It’s a Sprint: Games Leaving Game Pass Halloween 2025 Edition

Jusant by Don’t Nod

Okay, let’s talk a little bit about the current state of Xbox. 

Around the time I published the previous It’s a Sprint, Microsoft released a video detailing changes that were coming to the service. To summarize, there are now three tiers and all will have access to console, PC, and cloud gaming. What differentiates these plans is how many games in the catalog you’ll have access to and how many reward points you’ll be able to earn (yawn). For instance, the middle tier includes some day one titles though the fine print implies Call of Duty is NOT included. Ubisoft+ Classics and Fortnite Crew will also be available for subscribers, so if you’ve been waiting to check out Skull and Bones or miscellaneous Far Cry and Assassin’s Creed titles, now is the perfect opportunity. 

I know I’m being a bit cynical, but you need to play Rayman Legends. 

I could pick this trailer apart piece by piece, everything from the script, to their failed attempts at levity, to their pompous new slogan, and how all this really amounts to is raising prices while disguising it as doing consumers a favor–but I don’t know how interesting that would be and I try my best to keep things positive here. So I’ll just say, if the reaction on social media is any indication, everyone is sick of this shit.   

Comment sections are flooded with calls to cancel subscriptions and there have been reports that retailers are removing their stock of consoles (some of the latter has since been debunked). You would imagine an overpaid accountant ran the numbers to see if the extra revenue would offset the number of people choosing to downgrade or ditch their plan entirely–but who knows? Microsoft has proven repeatedly over the last two years that they are not good at running their gaming division. 

Purely on the topic of the price increase, I’m interested in playing just about everything so I’ll still be able to get some value out of the 30 dollars a month–but as someone who hasn’t had steady work for the last two years, this really feels like my limit. It would be easier to justify the price if I felt like this influx of cash was going to support their developers. However, at this point, we know better. That is not where this money is going. 

Okay, it’s been addressed. 

We should probably get to the reason you opened this article. Here is what’s scheduled to leave Game Pass on Halloween. 

Return to Monkey Island

Metacritic Score: 87

Playtime estimate according to HowLongToBeat: 10-17 hours

Jusant

Metacritic Score: 85

Playtime estimate according to HowLongToBeat: 4.5-8 hours

Metal Slug Tactics 

Metacritic Score: 78

Playtime estimate according to HowLongToBeat: 6.5-44 hours

Even if this piece reads as depressing, I take some comfort in knowing that video games truly are the best they’ve ever been. Here at Tactical Reload we believe that you can and should make time to play everything–though the insane flood of quality over the last couple months has made that pretty challenging. Heck, even Game Pass is getting Ball Pit, Keeper, and Ninja Gaiden 4 in the next week. Call it a silver lining. 

I just want to close by saying thanks for being here. It’s the one year anniversary of Tactical Reload, and to celebrate, I wrote about my 64 favorite video games. Check the features tab. 

Keep going and keep fighting for the things you care about.