Xbox Game Pass to Remove 8 Games Today, Including Celeste and Crusader Kings 3

If you’re still playing (or planning to try) several of Xbox Game Pass’s biggest recent additions, act fast: eight games are scheduled to leave the service later today, July 31. The removals include acclaimed standouts like Celeste and Crusader Kings 3, plus a mix of strategy, platforming, and cozier city-building experiences.

What’s leaving Xbox Game Pass today (July 31, 2026)

Xbox Game Pass is scheduled to drop eight titles later today, July 31. The catalog rotation includes Celeste, a highly regarded platformer with a 92 average score on OpenCritic, and Crusader Kings 3, another critically successful game with a 91 average score on OpenCritic.

After a mid-month update in the Xbox app, the departures list initially showed seven games for the July 31 rotation. Since then, one additional title has been added: Whiskerwood, a cozy city builder that has been available on the service since November 2025.

Beyond Celeste, Crusader Kings 3, and Whiskerwood, the rest of the July 31 removals are My Friendly Neighborhood, Back to the Dawn, Sniper Elite: Resistance, Rain World, and Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord. If you’ve been bouncing between genres—strategy, stealth, survival, or colony-style management—this is a broad sweep that affects multiple playstyles.

Who is affected most: long-running favorites and top-rated picks

This departure wave isn’t just about variety—it also includes games that have been on the service for a long time and titles that sit near the top of Xbox Game Pass’s critical profile.

Crusader Kings 3 stands out as a long-serving entry. It originally joined Xbox Game Pass as a day-one release in September 2020 and is now set to leave after nearly six years. The source also notes this is the second departure of a similarly long-running game in just over a month, following Payday 2’s end on the service in late June 2026.

Celeste, meanwhile, is highlighted as one of the highest-rated games in Microsoft’s subscription catalog thanks to its OpenCritic average. Together, these two removals cover both “must-play” critical recognition and the kind of long-term availability that often leads players to postpone a backlog—until it’s suddenly time to decide.

What comes next for Xbox Game Pass in August 2026

Looking at the broader 2026 picture, the upcoming removals bring Xbox Game Pass’s July 2026 total to 18 games removed, while adding 15 new titles (excluding Xbox Game Pass Premium-only releases). As a result, July becomes the first month of 2026 where the service removes more games than it adds.

Whether Microsoft will return the catalog to a growth trend next month remains unclear. For now, Xbox Game Pass has four confirmed August 2026 releases, including Beast of Reincarnation, an original action RPG from Game Freak.

What players should know before the July 31 cutoff

• Eight games are scheduled to leave Xbox Game Pass later today, July 31, including Celeste (92 OpenCritic avg) and Crusader Kings 3 (91 OpenCritic avg).
• Whiskerwood was added to the departures list after an earlier mid-month update in the Xbox app.
• Crusader Kings 3 is departing after nearly six years on the service, having launched there as a day-one release in September 2020.
• If you’re deciding between starting something new or finishing a current run, prioritize the titles on the removal list today.

Expert View

This is a tough rotation for subscribers because it combines high critical scores with departures of long-time catalog staples—especially Crusader Kings 3. The upside is that August’s confirmed slate (including Beast of Reincarnation from Game Freak) offers a reset, but the numbers also suggest July was unusually heavy on removals. If you’ve been waiting to play the acclaimed titles or to “eventually get to” a long-running strategy game, today is the practical deadline.