Welcome to the launch of The Lamplighters League! It goes without saying, maybe, but this is a special day for us, and we are so excited to be sharing this game with you. Games like this take a long time to bring to life from the first pitches to the final product you can finally play today. At each stage there are unique challenges—especially when bringing to life a brand new game world and working out new twists for an established and complex genre like turn-based tactics. It can be grueling, especially when the build isn't feeling fun, or a production deadline is looming. Or, worse, when those two things are happening at once.

It can also be incredibly rewarding. There was a moment during development where we were, in fact, facing down the fact that infiltration just wasn't fun and there was a big deadline coming up fast. We needed to rethink things, and we needed to do it quickly. Under that pressure the team prototyped and implemented the real time takedowns in just a few weeks. I jumped up in the air the first time I saw the shock from a mine travel through the water on the ground to take out an unaware enemy. It was a big victory right when we needed it as a team.

If you're looking for some spooky games, some fast ways to drive away from anything spooky, or just some great games to load up and dive into the story… have I got some recommendations for you! We've got some games available today for you to check out, some more coming soon, and even a reminder on some you might have missed that we snuck in last month. Let's get to the games!

Available Today:
Gotham Knights (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S)—Batman is dead. A new expansive, criminal underworld has swept the streets of Gotham City. It is now up to the Batman Family - Batgirl, Nightwing, Red Hood, and Robin - to protect Gotham, bring hope to its citizens, discipline to its cops, and fear to its criminals.

The Lamplighter's League (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S)—Available on day one with Game Pass: Sneak, steal, and shoot your way through a world of pulp adventure in The Lamplighters League! Globetrot across a variety of exciting locales around the world and outwit your enemies in strategic turn-based combat and, if you play your cards right, you might just save the world.

At Xbox, we believe that gaming is for everyone. You hear it a lot, but it's absolutely true. The Xbox community is at the center of everything we do, every decision we make. This month we're recognizing the 400+ million players who make up the gaming and disability community. In their own words, we're inviting Elle Vance, Software Engineer II for Xbox Player Services, to share their story on how being part of the gaming and disability community has impacted their life:

"I understand the world through a different perspective. Unlike most neurotypical people, who understand the world from a top-down perspective; I start with a bottom-up approach, focusing first on the details. Sometimes my perspective is advantageous in my work as a Software Engineer II, and in other areas of my life, too, as I am able to troubleshoot problems at a granular level before processing it from a broader framework which could potentially create bias in attempting to solve that problem.

If you're looking for the latest games coming to Game Pass, you've come to the right place. Maybe you're looking for a Soulslike, or mysterious adventures. Maybe you're looking to solve crimes, or even do crimes (maybe please keep that in the context of video games). Either way, we've got something for you!

Available Today—Lies of P (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Available on day one with Game Pass: Lies of P is a thrilling soulslike that takes the story of Pinocchio, turns it on its head, and sets it against the darkly elegant backdrop of the Belle Epoque era. You must adapt yourself and your weapons to face untold horrors, untangle the unfathomable secrets of the city's elites and choose whether to confront predicaments with the truth or weave lies to overcome them on the journey to find yourself.

For those of you who have already started the epic journey into Starfield in early access I hope you're having a blast, and for those of you joining on day one with Game Pass, your time starts very soon! I am so excited to finally add Starfield to our list of games "Coming Soon." Space, feelings, souls-like - we have amazing games for you to explore (not to mention a reminder of some surprise shadow drops last week!). Let's get to it!

Available Today
Gris (Cloud, Console, and PC)—Gris makes a return to the Game Pass library today! Gris is a hopeful young girl lost in her own world, dealing with a painful experience in her life. Her journey through sorrow is manifested in her dress, which grants new abilities to better navigate her faded reality.

As part of NVIDIA and Microsoft's collaboration to bring more choice to gamers, new Microsoft Store integration has been added to GeForce NOW that lets gamers stream select titles from the Xbox PC Game Pass catalog on GeForce NOW, starting today. With the Microsoft Store integration, members will see a brand-new Xbox button on supported PC games and can seamlessly launch these titles across their devices, provided they either purchased the standalone games through the Microsoft Store or have an active Xbox Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass subscription.

Hot off our recent Gamescom announcement, four blockbuster titles are coming to GeForce NOW this fall: Alan Wake 2, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty expansion, Party Animals and PAYDAY 3. Plus, head to the cloud and stream the 25 new titles joining the cloud this week, including DOOM 2016 from Bethesda.

To celebrate our presence here at Gamescom in Cologne, Germany, today we revealed that the local and world-famous Nürburgring GP circuit will be available in Forza Motorsport at launch on October 10. What's more, as part of our plan to regularly bring new content to the game after release, we are also happy to confirm the iconic 12.9-mile (20.83 km) Nordschleife will be coming in Spring 2024.

