Microsoft has revealed some of the new games that will be coming to Xbox Game Pass in December, including Firewatch and Mortal Kombat 11. These games will be joining other titles that have been added to Xbox Game Pass this month, including Aliens: Fireteam Elite, Among Us, One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4, and Stardew Valley.
Xbox Game Pass has had a stacked line-up over the 2021 holiday season. The service has added major first-party titles, with Age of Empires IV launching on PC Game Pass in October, the highly-acclaimed Forza Horizon 5 launching in early November, and the solo content for Halo Infinite launching in December. Players can now also dive into games without needing to wait for lengthy downloads, and Xbox One players can now stream Xbox Series X/S games to their system, thanks to a recent Xbox Cloud Gaming service expansion for the consoles themselves.
The Xbox Game Pass line-up for the second half of December has been revealed by Xbox Game Pass, with multiple new games to be added to the subscription service from December 15. Highlights include family-friendly adventures and classic hits, including Ben 10: Power Trip, Broken Age, Firewatch, The Gunk, Lake, Mortal Kombat 11, Race With Ryan, and Transformers: Battlegrounds. The full list is as follows:
Xbox Game Pass December 2021 Additions
- Among Us (Cloud) ID@Xbox – December 15
- Ben 10: Power Trip (Cloud, Console, and PC) – December 16
- Broken Age (Cloud, Console, and PC) – December 16
- Firewatch (Cloud, Console, and PC) ID@Xbox – December 16
- The Gunk (Cloud, Console, and PC) ID@Xbox – December 16
- Lake (Cloud, Console, and PC) ID@Xbox – December 16
- Mortal Kombat 11 (Cloud, Console, and PC) – December 16
- PAW Patrol Mighty Pups Save Adventure Bay (Cloud, Console, and PC) – December 16
- Race With Ryan (Cloud, Console, and PC) – December 16
- Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth (Cloud, Console, and PC) ID@Xbox – December 16
- Transformers: Battlegrounds (Cloud, Console, and PC) – December 16
The addition of Mortal Kombat 11 to Xbox Game Pass isn’t that surprising. The official Xbox Game Pass Instagram page teased Mortal Kombat last month, in a video skit featuring Scorpion pulling an Xbox controller out of a player’s hands with his spear attack. Firewatch is perhaps more of a surprise, but not an unwelcome one, as it’s a highly-acclaimed adventure game that is a perfect fit for the service. The Gunk is an action-adventure game that is set in an alien world. The game is a PC/Xbox exclusive that was initially meant to launch in September but was delayed to December. The pre-load for The Gunk is currently live, for those who are interested in checking it out.
It’s not surprising that Microsoft is stacking Xbox Game Pass in December, as this is the company’s chance to show up the PS5, which has no exclusives over the 2021 holiday season. The demand for the current-gen systems is still sky-high, but the PS5 is leading in terms of sales. The future of the Xbox line of consoles could be determined by the success of Xbox Game Pass, and this holiday season may be the turning point. Xbox Game Pass is considered an impressive deal, and it could look even better a year from now when Starfield is included in the service.
