Standfirst: Microsoft’s Game Pass rotation takes eight games on October 31, 2026 — including LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, Wartales, and two classic Double Fine remasters. With 11 days left, here’s which ones you can still finish, which to buy at the member discount, and which to let go.
In brief
- Eight games leave Xbox Game Pass on October 31, 2026 — the second removal wave of the month (nine titles left earlier in October).
- Notable departures: LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, Wartales, Day of the Tentacle Remastered, and Full Throttle Remastered (GameSpot, October 19, 2026).
- Still finishable now: both Double Fine remasters take roughly 3–4 hours each; Day of the Tentacle Remastered holds 86/100 on Metacritic.
- Leaving games are typically discounted up to 20% for Game Pass members before removal.
- Check your own list in the Game Pass app under “Leaving soon”.
Lede: Xbox Game Pass subscribers are losing eight games on October 31, 2026, in the second removal wave of the month — the first wave already took nine titles earlier in October. GameSpot first reported the updated departure list on October 19, and the eight games now appear in the “Leaving soon” section of the Game Pass app. The headline departure is LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, but the list hides two of the best short games on the service. With less than two weeks until they disappear, the question isn’t what’s leaving — it’s what you can still finish.
The eight games leaving on October 31
The departing titles, as reported by GameSpot and Insider Gaming on October 19:
| Game | Type | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| Day of the Tentacle Remastered | Classic point-and-click adventure (Double Fine) | Start now — ~3–4 hours, easily finished by Oct 31 |
| Full Throttle Remastered | Classic point-and-click adventure (Double Fine) | Start now — ~3–4 hours, easily finished by Oct 31 |
| Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris | Isometric co-op action (4 players) | Start now — a weekend’s co-op |
| Deep Rock Galactic | Session-based co-op shooter | Play this week — no ending to miss, sessions are the point |
| Wildgate | Session-based PvPvE shooter | Play this week — same; rounds, not a campaign |
| Dead Static Drive | Survival-horror indie | Start now — short, completable in a few sessions |
| LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga | Action-adventure, nine films | Main story is doable; completion is not |
| Wartales | Open-world tactical RPG | Buy at the discount — you will not finish this by Oct 31 |
Start these now: the two Double Fine remasters
The single best reason to open the Game Pass app this week is Day of the Tentacle Remastered. The 1993 LucasArts classic, rebuilt by Double Fine, holds an 86/100 on Metacritic and an “overwhelmingly positive” Steam rating — and it takes roughly three to four hours to complete. Full Throttle Remastered, the other Double Fine departure, is in the same bracket: a tight, funny, three-hour adventure. Both are linear, self-contained, and completable in an evening or two.
There is a wrinkle worth noting: Double Fine became independent from Xbox Game Studios this year, which makes these two remasters’ future on the service uncertain even beyond October. If you’ve ever meant to play the best adventure games of the 1990s, this is the last easy window.
The co-op and session games: play them this week
Deep Rock Galactic and Wildgate have no campaigns to finish, which makes them the lowest-pressure departures on the list. Both are session-based: you drop in, play rounds, drop out. There is no story you’ll lose access to mid-arc — but the matchmaking pools on Game Pass shrink once a game leaves the catalog, so this week is the best time to play them with the largest crowd.
Lara Croft and the Temple of Osiris is the sleeper co-op pick: the first four-player co-op entry in the Lara Croft series, set in the Egyptian underworld, and completable in roughly a weekend of sessions. If you have a group chat that ever says “we should play something together,” this is the assignment.
Dead Static Drive, the survival-horror indie about a nightmarish road trip across 1980s America, is short and completable in a few sessions — a good fit for the Halloween-adjacent end of the month.
The two that need a decision: LEGO Star Wars and Wartales
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga is the biggest name leaving — all nine saga films, 300 playable characters, 100 vehicles, 23 planets, local and online co-op. The main story is completable in roughly 18–25 hours, which is achievable in 11 days if you commit. Full completion is a 60-plus-hour project and is not happening before October 31.
Wartales is the clearest “buy, don’t rush” case on the list: a medieval open-world RPG about a mercenary squad that runs 60–100 hours. You will not finish it by October 31, and trying would be miserable. This is the game the member discount exists for.