Both tracks have been completely rebuilt for the Xbox Series X|S and PC. Nürburgring GP is the latest addition to the 20 tracks featured in Forza Motorsport on day one - with more announcements remaining, check out the list of tracks we've announced to date. In addition to our track lineup, Forza Motorsport starts with over 500 cars, and this list will continue to expand beyond launch. Check out the cars we have announced so far and stay tuned for future car reveals as we get closer to release day.

Sometimes you want a chill game that lets you explore sorrow (in game, I don't want to explore sorrow IRL). Sometimes you want to explore wild environments while exploring mysteries, escaping flesh monsters, or even be the monster yourself. Some highly specific things you might want, and what a crazy happenstance, we've got just those games coming soon. Let's take a look!

Available Today
Everspace 2 (Cloud and Xbox Series X|S)
Step into the pilot seat in this fast-paced single-player space shooter where brutal challenges stand between you and epic loot. Embark on a sci-fi adventure where massive, handcrafted areas are packed with secrets, puzzles, and perils! Level up, craft, and loot better gear to survive on the edge of space.

My favorite announcements are those coming soon, especially when "soon" means "right now" (looking at you Celeste!). We have hikes, we have Bros., kingdoms, and space, and more, so let's get to the games!

Available Today
Celeste (Cloud, Console, and PC)—Help Madeline survive her inner demons on her journey to the top of Celeste Mountain, in this super-tight platformer from the creators of TowerFall. Brave hundreds of hand-crafted challenges, uncover devious secrets, and piece together the mystery of the mountain.

There are many opportunities to brush up on our real-life skills through gaming this month, including puzzle solving, cooking, building a settlement on the back of a giant wandering creature to survive a post-apocalyptic world, and even photography! Let's get to the games.

Available Today:
Techtonica (Game Preview) (Cloud, Console, and PC) - Available on day one with Game Pass: Dig into the sub-surface, bioluminescent world of a rogue alien planet as you explore and construct sprawling factories in Techtonica. Work alone or in co-op to master automation, gather resources, research new technologies, mold the destructible terrain, establish a base of operations, and uncover long-forgotten secrets.

Today, we're continuing our commitment to give players more choice and value by introducing Xbox Game Pass Core, launching on September 14. Game Pass Core is the evolution of Xbox Live Gold. Game Pass Core will give players access to our advanced multiplayer network, a select collection of over 25 games to play with friends around the world, and exclusive member deals, all for $9.99 USD per month or $59.99 USD per year.

For over twenty years, Xbox players have been connecting via Xbox Live to compete, cooperate, and experience the world's biggest online multiplayer games. In 2017, we introduced Xbox Game Pass which provided a curated library of games. Game Pass Core brings online play together with Game Pass in a new offering for gamers around the world.

Blizzard Entertainment has once again refuted claims that their blockbuster (online only) action role-playing game, Diablo IV, is coming to Xbox Game Pass at some point in the future. PicPay, a Brazilian payment app, has been displaying adverts presenting Blizzard's latest ARPG as a current prospect on the Microsoft game subscription service. Blizzard boss Mike Ybarra was quick to shoot down this rumor as it hit news site—in a reply to Game Pass Tracker (on Twitter) he succinctly stated: "This is not happening." A couple of media outlets are now reporting that the Diablo IV advertising banners have been removed from the PicPay app.

Ybarra's career includes a twenty year stint at Microsoft—he was Corporate Vice President of Gaming prior to joining Blizzard Entertainment back in 2021. His former colleague—Xbox boss Phil Spencer—made clear (last September) his company's ambitions for several Acti-Blizz franchises, under conditions of a successful acquisition of the publishing group: "We intend to make Activision Blizzard's much-loved library of games - including Overwatch, Diablo and Call of Duty - available in Game Pass and to grow those gaming communities." Microsoft is inching closer to finalizing the proposed merger, so it will be interesting to see whether Blizzard will break with tradition when the new management steps in.

What do heists, dinosaurs falling out of the skies, and puzzles all have in common? If it is anything other than "games coming to Xbox Game Pass", I would very much like to know! We have games coming soon that we announced during the Xbox and Bethesda Showcase (looking at you, Exoprimal), and we even have a surprise return today with Grand Theft Auto V. Let's get to the games!

Available Today: Grand Theft Auto V (Cloud and Console)
When a young street hustler, a retired bank robber, and a terrifying psychopath find themselves entangled with some of the most frightening and deranged elements of the criminal underworld, the U.S. government, and the entertainment industry, they must pull off a series of dangerous heists to survive in a ruthless city in which they can trust nobody—least of all each other. Includes both the Xbox One and the Xbox Series X|S versions of Grand Theft Auto V.

