2023 has been a bit of a mixed year for Xbox Game Pass, with some extremely high highs, and some really low lows, but the further fans get into the year, the more things seem to be leveling out. July 2023's Xbox Game Pass line-up featured some great titles, with Grand Theft Auto 5 being the standout pull for the month, and thankfully, August 2023's Xbox Game Pass selection is already looking fairly healthy. While just four games have been confirmed for Xbox Game Pass in August 2023 so far, all four are great.
Up first on August 1 is the beautiful indie platformer Celeste, then the expansive sci-fi action-RPG Everspace 2 launches on Xbox Game Pass on August 15. A few days later, on August 18, the asymmetrical multiplayer horror game The Texas Chain Saw Massacre is set to hit Xbox Game Pass day one. And then right at the end of the month, the eagerly anticipated Sea of Stars is set to hit Xbox Game Pass, also on day one. But while all four of these Xbox Game Pass August games are bound to be great additions to the service, it could always do with a few more.
Xbox Game Pass New Game for August 2023: Stray
Originally launched as a PlayStation Plus day-one exclusive, it would be incredible to see Stray hit Xbox Game Pass when it launched on August 10. Despite their recent tensions, exacerbated by the very public FTC court case, PlayStation and Xbox have been getting on quite well recently, with both companies agreeing to share the upcoming Sea of Stars, which lands on both PlayStation Plus and Xbox Game Pass on day one.
The ultimate sign of cooperation between the two juggernauts would be PlayStation allowing Stray to come to Xbox Game Pass when it hits the console for the first time later next month. Aside from that, Stray is also just an excellent game filled with charm and a breathtaking art style, making it a perfect title for Xbox Game Pass.
Xbox Game Pass New Game for August 2023: GTA Definitive Trilogy
As mentioned up top, Grand Theft Auto 5 was July 2023's best Xbox Game Pass addition, and it wouldn't be a bad idea to follow that up this month with even more GTA. Though they were extremely controversial when they first dropped, the GTA Definitive Trilogy is still a solid way to experience three absolute classics, and having them all in one spot with Xbox Game Pass would be great. If gamers need anything this Summer it's content, and the GTA Definitive Trilogy offers plenty of that, with around 70 hours of story content alone across all three games.
Xbox Game Pass New Game for August 2023: Immortals of Aveum
One of the more high-profile, but still potentially under-the-radar releases this August is Ascendant Studios' Immortals of Aveum. Launching on August 22, Immortals of Aveum is a first-person arena shooter that's been heavily inspired by the likes of old-school shooters like Doom and Quake. Though, the big hook here is that players aren't shooting regular old guns, but a vast range of magical spells. While its plot looks a little silly, Immortals of Aveum doesn't look like it'll disappoint in the gameplay department.
Xbox Game Pass New Game for August 2023: Call of Duty: Black Ops 2
In the last few weeks, classic Call of Duty titles have seen a resurgence on Xbox. With Microsoft mysteriously fixing some server issues, fans are flocking back to iconic titles like Black Ops and Modern Warfare 2, putting them right at the top of the bestsellers list on Xbox Game Pass. It would be great to see Microsoft lean into this unique trend by putting a classic CoD game on Xbox Game Pass, and there's none better than Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, currently the best-selling game on the Xbox Marketplace.