19 February 2026

Xbox Game Pass Adds One of the Best Open-World RPGs Ever, and More

By newsgame

Three more titles have been added to multiple Xbox Game Pass tiers earlier today, February 19. The catalog update includes The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which has been away from the Xbox Game Pass library for nearly half a decade.

Originally released in May 2015, The Witcher 3 is widely considered as one of the best open-world RPGs of all time. While it’s far from the first game to offer open-ended quests full of morally gray choices, it did so at a largely unprecedented scale. The writing that it delivered largely resonated with players regardless of whether they were pursuing the main story or doing a low-stakes side activity, like accepting a side quest to retrieve a frying pan that’s just a few feet away.

Xbox Game Pass black and white and green sign over Expeditions a MudRunner Game red-tinted screenshot

4 Xbox Game Pass Games Are Leaving on February 28

Xbox Game Pass is losing one of its highest-rated games with an 87 OpenCritic score and three other titles at the end of February 2026.

Witcher 3 Joins Xbox Game Pass With All DLC Included

The Witcher 3 was added to Xbox Game Pass on February 19, rejoining the service nearly five years after it concluded its previous stint. The critically acclaimed fantasy RPG is available to both Premium- and Ultimate-tier subscribers, but only on consoles and via Xbox Cloud Gaming. While the PC version isn’t included, the console one is the Complete Edition of the game comprising all of its post-launch content. That is uncommon for Xbox Game Pass releases, which often exclude expansions when available. The inclusion is also notable because The Witcher 3 has some of the highest-rated DLCs in the open-world RPG genre, offering two massive maps and dozens of hours’ worth of quests.

Who’s That Character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Who’s That Character?

Identify the silhouettes before time runs out.

Easy (7.5s)Medium (5.0s)Hard (2.5s)Permadeath (2.5s)

The February 19 catalog update also includes EA Sports College Football 26, which is only available to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers on account of requiring the EA Play add-on. While the perk is also part of PC Game Pass, EA Sports College Football 26 does not have a console version. Subscribers can still technically play it on a desktop by streaming it via Xbox Cloud Gaming in supported regions.

The final February 19 catalog addition is Death Howl, an unconventional genre hybrid that’s part deck-building card game, part turn-based soulslike RPG. The game features a large open world divided into five thematically distinct realms and presents a story of a grieving mother braving the underworld to bring her son back from the dead. Death Howl was a day-one addition to PC Game Pass back in December 2025, but its Xbox Series X/S version wasn’t out until today.

Upcoming Xbox Game Pass Arrivals with Confirmed 2026 Release Dates

Date	Game	Game Pass Tier(s)	Platform(s)	Notes
Feb 19	Death Howl	Ultimate, Premium, PC	Cloud, Handheld, PC, Series X/S	Day-one console release; available on PC GP since Dec 2025.
Feb 19	EA Sports College Football 26	Ultimate	Cloud, Series X/S
Feb 19	The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt	Ultimate, Premium	Cloud, Console	Returning title; last available in Dec 2019–Mar 2021 period.
Feb 24	TCG Card Shop Simulator	Ultimate, PC	Cloud, Handheld, PC, Series X/S	Game Preview; day-one console release. Version 1.0 release date TBA.
Feb 25	Dice A Million	Ultimate, PC	PC	Day-one release.
Feb 26	Towerborne	Premium	Cloud, PC, Series X/S	Day-one 1.0 release; available in Game Preview on XGP Ultimate and PC GP since Apr 2025.
Mar 3	Final Fantasy 3	Ultimate, Premium, PC	Cloud, PC, Series X/S
Mar 3	Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2	Ultimate, Premium, PC	Cloud, PC, Series X/S
Mar 5	Planet of Lana 2	Ultimate, PC	Cloud, Console, PC	Day-one release.
Mar 26	Nova Roma	Ultimate, PC	PC	Day-one release.
Apr 14	Replaced	Ultimate, PC	Cloud, PC, Series X/S	Day-one release.
May 19	Forza Horizon 6	Ultimate, PC	Cloud, PC, Series X/S	Day-one release.
Aug 4	Beast of Reincarnation	Ultimate, PC	Cloud, PC, Series X/S	Day-one release.

Xbox Game Pass has three more confirmed releases coming in February 2026: TCG Card Shop Simulator, Dice A Million, and Towerborne, in that order. February 28 will then see the service lose four titles: Injustice 2, Monster Train, Middle-earth: Shadow of War, and Madden NFL 24.