 as a day-one Game Pass title. Up to 8 players race through side-scrolling maps in chaotic elimination-style races, staying on screen as the camera moves or getting knocked out. Running, jumping, sliding, wall jumps, grappling hooks, and pick-ups including missiles, traps, and freeze rays give each race a frantic and unpredictable quality. The original was widely described as the Mario Kart of 2D platformers, and previews suggest the sequel preserves that energy with modern graphics and improved netcode.
Dice a Million is a roguelike dice-builder from countlessnights, published by 2 Left Thumbs, arriving on Xbox Series X|S and Cloud Gaming on September 4 following its PC launch earlier in 2026. You build a bag of over 120 unique dice with special effects, roll to hit rising score targets called debts, and buy upgrades and rings between rounds while facing off against bosses. The Version 1.1 Uncommon Shapes update arrives alongside the console launch. It has earned very positive Steam reviews and is frequently compared to Balatro for its addictive one-more-roll quality, though with more chaotic and variety-driven play. A strong pick for fans of the roguelite deckbuilder genre.
Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is the 2020 entry in the long-running franchise, developed by Treyarch and Raven Software and published by Activision. Set in the early 1980s, the campaign follows a customizable CIA operative called Bell across missions in East Berlin, Vietnam, Turkey, and Soviet KGB headquarters, with player choices and quieter character moments woven throughout. The Zombies mode received a significant overhaul for broader accessibility, and the game integrates with Warzone. It landed a generally favorable Metacritic score around 76 on release, with the campaign and Zombies both receiving strong praise while multiplayer drew more mixed opinions.
The Royal Writ is a lane-based roguelike deckbuilder from Save Sloth Studios, published by Yogscast Games. You command anthropomorphic animal units that march across a battlefield toward the enemy base, with cards growing stronger the closer they get but being permanently destroyed and removed from your deck if they reach the enemy before you win. Sacrifice, positioning, and careful math around scoring are central to the experience, with events between battles offering upgrades and quirky mini-games. It launched on PC in 2025 to very positive Steam reviews at around 83% approval, with critics praising its unique permadeath-lane twist and dark humor. It has frequently been compared to Balatro and Slay the Spire while carving out a distinct identity of its own.
Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage is the most complete version of the classic 3D fighting series, developed by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio and published by SEGA. The World Stage update, released in late 2025, adds a single-player journey that sends you through global venues to fight AI opponents trained on real player styles while climbing the ranks. The game also features rollback netcode, full crossplay, an expanded deep roster, and enhanced training and replay tools built for all skill levels. It holds an OpenCritic score around 83 and is widely considered one of the best 3D fighters currently available, praised for its realistic close-range combat and the quality of the World Stage addition.
RuneScape: Dragonwilds is Jagex's open-world co-op survival RPG set on Ashenfall, a forgotten continent in the RuneScape universe, reaching its full 1.0 release on September 15 alongside its Game Pass debut on Xbox. Originally launched in Early Access on PC in April 2025, the full release brings console and crossplay support, a new Scorned Wilderness zone, and all prior Early Access content. Up to four players gather, craft, build bases, level 13 skills toward 99, use RuneScape's signature magic systems for quality-of-life automation, and face dragons and classic RuneScape enemies across a quest-driven survival loop. Early Access has been very positive on Steam at around 81% approval from over 19,000 reviews, with over one million copies sold.
TCG Card Shop Simulator is graduating from Game Preview to its full 1.0 release on September 15. After an extended period in Early Access, the game now lets you fully run a trading card shop, build decks, host tournaments, and manage stock in the world of the fictional Tetramon TCG.
Games Leaving Xbox Game Pass on September 15
10 titles are heading out mid-month, including some of the most beloved games in the Game Pass library:
Commandos: Origins (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Cricket 24 (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Cyberpunk 2077 (Cloud and Console)
Dead Cells (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Deep Rock Galactic Survivor (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Frostpunk 2 (PC)
Mullet Madjack (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Spiritfarer (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Superliminal (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Train Sim World 5 (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Cyberpunk 2077 is the obvious headliner. CD Projekt Red's open-world RPG had a famously troubled launch but was transformed through years of updates and the Phantom Liberty expansion into one of the most acclaimed games of the generation, with a story and world that reward players who give it the time it deserves. If you have been waiting for the right moment to start it, September 15 is your deadline.
Dead Cells is a genre-defining roguelike Metroidvania that has remained one of the best in its class since its release, and Frostpunk 2 is one of the sharpest city-building survival strategy games released in recent years.
Spiritfarer is a beautiful and emotionally resonant management adventure about ferrying the recently deceased to the afterlife, and it is widely considered one of the most touching games on the service.
Deep Rock Galactic Survivor is also worth finishing if you enjoy roguelite shooters with a strong cooperative spirit. If any of these are in your backlog, the next two weeks are the time to prioritize them.
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