Xbox Game Pass Set to Remove 12 More Titles on July 15—Big Mid-Year Shakeup
Xbox Game Pass is about to lose 12 more games on July 15, and the already-updated “Leaving Soon” list on the Xbox app suggests this may be only part of what’s coming. If the full sweep holds, it would represent the biggest mid-year removals the service has seen in several years.
Why Mid-July 2026 Feels Different for Game Pass
Microsoft’s subscription library has already shed a significant number of titles this year—62 games were removed across the first half of 2026. The most recent clear-out landed at the end of June, when eight games exited Xbox Game Pass.
That late-June rotation stood out for one long-running holdover: Payday 2. The co-op shooter had been on the service since its early days, staying in the catalog for more than nine years before this latest wave of departures.
On top of the confirmed losses, there’s also fresh talk adding to the uncertainty around what Game Pass users should expect next. Some new insights attributed to the boss of Helldivers 2 have suggested the situation around the service is more complicated than it initially appeared.
Xbox App “Leaving Soon” Lists 12 Titles for July 15
New reports point to another wave of removals on July 15, based on the updated “Leaving Soon” section within the Xbox app’s Game Pass tab. The list includes the following titles:
- Golf With Your Friends
- My Friendly Neighborhood
- Super Fantasy Kingdom
- PowerWash Simulator
- Whiskerwood
- Tectonica
- Stellaris
- Back to the Dawn
- Dungeons of Hinterberg
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition
- EA Sports FC 24
- Splitgate: Arena Reloaded
Splitgate: Arena Reloaded is listed too, but it’s treated differently because it operates as a free-to-play title. In other words, it’s not the main game itself that’s leaving; the items going away are the Splitgate: Arena Reloaded bonus packs. Xbox Game Pass members have been able to claim those packs as part of their perks since late 2025.
Games Shown for Removal on July 15, 2026
- Splitgate: Arena Reloaded (bonus items only)
- Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition
- Dungeons of Hinterberg and Back to the Dawn
One additional wrinkle: Dungeons of Hinterberg and Back to the Dawn are not showing up as “leaving soon” in every country. That opens the door to the idea that those two entries might remain available until at least July 31, 2026.
Regional Confusion, Timing Notes, and the Biggest Wave in Years
Even with the free-to-play caveat for Splitgate, the mid-July list still points to a major removal event. If all other entries do go through, 11 removals would still become the biggest single departure wave from Xbox Game Pass in several years.
There are also two notable timing oddities around that July 15 lineup:
- Back to the Dawn and Dungeons of Hinterberg only appear as “leaving soon” for some subscribers as of July 2, suggesting the visibility of the notice may vary by region.
- Despite the regional display differences, Microsoft has historically been consistent about removing Game Pass titles globally, which makes a “region-only” departure feel unlikely.
For timeline context on the two potentially inconsistent listings, Back to the Dawn first joined Xbox Game Pass in July 2025, while Dungeons of Hinterberg stayed in the service for an additional year.
To understand just how large this could be, it helps to look at the rest of 2026. The biggest departure wave earlier this year arrived in late April 2026, when Microsoft removed nine titles at once.
What Happens Next: Official Confirmation and the Expected Announcement Window
Microsoft is expected to officially confirm the complete set of July 15 departures as part of this month’s Wave 1 lineup. The exact announcement date hasn’t been pinned down, but based on how the company has communicated in recent years, the first Tuesday of the month is the most likely timing.
If that pattern holds, the likely confirmation date would be July 7.
Find the odd one out before the timer hits zero.
Which one doesn’t belong?
