Best Xbox Series X and Series S games 2026, including the best Xbox Game Pass games and Xbox exclusives 

2025 may go down as one of the worst years in Xbox history. This is due to Microsoft’s handling of its long-running console brand, which included price increases for both hardware and Game Pass, the shuttering of projects that had spent years in development, like the new Perfect Dark, and seemingly endless waves of layoffs. 

While the Xbox brand might seem as if it’s on life support, there are still plenty of reasons to own an Xbox Series X/S, especially going into 2026, with titles like Fable and Forza Horizon 6 on the way. The Xbox brand has some killer console exclusives that haven’t yet made the jump to other platforms, all of which are worth checking out. 

The Escapist recaps

• 2025 was full of amazing games on Xbox Series X/S, with several GOTY contenders appearing on the platform. 
• Many of Xbox’s former first-party exclusives are now appearing on PlayStation systems, including Gears of War and Halo. 
• The Xbox brand still has some exclusives, though it’s unclear how long they’ll remain that way.
• The Xbox Series X/s generation has had some incredible titles, including all-time greats from Xbox Game Studios. 

The best Xbox Series X and Series S games you can play right now

Avowed

Bethesda can’t stop porting The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim to other platforms, even bringing it to the Nintendo Switch 2 in 2025. Despite its popularity, few companies seem interested in copying its formula, with more trying to emulate Fallout than a fantasy setting. 

Enter Avowed, a game by Obsidian that’s set in the same universe as the Pillars of Eternity series. Avowed is an excellent first-person fantasy RPG, where the player is tasked with discovering the source of a mystical plague. This means lots of dungeon exploration and blasting monsters with spells, all wrapped in Obsidian’s signature stellar writing. Avowed might not have the same level of gameplay depth as Skyrim, but it scratches that same itch, especially for those burned out on trips to Whiterun.

Halo Infinite

The doomsaying regarding the Xbox Series X/S began before the console even launched, when it was revealed that Halo Infinite was being delayed. This followed a woeful introductory presentation, during which the horrendous quality of the visuals and character models was widely criticized on the internet. 

It’s a massive shame that Halo Infinite’s release was marred by negativity, as it has one of the best campaigns in the franchise. The open-world design of Halo Infinite gives players multiple ways to approach and unlock each section of the game, each of which is teeming with Covenant soldiers that will defend their scrap of land to the death. The multiplayer might have been a letdown, but Halo Infinite’s single player campaign is one of the unsung highlights of the Xbox Series X/S generation, all thanks to one silly character model. 

Doom: The Dark Ages

Doom Eternal is a highly-regarded game, but many old-school fans weren’t happy with the changes to the formula, mainly the Doom Slayer’s acrobatic mobility, the lack of ammo, and the abundance of MMO-style timers for attacks. 

Doom: The Dark Ages switched things up, turning the Doom Slayer into a defensive tank, whose new spiked shield could be used to parry and deflect incoming attacks. This allowed for a gameplay style highly satisfying to old-school fans, as the Doom Slayer could wade into a massive horde of enemies, using a mix of defensive and offensive options to turn them into paste. Just make sure to skip the story sequences for the best Doom: The Dark Ages experience. 

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33

By far the most significant addition to Xbox Game Pass in 2025 was Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, an RPG that evokes classic Final Fantasy games, wrapped in a fresh European aesthetic rather than the anime one so many old-school fans are used to.

Set in a world where people die at a specific age, the player controls the members of an Expedition tasked with slaying the Paintress, the supernatural being responsible for all the deaths. Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a masterpiece of story and gameplay design, merging classic JRPG battles with modern sensibilities. Anyone who missed out on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 in 2025 needs to remedy that fact in 2026, especially during one of the gaming dry periods, and what better (aka, cheaper) way to do so than via Game Pass. 

Hollow Knight: Silksong

Fans have known for years that Hollow Knight: Silksong was coming to Xbox Game Pass. What they didn’t know was when, considering Team Cherry had been kicking that can down the road for years. It turned out that 2025 was the year Hollow Knight: Silksong launched, and Game Pass subscribers were there on day one. 

Hollow Knight: Silksong is an evolution of the challenging Metroidvania game loop introduced in its predecessor, with some tough battles strewn around a vast map that’s begging to be explored. While it was often unfavourably compared to Hades 2 in 2025, despite the gameplay of the two being nothing alike, there’s no denying that Hollow Knight: Silksong is one of the best titles of last year, and is still a great reason to subscribe to Game Pass. 

Routine

2025 was the year of long waits, with Routine taking a decade to come out. Unlike some titles with lengthy development cycles, like Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2, Routine was well worth playing, being one of the most unique-feeling survival horror games of the past decade.

Routine is a first-person survival horror game set on a Moon base, where the player discovers they’re the only person in the facility. Once they acquire a robot buddy, they must explore the base and try to survive, as corrupted machines stalk them around every corner. The survival horror genre has been done to death, yet Routine feels fresh, while still being terrifying to experience. 

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