How the keep-discount works
Game Pass members can buy departing games at up to 20% off to keep them in their library permanently — the discount applies until the game leaves the catalog on October 31. Check the “Leaving soon” tab in your region’s Game Pass app (on console or PC) to see the exact discounted price, since the discount and the tab itself are region-specific. The discount is the right move for Wartales, and for LEGO Star Wars if you want the full completion run beyond the main story.
A note on the rest: nine games already left in the first October wave, so this month’s rotation is unusually heavy — 17 departures total. If your backlog includes anything from the first wave, those are already gone; don’t conflate the lists.
Why games leave: the licensing window behind every rotation
Game Pass is a licensing business, not a library. Microsoft signs time-limited deals with publishers — typically measured in months, sometimes years — and when a deal expires, the game leaves unless it is renewed. That’s why departures cluster: contract windows align around calendar quarters, and October’s 17 departures across two waves suggest a batch of publisher deals all hitting their end date at once.
This is also why “leaving soon” announcements usually land two to four weeks before the removal date: it’s the contractual notice window, and it’s the only guaranteed heads-up you’ll get. There is no public calendar of what’s leaving next quarter. The “Leaving soon” tab in the app is the single authoritative source — third-party trackers are usually right, but they scrape the same tab you’re looking at.
The practical consequence: if you play Game Pass as your primary library, treat every game as rented, not owned. The two games on this list that punish that assumption most are Wartales and LEGO Star Wars — the longest commitments, and the ones where starting now and not finishing feels worst. That’s the real cost of the rotation model, and it’s why the keep-discount exists: Microsoft would rather sell you the game at 20% off than lose you as a player entirely.
How to check your own “Leaving soon” list
Don’t take any article’s word for the departure list — including this one. The list and the discounts are region-specific, and the fastest way to verify is in the app you already have:
- Open the Xbox app on console or the Xbox app on PC.
- Go to the Game Pass section and find the “Leaving soon” category.
- Open each game’s page to see the member discount — up to 20% off to keep it permanently.
Two things to check while you’re there. First, confirm the removal date on each game: the second October wave is dated October 31, 2026, but regional pages occasionally carry the date differently. Second, if a game you care about isn’t showing a discount, it’s sometimes a sign the publisher is pulling the title entirely rather than letting it rotate — in that case, buying sooner is safer than waiting for a deeper sale that never comes.
This check takes two minutes and it settles the only questions that matter: exactly which games leave in your region, on what date, and at what keep-price.
What this means for you
- You have until October 31. After that, the eight games leave Game Pass and can only be played if you own them.
- Play first: Day of the Tentacle Remastered and Full Throttle Remastered — the two best short games on the list, both finishable in an evening or two.
- Play with friends this week: Temple of Osiris (weekend co-op), Deep Rock Galactic and Wildgate (session-based; player pools shrink after departure).
- Buy at up to 20% off: Wartales (too long to finish); LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (if you want the full 60-hour completion, not just the story).
- Verify in your app: open the “Leaving soon” tab in your region’s Game Pass app — the list and the discounts are region-specific, and that’s the authoritative source.
Sources
- RedEyeEagle — Game Pass October wave 2, arrivals and departures (Xbox Wire announcement)
- iPhone in Canada — Game Pass October 2026 wave 2
Related reading: PlayStation 6 Three Models: What’s New, What’s Recycled · PS5 Games on Xbox Series X: How the PS5X Emulator Actually Works
Update, October 21, 2026: fresh arrivals for the same week — nine games join Game Pass between October 21 and November 3, but your tier decides what you can actually play: Ultimate and PC Game Pass get all nine, Premium gets six, and Essential gets none.
Shoaib Hassan
Shoaib Hassan is the founder and editor of AuTechWire, an independent technology publication covering broadband, mobile networks, privacy, startups, and consumer tech.
Related Stories
Apple’s October 28 Event: The First Touch-Screen MacBook Is Finally Coming
In brief Apple confirmed a second October product event — "Pro and tell," held in Los Angeles on…
Cyberpunk 2077 Update 2.5: Everything in the Edgerunners Patch (and What Leaked Early)
In brief CD Projekt Red announced Update 2.5 on October 20, 2026: it goes live October 22 for…
GTA 6 Pre-Orders Hit 6.45 Million — $630 Million Before Launch
One month before launch, Grand Theft Auto VI has already pre-sold an estimated 6.45 million copies — roughly…