By Jacob Miller | Jun 29, 2026
That launch day roster included well over 100 titles, and while countless games have come and gone in the years since, Payday 2 kept its spot across multiple subscription tiers, even making its way into Xbox Game Pass Core — now known as Xbox Game Pass Essential — when that entry-level membership launched in September 2023. Its longevity on the service is all the more striking when you consider that its sequel, Payday 3, joined Game Pass in 2023 and was already gone by September 2024, lasting just a single year. The original clearly had staying power that its follow-up simply could not match.
What Else Is Leaving and When
Payday 2 is not heading out alone. Seven other titles are leaving alongside it on June 30: Mecha Break, Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Slay the Spire, Ultimate Chicken Horse, Volcano Princess, and Unpacking. Of this group, Slay the Spire has the second-longest history on the service, having joined back in August 2019 — nearly seven years on the platform. Unpacking, which arrived in November 2021, has also had a respectable run of four and a half years. On the opposite end, Mecha Break, Rise of the Tomb Raider, and Ultimate Chicken Horse all joined as recently as July 2025, meaning they are departing just shy of their first anniversary on the service.
Payday 2 also holds the distinction of being only the fourth title ever removed from the Game Pass Core and Essential tier, following Forza Horizon 4, which was pulled from all tiers entirely, and standard removals of Goat Simulator and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge.
Where June Ends and July Begins
With these eight departures, June 2026 closes out with 13 total removals from the service for the month. Despite the exits, Xbox Game Pass is still on track to finish June with a net gain of four titles, having added 16 games across the month with one more — the delayed casual title RV There Yet? — still scheduled to arrive on June 30 itself. The game was originally planned for May 2026, but was pushed back for final polishing.
Looking ahead, July kicks off with a significant addition on July 2, when Xbox Game Pass Premium subscribers will finally receive Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 and 4 after a year-long wait. The full Wave 1 lineup for July may not be confirmed until July 6, though Winds of Arcana: Ruination is already locked in for that date. So while June ends with some familiar faces leaving, July is shaping up to bring fresh reasons to keep the subscription going.
