Xbox Game Pass announces more April games — including three day-one titles

Xbox is adding six titles to Game Pass to see out April — including a trio of brand-new games that will be available upon launch.

The so-called “day one” releases are medieval city-builder Manor Lords for PC, Japanese RPG Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes, and underwater Soulslike Another Crab’s Treasure.

Furthermore, Game Pass Core members can play three new games from April 23.

In September, Xbox launched the cheap tier, which costs £6.99 a month, as a rebranded version of Xbox Live Gold with a small library of free games.

The new Core titles include two must-play games in multiplayer mining adventure Deep Rock Galactic and the destruction derby thriller Wreckfest.

In the former, you and up to three pals can play as space dwarves who can literally bring down the roof in the hunt for valuable resources.

Wreckfest is all about crashing cars into each other until they explode. You’d be surprised how much mileage you can get with such a simple formula.

Check out all the changes below, including the arrivals and departures — followed by our highlights.

Xbox Game Pass games for April

With six new titles coming to Xbox Game Pass throughout the rest of April, the month’s total batch of new additions is 14.

One of those games, Harold Halibut, a quirky friendship parable with a claymation style, landed yesterday (April 16).

The newcomers are as follows:

• Orcs Must Die! 3 (April 17)
• EA Sports NHL 24 (April 18)
• Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes (April 23)
• Another Crab’s Treasure (April 25)
• Manor Lords – PC (April 26)
• Have A Nice Death (April 30)

Games leaving Xbox Game Pass on April 30

• 7 Days to Die 
• Besiege
• EA Sports NHL 22
• Loot River
• Pikuniku
• Ravenlok

Xbox Games Pass highlights

Our top picks for the remainder of this month are the trifecta of day-one releases.

Players have waited a while for Manor Lords, after it was announced for Game Pass in October, possibly because a solo developer is making it. Remarkably, one man, Greg Styczeń, who works under the moniker Slavic Magic, created such an ambitious game.

Manor Lords is a strategy game that lets you build a medieval fiefdom — and you can smell the dirt from your gaming chair. Along the way, you’ll ward off invaders, forge resources such as wood and stone, and form alliances with other lords through diplomacy. Or, you could wage war on everyone in sight. If that’s your plan, make sure your townsfolk are well fed as they’re the poor souls putting their lives on the line.

Manor Lords is supposed to be coming to Xbox consoles at some point. However, initially, it will be available in early access on PC, so expect a few bugs.

Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes features a cast of 110 playable characters (Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes)

Elsewhere, fans of the classic Japanese RPG series Suikoden, which traces its roots back to the PS1, will be eager to get their hands on Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes. The games share much of the same DNA, from the same creators to a focus on team building. As the title implies, there are more than a hundred characters to recruit, who are all itching to take down the evil empire threatening the fantastical world of Allraan.

Finally, Another Crab’s Treasure is a crustacean adventure featuring punishingly hard enemies. Think Dark Souls meets SpongeBob SquarePants — six words we never thought we’d write.

This month, Xbox is also offering a Vault 33 Survival Kit to Fallout 76 players. These include the newcomers seeking out the post-apocalyptic game after bingeing on Amazon’s Fallout show.

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