Skip to main content

Xbox Game Pass will lose 13 games in December, including Forza Horizon 4

Forza Horizon 4 Hands-On Hoonigan Drift
Playground Games

Xbox Game Pass games come and go every month, but December sees a total of 13 games leaving the service, including Rise of the Tomb Raider and Forza Horizon 4.

It’s a definite bummer for subscribers, especially since Forza Horizon 4 still holds up even next to its successor (but not unexpected, as its DLC was delisted in June). All of these games are 20% off while they’re still in the Game Pass library, so you can save a little dough to keep your favorites.

Recommended Videos

This month is particularly rough for horror fans, with The Quarry being a particularly popular title. It’s a similar style of game as Until Dawn and feels more like an interactive movie than a game. A lot of more kid-friendly games are on their way out too by way of Lego 2K Drive and Forager.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

Thankfully, it’s not all bad news. December 4 sees the addition of new games into the library, including the excellent Forza Motorsport joining the Standard tier (it’s currently only available on Game Pass Ultimate and PC) and the frenetic Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled coming to the Ultimate and Standard tiers. More games will be added throughout the month, just in time for new Xbox owners to log in on December 26.

Here’s what we know, according to Xbox Wire.

Leaving December 15:

  • Amnesia: The Bunker (Cloud, Console, and PC)
  • Forager (Cloud, Console, and PC)
  • Forza Horizon 4 (Cloud, Console, and PC)
  • Rainbow Billy: The Curse of the Leviathan (Cloud, Console, and PC)
  • Rise of the Tomb Raider (Cloud, Console, and PC)
  • Tin Hearts (Cloud, Console, and PC)
  • The Quarry (Cloud and Console)

Leaving December 31:

  • BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle (Cloud, Console, and PC)
  • Close to the Sun (Cloud, Console, and PC)
  • Humankind (Cloud, Console, and PC)
  • Lego 2K Drive (Cloud and Console)
  • McPixel 3 (Cloud, Console, and PC)
  • Party Animals (Cloud and Console)
Patrick Hearn
Patrick Hearn writes about smart home technology like Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, smart light bulbs, and more. If it's a…
The best trailers from The Game Awards 2024: Witcher 4, Intergalactic, and more
Ciri in The Witcher 4.

The Game Awards 2024 took place Thursday night, and it was very entertaining. Host Geoff Keighley invited several high-profile game developers and publishers to announce their new games there. In turn, plenty of stunning announcement trailers aired during the event, from the purely cinematic to ones that used those pretty cinematics to draw people in before showing off gameplay. If you didn't tune into The Game Awards 2024 live, but are wondering which trailers from it you should check out, we recommend watching the seven following trailers from the event, listed in order of appearance during the show.
Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound
NINJA GAIDEN: Ragebound | Reveal trailer | Coming Summer 2025

From Shadow Labyrinth to Rematch, The Game Awards 2024's Opening Act was full of surprise announcements. None shocked me more (or had a better trailer) than the game that kicked the night off. That would be Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, a 2D platformer revival of an iconic Koei Tecmo series. As the first trailer of the night, it had great pacing. It slowly teases the lauded studios involved in the project before cutting to a beautiful cinematic reminiscent of Ninja Gaiden, with that connection finally being confirmed once you see Ryu Hayabusa. Not long after that, we get a brief look at some gameplay, which I always appreciate in a reveal trailer, before the title and release date are confirmed. Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound started The Game Awards 2024 on a high note, and the show kept up the momentum from there.
The Witcher IV
The Witcher IV — Cinematic Reveal Trailer | The Game Awards 2024

Read more
3 new Xbox Game Pass games that you should play this weekend (December 13-15)
Indiana jones buried in the sand.

Xbox Game Pass has had a wild year of ups and downs. While the introduction of new tiers with different game offerings has made subscribing a more confusing process, lots of fantastic games like Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 have still come to the service the day they released. Over the past couple of weeks, we saw the launch of the last few of 2024's day one Xbox Game Pass titles. These range from early access indies to a new Indiana Jones game from the developer of the Wolfenstein series. If you're wondering what you should be playing on Xbox Game Pass this weekend, look to these titles.
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
Gamescom Date Reveal Trailer - Indiana Jones and the Great Circle | gamescom 2024

The last major Xbox exclusive release of the year, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, is a first-person action-adventure game based on the iconic Lucasfilm series. Wolfenstein: The New Order and The New Colossus developer MachineGames managed to create a licensed game that still retains a unique gameplay identity, infusing puzzle game and immersive sim gameplay elements into what easily could've been an Uncharted knockoff. If you've ever enjoyed an Indiana Jones film and are subscribed to Xbox Game Pass, then Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is a game you should definitely check out.

Read more
3 new Xbox Game Pass games to play this weekend (December 6-8)
Crash Bandicoot in Crash Team Racing Nitro Fueled.

Microsoft outlined the last batch of games coming to Xbox Game Pass this year in a post earlier this week, and many of those titles got added to the service later in the week. One surprising trend in this final Game Pass game batch of 2024 is that three great racing games came to different subscription service tiers. Running (or I guess driving) the gamut from extremely cartoonish to overtly simulation-focused, fans of racing games have many new options to choose from this weekend on Xbox Game Pass.
Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled
Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled Reveal Trailer

In the wake of Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy's success, Activision had its studio Beenox remake Crash Team Racing for modern gaming platforms. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is undeniably the king when it comes to the best cartoon kart racers available nowadays, but Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled is the closest any game has come to taking that crown. The wacky world and characters of Crash Bandicoot are a perfect fit for a Kart Racer, and this game even features some crossover content featuring Spyro the Dragon and extras from Crash Team Racing games other than the PS1 original. Its adventure mode also gives it a meatier single-player offering than most racing games, so there's a lot for Game Pass subscribers to sink their teeth into here.

Read more