Summary
- Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is adding EA Sports UFC 5 and Diablo today.
- Released 27 years apart, these two titles conclude the XGP Wave 1 lineup for January 2025.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members can start playing EA Sports UFC 5 and Diablo as part of their subscription starting today. These are the third and fourth titles added to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate in January 2025.
The original Diablo requires no special introduction, being the game that effectively defined hack-and-slash RPGs following its release at the tail end of 1996. As for UFC 5, it hit the market in October 2023 and is still the latest entry in EA Sports' long-running series of mixed martial arts fighting games.
Xbox Game Pass Is Losing at Least 6 Games on January 15
The Xbox Game Pass content catalog is losing at least six titles spanning a fairly varied mixture of genres on January 15, 2025.
Released nearly 27 years apart, these two titles have now been brought together by Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, being scheduled to reach the service later today, January 14. Although Microsoft strives to offer multi-platform games to its subscribers as often as possible, both of these additions buck that trend; Diablo is exclusively available on PC, whereas playing EA Sports UFC 5 locally requires the Xbox Series X/S. Alternatively, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers who have fast enough internet connections can experience the latest entry in the EA Sports UFC series by streaming it via Xbox Cloud Gaming.
Xbox Game Pass Now Offers Over a Dozen Activision Blizzard Titles
Now that Diablo 1 is playable on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, the subscription service offers 13 Activision Blizzard titles in total—counting Spyro Reignited Trilogy and Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy as three games each. This averages nearly one new Activision Blizzard title added per month since Microsoft's acquisition of the company in late 2023. Although plenty more games from the Activision Blizzard catalog are still waiting to reach Xbox Game Pass, their release pace is clearly picking up.
Upcoming Xbox Game Pass Games
|
Game |
Date Added |
Game Pass Tier(s) |
Platform(s) |
Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
EA Sports UFC 5 |
Jan 14 |
Ultimate |
Cloud, Series X/S |
|
|
Diablo |
Jan 14 |
Ultimate, PC |
PC |
|
|
Eternal Strands |
Jan 28 |
Ultimate, PC |
Cloud, PC, Series X/S |
Day-one release. |
|
Sniper Elite: Resistance |
Jan 30 |
Ultimate, PC |
Cloud, Console, PC |
Day-one release. |
|
Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector |
Jan 31 |
Ultimate, PC |
Cloud, PC, Series X/S |
Day-one release. |
|
Avowed |
Feb 18 |
Ultimate, PC |
Cloud, PC, Series X/S |
Day-one release. |
|
Atomfall |
Mar 27 |
Ultimate, PC |
Cloud, Console, PC |
Day-one release. |
|
Football Manager 25 |
Mar?? |
Ultimate, PC |
Cloud, Console, PC |
Day-one release; exact release date TBA. |
|
Commandos: Origins |
Mar?? |
Ultimate, PC |
Cloud, Console, PC |
Day-one release; exact release date TBA. |
EA Sports UFC 5 and Diablo conclude the first wave of January 2025 additions to Xbox Game Pass. This month's Wave 2 lineup is expected to be announced soon, possibly on January 21, not least because of Microsoft's historical tendency to reveal new XGP releases on Tuesdays.
Even more news regarding upcoming Xbox Game Pass titles could be announced before the end of the month, as there's an Xbox Developer Direct scheduled for January 23. Microsoft already confirmed the upcoming event will feature Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, South of Midnight, and Doom: The Dark Ages. All three of these games are still waiting for release dates but have been confirmed as day-one Xbox Game Pass Ultimate titles and are targeting 2025 launches. Before the next Xbox Developer Direct kicks off, Microsoft's subscription service will lose six games on January 15, including Insurgency: Sandstorm and Those Who Remain.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is the highest tier of Microsoft's flagship game subscription service that offers over 100 game titles that you can play with a single purchase, making it one of the most outstanding value propositions of the Xbox ecosystem to date.
Checkbox: control the expandable behavior of the extra info