Gears of War: E-Day Open Beta Leads Xbox Game Pass August 2026 Lineup

The first half of August will see a long list of games join Xbox Game Pass, as well as the Gears of War: E-Day open beta for Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass subscribers. This early trial of E-Day will include the new Horde Siege PvE mode, which transports the series' traditional co-op wave survival offering to larger settings, and support for more players.

The full list of games, courtesy of Xbox Wire, is below. Xbox Game Pass August 2026 Wave 1 lineup: Heretic + Hexen (Cloud, Console, Handheld, and PC) – August 4, Now with Game Pass Premium; joining Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass Beast of Reincarnation (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) – August 4, Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass Gears of War: E-Day Open Beta – Early Access starting August 6, Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass Monsters are Coming!

(Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) – August 6, now with Game Pass Premium; joining Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass PowerWash Simulator 2 (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC) – August 6, now with Game Pass Premium; joining Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass Bounty Star (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC) – August 11, now with Game Pass Premium; joining Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass Date Everything!

(Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) – August 11, Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, PC Game Pass Mio: Memories in Orbit (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) – August 13, now with Game Pass Premium; joining Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass Sandustry (Game Preview) (PC) – August 13, Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass Egging On (Cloud Xbox Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) – August 18, now with Game Pass Premium; joining Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass Grounded 2 (Game Preview) (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) – August 11, now with Game Pass Premium; joining Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass Ball x Pit (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) – August 12, now with Game Pass Premium; joining Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass Cricket 26 (Cloud, Console, and PC) – August 13, Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, PC Game Pass As ever, whenever Microsoft giveth, so it taketh away.

A number of games leave Game Pass this month. You can buy them at a discount while they’re still in the subscription service. Leaving Xbox Game Pass August 15: Menace (Game Preview) (PC) Atlas Fallen (Cloud, Console, and PC) Aliens: Fireteam Elite (Cloud, Console, and PC) Firewatch (Cloud, Console, and PC) Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor.

You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign. com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg. bsky.