Xbox Game Pass January 2026 Wave 2 Brings Space Marine II, Death Stranding Director’s Cut, and More

Xbox Game Pass is closing out January 2026 with a stacked second wave of games that mixes heavy‑hitting action, moody adventures, brain‑twisting puzzles, and comfort‑gaming favorites across console, PC, cloud, and the new handheld‑optimized lineup. Headlining this wave are Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II and Death Stranding Director’s Cut, backed up by Resident Evil Village and stylish indies like MIO: Memories in Orbit, Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, Anno: Mutationem, and more.

Xbox Game Pass January 2026 Wave 2 Available today: Village and Mio

Kicking off this update, Resident Evil Village is now available on Xbox Game Pass for cloud, console, and PC, giving horror fans a chance to step into Ethan Winters’ nightmare European village on practically any device. As the eighth mainline Resident Evil, it blends tense exploration, resource management, and cinematic set pieces as you uncover the mysteries lurking behind castle walls and snow‑covered streets.

Joining it as a day‑one addition is MIO: Memories in Orbit, a hand‑crafted metroidvania set in a decaying world reclaimed by nature and machines, playable via cloud, handheld, PC, and Xbox Series X|S with Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass. You play as nimble android Mio, exploring labyrinthine environments, battling rogue robots, and piecing together a story of lost memories in a richly atmospheric sci‑fi setting packed with secrets.

January 21: Death Stranding and Roadwork

On January 21, Death Stranding Director’s Cut lands on Game Pass for cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S, bringing Kojima Productions’ genre‑bending “strand” experience to subscribers. You step into the boots of Sam Porter Bridges, tasked with reconnecting isolated cities and survivors across a shattered America by delivering crucial cargo and rebuilding a network that can give humanity another chance.

That same day, PC players get RoadCraft, a simulation game that puts you in charge of rebuilding infrastructure in the wake of natural disasters, exclusively via Game Pass on PC. You’ll operate more than 40 authentic construction vehicles to clear debris, repair roads and bridges, and restore vital services across expansive physics‑driven maps, either solo or in cooperative play.

Also dated for January 21 is Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, a brand‑new side‑scrolling entry in the legendary action franchise coming to cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S. Developed by the team behind Blasphemous, it reimagines classic Ninja Gaiden platforming with modern visuals, tight combat, and a demanding difficulty curve that rewards precise play and pattern recognition.

Late January: Puzzles, cyberpunk, and cozy sims

The Talos Principle 2 joins Game Pass on January 27 for PC and Xbox Series X|S, offering a first‑person puzzle adventure that significantly expands the philosophical storytelling and environmental design of the original. Set in a future where organic humanity has died out but robot civilization carries on, the sequel drops you into a city of synthetic beings and a mysterious megastructure whose secrets raise deep questions about consciousness, legacy, and free will.

January 28 adds a pair of wildly different experiences: Anno: Mutationem and Drop Duchy, both available via cloud, PC, and console with Game Pass. Anno: Mutationem is a visually striking cyberpunk action‑adventure that fuses 2D and 3D perspectives, letting you play as Ann, a combat‑trained lone wolf navigating a neon metropolis filled with shady corporations, fringe cults, and monsters stranger than words can quite capture.

Drop Duchy, by contrast, is a hybrid rogue‑lite that uses block‑dropping mechanics—think falling pieces and territory management—to build out your realm. Each piece placed helps you gather resources, recruit troops, and push back invading armies, with the Complete Edition on Game Pass including all previously released content for long‑term replay value.

On January 29, PC players get the MySims: Cozy Bundle through Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass, bundling retro re‑releases of two fan‑favorite life‑sim entries. You’ll rebuild a town in MySims and help a whimsical kingdom flourish in MySims Kingdom, meeting quirky characters, customizing spaces, and leaning into low‑stress, family‑friendly play sessions.

Space Marine II, Indika, and Final Fantasy II

Also on January 29, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine II storms into Xbox Game Pass for cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S, giving subscribers access to one of the year’s biggest sci‑fi action sequels. You reprise the role of legendary Space Marine Demetrian Titus, wielding chainswords, bolters, and heavy weaponry to purge relentless Tyranid swarms in a cinematic campaign playable solo or in three‑player co‑op.

Beyond the story, Space Marine II also features brutal PvE and PvP multiplayer with six playable classes, letting you customize your own Space Marine and battle across endlessly replayable missions and 6v6 conflicts in the name of the Imperium. For Game Pass members who enjoyed the Master Crafted Edition of the original earlier this month, the sequel’s arrival makes it easy to continue that power fantasy without a separate purchase.

Looking into early February, Indika joins Game Pass on February 2 for cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S, offering a story‑driven adventure set in an alternate 19th‑century Russia. You follow a young nun on a surreal journey of self‑discovery that blends dark humor with heavy themes—faith, morality, and institutional power—mixing exploration, light puzzles, brief action sequences, symbolic RPG elements, and retro arcade flashback segments, plus a very strange relationship with the devil himself.

On February 3, Final Fantasy II arrives on cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S as a remodeled 2D version of the classic JRPG, included across Game Pass Ultimate, Premium, and PC Game Pass.Its story follows four war‑orphaned youths who join the resistance against the Palamecian Empire, teaming up with allies like the white wizard Minwu, pirate captain Leila, and Prince Gordon while the narrative leans into the series’ signature mix of heroism, tragedy, and sweeping fantasy drama.

Updates, DLC, and games leaving

If you missed it, Quarantine Zone: The Last Check is already playable on PC with Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass, putting you in command of a checkpoint in a collapsing city overrun by the undead. You screen survivors, manage scarce resources, and make tough calls at the border—knowing that a single mistake could let the plague spread beyond your walls.

On the live‑service and DLC side, EA Play and Game Pass on PC are celebrating The Sims’ 25th anniversary with The Sims 25th Birthday Bundle arriving January 22, including re‑releases of The Sims and The Sims 2 plus more cozy content later in the month. Grounded is also getting a substantial “Garden” update on January 27, introducing a Community Garden biome, hidden paths, new creatures, Tier III gear, and the Ladybug Buggy vehicle with a built‑in water cannon to tackle fresh threats in the backyard.

Dead by Daylight fans can look forward to the Stranger Things DLC returning on January 27, bringing Vecna, Dustin, and Eleven into the Fog for new asymmetrical horror showdowns. Sea of Thieves Season 18, Act 2, kicks off on January 22, tasking Emissaries with raiding the Molten Sands Fortress, hitting Grade 5 to trigger a special quest, and choosing which Trading Company flag to champion as they plunder the fiery stronghold for high‑value treasure.

As always, a fresh wave of arrivals means some departures: several titles are leaving the Game Pass library on January 31, including Shady Part of Me, Cataclismo, Starbound, Lonely Mountains: Snow Riders, Paw Patrol World, Citizen Sleeper 2: Starward Vector, and Orcs Must Die! Deathtrap across cloud, PC, and console. Subscribers who want to keep any of these in their permanent library can buy them at up to 20% off before they leave the catalog.

With this Xbox Game Pass January 2026 wave, Xbox continues its 2026 trend of pairing high‑profile third‑party blockbusters with bold indies, experimental narrative projects, and meaningful updates to existing live‑service hits. Whether you want to connect a broken world in Death Stranding Director’s Cut, carve through Tyranids in Space Marine II, lose yourself in atmospheric metroidvanias like Mio, or just relax with MySims, there is plenty to download before the next Developer Direct delivers even more to your backlog.