Xbox Game Pass New Titles For January: 'Mass Effect: Legendary Edition,' 'Outer Wilds' Lead List

Xbox Game Pass just announced its first batch of 2022 game additions and two big ones are headlining the eight-game list.

Those two are "Mass Effect: Legendary Edition" and "Outer Wilds," which were both considered to be among the most successful releases of last year. According to VentureBeat, these two games will come to the service on January 6th.

For now, gamers can try out three new titles early. These are the 2D adventure game "Olija," a hand-drawn puzzle game titled "Gorogoa," and the side-scrolling puzzle platformer "The Pedestrian," wherein players get to control a stickman through multiple platforming sequences that can be manually moved.

Rounding up the list are these three games:

• "Embr" (Cloud, PC, console), a firefighting game which features whimsically cartoon-style graphics. It allows players to fight fires by scaling buildings, smashing windows when needed, and rescuing citizens either solo or in four-player co-op.

• "Anacrusis" (PC and console), a four-player co-op first-person shooter pits up to four players against hordes of aliens in a starship stranded at the edge of deep space.

• "Spelunky 2" (PC and console), the sequel to the acclaimed, so-called "roguelike" 2D platformer that features procedurally generated environments.

However, with the addition of these new games for January, Game Pass also has to offload a few. As per Xbox, a total of six games are leaving the service by January 15th. These are:

• "Desperados III"

• "Ghost of a Tale"

• "Kingdom Hearts III"

• "Mount & Blade: Warband"

• "Yiik: A Postmodern RPG"

• "Pandemic"

Why Xbox Game Pass Owners Should Be Excited

Shortly before the year ended, Tech Times reported that Xbox is primed for a big 2022-not just with massive exclusives like "Starfield" coming out, but also with what's coming to Game Pass. And so far, it is already going well.

"Mass Effect Legendary Edition," while being a remaster, still captured the hearts of old franchise fans, as well as introduced newcomers to its story-rich world. As such, EA definitely reaped the rewards with excellent reviews and sky-high sales numbers to boot.

In a report by IGN, EA said that the "Mass Effect" remaster sold "well above" their initial expectations. They didn't reveal exact sales figures, but seemed adamant that they were able to please their investors with how the remaster performed.

As for "Outer Wilds," it's not too shabby either. RockPaperShotgun loved it so much that it considered the game one of the best adventure titles ever made. In this video, the reviewer calls it a mix of "Groundhog Day" and "Interstellar" with its main premise:

For Game Pass owners who might want to play something a bit easier to go through these days, it looks like "Outer Wilds" would be a great game to chill to. PCGamer gave the game a solid 89 out of 100, which solidifies its claim as one of the best games to come out in recent times.

This article is owned by Tech Times

Written by RJ Pierce