Matt Booty - the Head of Microsoft Studios - has been doing a lot of press lately, following the recent Xbox Games Showcase. Previous headlines focused on his declaration that first party development for Xbox One had ceased. The Hollywood Reporter has now cornered him on the subject of a possible Xbox augmented/virtual reality headset, although the interview did begin with a discussion about the company's Starfield IP being a good candidate for a movie or TV series adaptation. Booty swiftly shifted the focus onto current projects: "I don't have anything to share around there on Starfield, but I love your point that the worlds that we create in games, the characters that we create … people build entire digital hobbies around and invest hundreds of hours in (them), so it's cool to see linear media, as we call it, recognize that. We have our Halo TV series with Paramount; we have season one and we're shooting season two now. We've got the Minecraft movie coming up with Jason Momoa. We just recently announced that we've got the Gears of War franchise with Netflix."

Arch rival Sony is already two generations deep into gaming AR/VR headsets, and Microsoft has not produced an answer to PlayStation VR. Things have also gone quiet on the business-focused HoloLens product front. Phil Spencer did hint that the Xbox One X console was powerful enough to run a VR headset, but that was many years ago and he has since stated that leadership is not interested in exploring that market. Booty's response to the Hollywood Reporter's query also repeats his colleague's view: "I think for us, it's just a bit of wait until there's an audience there. We're very fortunate that we have got these big IPs that have turned into ongoing franchises with big communities. We have 10 games that have achieved over 10 million players life-to-date, which is a pretty big accomplishment, but that's the kind of scale that we need to see success for the game and it's just, it's not quite there yet with AR, VR." He claimed that their traditional model has "150 million active players across first-party (titles) every month," with cloud gaming contributing very little to that population: "For us, to be clear, it is a very, very small market. I'm not even sure you would call it a market yet, in fact." This tidbit is very intriguing given the big marketing push behind Xbox Cloud Gaming, and certain regulators deeming Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard a threat to competition within that market.

Microsoft has revealed the next set of titles that will be coming to Xbox Game Pass for PC, Cloud, and Xbox Series X/S. The list includes Need for Speed Unbound, The Bookwalker, Bramble: The Mountain King and FIST: Forged in Shadow Torch, and several other titles.

Xbox Game Pass will also be getting new DLCs and game updates, new Ultimate Perks, and new Xbox Game Pass Quests. There is also a list of games that will be leaving the Xbox Game Pass on June 30th.

Xbox Game Pass support is coming to GeForce NOW. Members will soon be able to play supported PC games from the Xbox Game Pass catalog through NVIDIA's cloud gaming servers. Learn more about how support for Game Pass and Microsoft Store will roll out in the coming months. Plus, Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition is the first from the world's most popular real-time strategy franchise to arrive on GeForce NOW.

Announced over the weekend, Game Pass members will soon be able to play supported PC games from the Game Pass catalog with GeForce NOW. We're working closely with Microsoft to enable members to play select PC titles from Microsoft Store, just as they can today on GeForce NOW with their Steam, Epic Games Store, Ubisoft Connect and GOG.com accounts. Members who are subscribed to PC Game Pass or Xbox Game Pass Ultimate will be able to stream these select PC titles from the Game Pass library - without downloads or additional purchases for instant gaming from the cloud.

Coming Soon to Xbox Game Pass: Amnesia: The Bunker, Car Mechanic Simulator 2021, Dordogne, and more "available today" notifications! We're excited to bring you some simulators, slayers, stacking, and more. Let's get to the games! Starting off with the "Available Today" category:

Chicory: A Colorful Tale (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Chicory: A Colorful Tale is a top-down adventure game in a coloring book world where you can draw on anything. Use your painting powers to explore new places, solve puzzles, help your friends, and change the world!

May has a plethora of genres and game styles coming your way. You can hit the pitch later today, or soon you can build a railway empire, collect monsters, voyage a magical world, or we can stop here and get right into the games. Let's dive in!

Available Today - FIFA 23 (Console and PC) EA Play
The World's Game is available today from 10:00AM PDT with PC Game Pass & Ultimate via EA Play. Hit the pitch today, plus claim monthly FIFA 23 member rewards. Experience HyperMotion2 Technology on Xbox Series X|S that delivers even more gameplay realism, the addition of women's club teams, and more.

