2 critically acclaimed indies are coming to Game Pass this month

By Carli Velocci Published October 1, 2024

Sifu's main character at age 70 in Sifu. — Kepler Interactive

Xbox is kicking off October with three new games coming to Game Pass, along with two from the Ultimate tier getting added to the Standard tier, the first time the company has had to make that distinction.

Inscryption and Sifu, two standout indie titles from 2021 and 2022, respectively, are absolutely worth checking out when they hit Game Pass this month. Sifu, coming on October 2, is a third-person beat ’em up with a twist: every time you die, you get resurrected as an older version of yourself. This brings some advantages, like new skills, but your health decreases. Sifu is less about defeating waves of enemies and more about improving as you go, becoming something of a kung fu master.

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Then there’s Inscryption, a combination deckbuilder, roguelike, and escape room where you’re stuck in a cabin playing against a mysterious gamemaster. It’s tough to explain what’s going on here without spoiling the experience, but we’ll say it’s also a great game for the Halloween spooky season. Check it out when it drops on to Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, and Standard on October 10.

Arguably the biggest game featured in Tuesday’s announcement is MLB The Show 24, which will now be available for the new Game Pass Standard tier. Ultimate will still get new titles day one, but they might hit Standard eventually after several months. Open Roads is the other title that was previously on the Ultimate tier that’ll now be on Standard; both will be available on October 2.

Here’s the full list of Game Pass changes for the first half of October, including what was announced at the Tokyo Game Show over the weekend.

MLB The Show 24 (console): Game Pass Standard on October 2
Open Roads (console): Game Pass Standard on October 2
Sifu (cloud, console, and PC): Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, Game Pass Standard on October 2
Mad Streets (cloud, console, and PC): Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, Game Pass Standard on October 7
Inscryption (cloud, console, and PC): Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, Game Pass Standard on October 10

Tokyo Game Show announcements (all available now)

All You Need Is Help (cloud, console, and PC): Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
Legend of Mana (cloud, console, and PC): Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
Trials of Mana (cloud, console, and PC): Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
We Love Katamari Reroll+ Royal Reverie (cloud, console, and PC): Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass, Game Pass Standard

Game Pass Ultimate perks (all available now)

MultiVersus: MVP Pack 3
EA Sports FC 25: Welcome Pack
XDefiant: Combat Pack

Games leaving October 15

Dyson Sphere Program (PC)
Everspace 2 (cloud, console, and PC)
From Space (cloud, console, and PC)
F1 Manager 2023 (cloud, console, and PC)
Scorn (cloud, console, and PC)

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Contributor, Games

Carli is a technology, culture, and games editor and journalist. They were the Gaming Lead and Copy Chief at Windows Central…

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Sifu's main character at age 70 in Sifu.

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First-party games are finally getting the big, consistent presence on Xbox Game Pass that we've been hoping for. In September alone, Age of Mythology: Retold and Ara: History Untold have made their way into Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, while Overwatch 2 started to give a ton of benefits to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers. This is bound to only continue ramping up in the coming months as games like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 release and more back catalog Activision games come to the service. Simply put, there's going to be a lot to enjoy on Xbox Game Pass. That's why I recommend you check out two of these first-party games, as well as an underrated indie strategy game sequel. this weekend
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