The start of a new month means two things: there are new titles coming to Xbox Game Pass, and there are some that are leaving. With the announcement of this month's incoming games, Xbox also confirmed that six titles are leaving Xbox Game Pass during the month of February.
If the age of streaming services has shown anything, it's that people shouldn't expect their favorite programs to stay on them for forever. Games will come and go for a variety of reasons, and some will stay on the platform longer than others. At the end of January, Xbox removed four titles from Game Pass, none of which were exceedingly high-profile releases, but will certainly be missed by those who were playing them. Interestingly, a massive leak earlier in January revealed the suspected removal dates of a large selection of Xbox Game Pass games, including games from franchises like Yakuza and Final Fantasy.
In addition to all the games joining the Xbox Game Pass library in February, sadly six titles are leaving Xbox Game Pass on February 15. The six games leaving Game Pass on Cloud, Console, and PC are Control, Code Vein, Final Fantasy 12: The Zodiac Age, The Medium, Project Winter, and The Falconeer. This information comes from Megan Spurr, the Community Lead at Xbox Game Pass, in a new blog post to Xbox Wire where they give players all the information they need to know about the service for February. Players can use their 20% discount to get these games on the Microsoft Store before they disappear.
Some of these games have been with Xbox Game Pass for a good amount of time. Remedy Entertainment's Control joined Xbox Game Pass fully in January 2021, having released a month prior just for Game Pass console players. Final Fantasy 12: The Zodiac Age actually came to Xbox Game Pass in February 2021, it will have just reached a full year on the service before being removed. Lastly, there is The Medium, which launched Day One on Game Pass in December 2020, meaning players also had about a year to experience the title before it leaves later this month.
Sticking with The Medium, it makes sense for it to be leaving Xbox Game Pass. After launching as an Xbox Series X/S and PC exclusive title, The Medium got a PS5 release in September 2021, making the game no longer a strict Xbox exclusive. To that end, it would seem like the game also didn't retain the staying power of most exclusives on Xbox Game Pass, with some games having been with the service since its inception many years ago.
Source: Xbox Wire