Every Confirmed January 2023 Game Pass Title

The opening month of 2023 already looks good for Xbox’s wildly successful Game Pass service. With five upcoming games to get excited about (and even more on the horizon judging by last June’s Xbox showcase), there’s no better time to delve into the world of Game Pass. But what’s actually coming this month? From hundred hour long JRPGs to niche experiences full of personality, January is shaping up to be the most diverse month yet.

Persona 3 Portable/ Persona 4 Golden- January 19th

Persona 3 and 4 are (unsurprisingly) two of the greatest JRPGs ever made- and Game Pass is the first opportunity that a lot of fans will be able to experience them. Persona 4 Golden was initially released on PS Vita but was ported to PC in 2020, whereas Persona 3 Portable was stuck on the PSP which left all but superfans unable to easily access them. With Game Pass, that’s finally changing on January 19th for both games. With similar gameplay and themes, fans of Persona 5 will find the third and fourth entries as fantastic as the latest masterpiece. If you’re a victim of the January blues, the uplifting Persona 4 may be what you’re looking for. Contrastingly, Persona 3 is a story of death, acceptance, and hope for a heavier experience. Either way, this series definitely does not fail to deliver- and these two being available on a home console for the first time is always a win.

Monster Hunter Rise- January 20th

Coming just one day after the Persona duology, the latest mainline entry in the long-running Monster Hunter series is finally arriving on Xbox consoles. This is likely a push from Xbox CEO Phil Spencer to break Xbox into the Japanese market after being held down by Sony for so long. Originally released for the Nintendo Switch, the sixth mainline entry took a lot of innovations introduced in Monster Hunter: World but also added its own twists including rideable animals, new weapons, and a slew of new traversal options to get players back to the hunt as soon as possible. Interestingly, Rise has a full-blown expansion ‘Sunbreak’ but this isn’t releasing until later on this year instead of being included in a package deal. Official sources claim that this is so that fans can have a chance to explore the vast world of the original game before delving into new content. More likely, however, is that Capcom wanted to charge for the additional content seperately from Game Pass and this was part of Microsoft’ deal of getting it onto the platform.

Age of Empires II Definitive Edition- 31st January

The 20th Anniversary of Age of Empires II was celebrated in 2019 with the release of an upscaled 4K PC port that brought the game in line with the series’ modern iterations. Finally, this highly praised entry in the real-time strategy series is migrating onto consoles. Coming straight to game pass day one, fans will be able to play as their favorite nation and fight in a hundred-turn wide-scale battle against other empires. While certainly not for everyone, genre innovations such as updated AI, improved pathfinding, and other quality-of-life additions make Age of Empires II Definitive Edition a great place to start if you’re new to the RTS genre- especially considering its new found accessibility on Xbox consoles at the end of this month.

Inkulinati - January 31st

Now, this entry may look a little familiar if you played last year’s ‘Pentiment’. While sharing the art style with Obsidian’s surprise hit, Inkulinati is perhaps as different of a genre as possible. A tactical strategy game set in the world of parchment and ink, Inkulinati is unique for more than just its art style. By drawing beasts on traditional medieval scripture, your goal is to fight members of the ‘Inkulinati’ in order to become the most renowned ink battler in the institution. If that premise isn’t enough to at least pique your curiosity a little, I don’t know what will. Either way, if you played last year’s Pentiment and even slightly enjoyed the charm of its flat, traditional world, Inkulinati is probably already on your most anticipated list for this year. Let’s hope that this is successful (and good, of course) so that Xbox is more willing to take chances on unique indie ventures in the future.

So, those were all of the five confirmed games coming later this month (so far). Xbox’s service is growing in value with every added game- and 2023 is already shaping up to be the greatest year so far. If investments like Starfield and Redfall pay off for Microsoft, Game Pass will become even more of a juggernaut this year than it already is.