Soccer Fans: put your cleats on and get ready to hit the pitch - FIFA 23 is coming to The Play List tomorrow - May 16! The most expansive EA Sports FIFA title to date, FIFA 23 hosts the next evolution of HyperMotion technology on current-gen platforms, setting the standard in realistic and immersive gameplay. In addition, and for the first time in EA Sports FIFA history, players now have the chance to play as their favorite women's club team - so get ready to nutmeg opponents and get on the scoreboard with teams from the Barclays Women's Super League, Division 1 Arkema, National Women's Soccer League, and UEFA Women's Championship League.

Take the pitch now in FIFA 23 to earn great monthly rewards, including the FIFA 23 Ultimate Team Supercharge Pack which features FUT content to help take your club to the next level. This month, members can also show their personality on the field with the Overdrive Lightning Head Tattoo, the FUT Hero Iván Córdoba Tifo Set, and more rewards.

Logitech G, a brand of Logitech and leading innovator of gaming technologies and gear, announced the long awaited launch of the award-winning Logitech G CLOUD Gaming Handheld in Europe starting on 22 May 2023. In addition to North America and Taiwan, Logitech G Cloud will now be available in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Finland, available on LogitechG.com, Amazon, Currys, Fnac, and MSH Electronics for a suggested retail price of $349.99 / €359 / £329.

To celebrate the European launch, Logitech G has worked with its partners to offer a special bundle that includes up to 6 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate which includes Xbox Cloud Gaming, 1 month of NVIDIA GeForce NOW Priority, and 1 month of Shadow PC. It will be available in select countries effective from 22 May to 22 June 2023 while bundle supplies last.

We know that gaming is best with friends, so today, we're introducing the Xbox Game Pass Friend Referral offer, which lets Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass members give up to five friends a free 14-day PC Game Pass trial. Invited friends must be new to Game Pass to redeem the free trial. You can find Friend Referral invitations on the Game Pass Home screen, just click the "Give PC Game Pass" button to share or click here to invite your friends via Xbox.com.

The free trial comes with all the benefits of PC Game Pass, including new titles from Xbox Game Studios on day one, an EA Play membership, and you can check out the biggest PC and mobile games on PC from Riot Games. Link your Riot Games account and Xbox profile to unlock the greatest Agents, champions, little legends, XP boosts, and more in Valorant, League of Legends, Teamfight Tactics, and Legends of Runeterra.

Become a farming Witch and pioneer the range that has been mysteriously corrupted with Miasma. Discover the secret behind its appearance, grow plants to power up your spells, and use nature's magic to heal the land. Homestead Arcana is available now on Xbox and PC! Welcome to the magical frontier!

You're here! We're so glad you finally made it, we have a lot of work to do, here on the range. Now that Homestead Arcana is finally out, you can finally start your great adventure! With all this Miasma covering the land, you will have to establish your own homestead and power up your magic with nature before venturing out. Saving the world is no easy task, you know, but as a trained witch you surely are up to it! After you set up your first outpost, and plant first seedlings into the ground, head on to our Steam forum to share your adventures in the world of Homestead Arcana!

Acer today announced it has worked with Bethesda Softworks and Microsoft to bring the much-anticipated action title Redfall to all new Acer Predator Windows 11 gaming laptop and desktop owners via a free, one-month offer of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

Redfall is an open-world, single player and co-op FPS from Arkane Austin, the award-winning team behind Prey and Dishonored, that brings the studio's signature gameplay to this story-driven, action shooter and will be available on Predator gaming PCs beginning May 2, 2023, through Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

We have a fresh batch of games, including many coming your way on day one with Game Pass! Sharpen your stakes, get your coffee, and prep your favorite lo-fi beats while you pre-install your next favorite game.

Available Today
Minecraft Legends (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Available on day one with Game Pass: The piglins are threatening to consume the Overworld. Are you the hero this gentle land needs? Explore lush biomes to make alliances with new friends and familiar mobs, then face the piglins in epic battles. But be warned - they always fight back.

Exoprimal is an online, team-based action game that pits humanity's cutting-edge exosuit technology against history's most ferocious beasts - dinosaurs. Exosuits are grouped into different roles, and players will pilot these exosuits to hold firm against overwhelming dinosaur swarms in online-only, team-based action game modes. The year is 2040...Sudden dinosaur outbreaks have engulfed the globe in a crisis that threatens humanity's very existence. Dino Survival, the main game mode, sees two teams of five players competein a variety of PvE and PvP missions. Players will be transported to the scene of the latest dinosaur outbreak and follow the new generation AI known as Leviathan's guidance to complete objectives. The team that completes the mission first will emerge victorious.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Exoprimal open beta test. Our team gained a great deal of data from exofighter survey responses and social media. We'll put this feedback to good use and make Exoprimal the best game it can be! While the open beta allowed players to experience some of the missions available in the Dino Survival mode, Exoprimal's full release will feature the following content for players to enjoy.