Hellblade 2 is finally upon us, with the next chapter in Senua’s journey set to hit Xbox Game Pass on May 21. But, as it turns out, Ninja Theory’s latest isn’t the only star of this month’s show, as ten top Xbox titles join it in the second wave of May’s drops. This latest announcement also confirms a previous leak that Lords of the Fallen will be falling onto the service.
Though Xbox has kept Hellblade 2’s marketing to a minimum, I’m not-so-quietly confident that Senua’s Saga is going to swiftly join the list of best Game Pass games when it lands. Last week, Ninja Theory dropped a fascinating deep dive into how much work goes into its industry-leading portrayal of mental health – more specifically Senua’s psychosis.
The road to Hellblade 2 has certainly been a long one for the studio, seeing as the game was first announced all the way back in 2019. A small pandemic and an acquisition by Microsoft later, and the UK-based outfit is finally preparing to debut what is expected to be one of the year’s best games – the recent wave of previews offers a promising peek at what’s to come.
Below you’ll find the full list of games arriving this month, as well as a couple of early June additions.
- Chants of Sennaar (Cloud, Console, and PC) – May 15
- EA Sports NHL 24 (Cloud) EA Play – May 16
- Immortals of Aveum (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) EA Play – May 16
- Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) – May 21
- Galacticare (Cloud, PC, Xbox Series X|S) – May 23
- Hauntii (Cloud, Console, and PC) – May 23
- Moving Out 2 (Cloud, Console, and PC) – May 28
- Humanity (Cloud, Console, and PC) – May 30
- Lords of the Fallen (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S) – May 30
- Firework (PC) – June 4
- Rolling Hills (Cloud, Console, and PC) – June 4
As you can see, alongside Hellblade 2, this month’s new Game Pass games list is also offering up a chance for redemption when it comes to two of last year’s biggest missed opportunities – Immortals of Aveum and Lords of the Fallen.
Despite its healthy development budget, Immortals of Aveum garnered mixed reviews when it arrived in August, which is a real shame because it really does have some great foundations, even if Ascendant Studios’ FPS game doesn’t fully realize its potential. In our 5/10 Immortals of Aveum review, we deem it a failure when it comes to telling a “captivating, well-written” story, though it’s bolstered by its “strong shooting and grand world design.” Nonetheless, as a freebie on Game Pass, it’s still worth a try if you’re after some good, magically militant fun.
Lords of the Fallen, meanwhile, has had quite the redemption arc since the Soulslike game arrived in October, also to middling reviews. Riddled by performance issues and still far from its final form, developer CI Games embarked on a bold roadmap to bring its true vision to fruition. Now, after 100s of bug fixes, and months of improvements culminating in its latest ‘Master of Fate’ update, the game is much improved from the version we gave 6/10 in our Lords of the Fallen review. At the beginning of the month, a leak revealed that Lords of the Fallen would join the list of Game Pass games this month, and I’m pleased to see it materialize.
Another major coup for not only Game Pass subs, but Xbox enjoyers at large is the long-awaited release of hit action-puzzler Humanity. Having spent the last year as a PS4 and PS5 exclusive, this Lemmings-like addition to the Xbox catalog is a welcomed one – any game that lets you embody a spectral Shiba Inu is a giant W as far as I’m concerned.
For more info on the latest Game Pass Ultimate perks, as well as which games are leaving the service this month – pour one out for Jojo’s All-Star Battle – check out the Xbox Wire article here.
For more of the latest on the best Xbox games to arrive on Game Pass as of late, check out my thoughts on another of this month’s highlights, the pawsome Little Kitty, Big City. While you’re here, drop us a follow on Google News to stay up to date on everything moving and shaking in Xboxland as we edge towards Summer Games Fest.