Analysts Name Top Xbox Game Pass Hits of 2026

In 2026, Xbox Game Pass saw several major releases, and analysts have already identified which games attracted the most new users. Forza Horizon 6 took the lead.

The ranking was prepared by Rhys Elliott from Alinea Analytics. According to his estimates, these projects had the strongest impact on the growth of Microsoft's service audience.

First place went to Forza Horizon 6, which attracted approximately 6.8 million new players to Xbox Game Pass across consoles, PC, and cloud. The game also generated about $270 million in revenue on Xbox through full version sales and Premium Upgrade. According to the analyst, one month after release, the project still has about 2 million daily active players, and over 20% have spent more than 50 hours in the game.

Second place was taken by Subnautica 2 — about 3.5 million players through Game Pass. Elliott notes that approximately 100,000 copies were sold on Xbox, while on Steam, the game sold over 5.4 million copies and generated about $130 million. In his opinion, many users preferred the subscription over purchasing the game.

Third place went to Escape the Backrooms. The cooperative horror game attracted about 2.8 million new users after its console release in May. The surge in interest is partly due to A24's "Backrooms" film. However, sales on Xbox were lower than on PlayStation, where the game was not available via subscription.

Cyberpunk is also mentioned in the list. According to the analyst, the game has been on the market for a long time, so its addition to the service did not impact potential sales as significantly as it did for new releases.

Elliott notes that Game Pass's success simultaneously highlights a problem with the service: it attracts millions of players but can reduce revenue from individual game sales. In his opinion, it will become increasingly difficult for Microsoft to justify releasing major titles on the subscription from day one over time.