/Gaming

Microsoft just revealed the second wave of Game Pass additions for June 2026. Seven games in total, spread across June 16 to July 6, and the one that caught people off guard is Call of Duty: Vanguard, which showed up with no prior announcement. ## Call of Duty: Vanguard This is the 2021 Sledgehammer Games entry set in World War II. It has a solo campaign, multiplayer, and Warzone integration. It's not the most celebrated CoD of recent years, but the campaign holds up well enough and there are plenty of multiplayer hours for anyone who wants to dig into the series without spending extra. It lands on June 17 for Ultimate, Premium, and PC subscribers. First time it's appeared on the service, and the lack of a heads-up is a bit unusual — though Microsoft has done this before with Activision titles. Worth mentioning: since the Activision Blizzard acquisition, the older CoD catalog has been coming to Game Pass in a fairly slow, staggered way. Some people think it's deliberate pacing to keep the service feeling fresh month to month. Others point to licensing complications that may still exist for older titles. Probably some combination of both. ## All Confirmed Games | Date | Game | Platforms | Tier | |------|------|-----------|------| | June 16 | **Junkster** | Series X\|S, PC, Cloud | Ultimate, PC | | June 17 | **Call of Duty: Vanguard** | Console, PC, Cloud | Ultimate, Premium, PC | | June 18 | **EA Sports FC 26** (EA Play) | Series X\|S, PC, Cloud | Ultimate, PC | | June 25 | **Abyssus** | Series X\|S, PC, Cloud | Ultimate, PC | | June 30 | **RV There Yet?** | Series X\|S, PC, Cloud | Ultimate, Premium, PC | | July 2 | **Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4** | Series X\|S, PC, Cloud | XGP Premium | | July 6 | **Winds of Arcana: Ruination** | Console, PC, Cloud | Ultimate, Premium, PC | ## Each Game, Briefly **Junkster** (June 16) is a construction and survival game with a chaotic industrial aesthetic. Available on Ultimate and PC Game Pass. **EA Sports FC 26** arrives June 18 via EA Play, which is already included in Game Pass Ultimate — so if you're on that tier, nothing changes. It's EA's football sim for the 2025/26 season, with updated rosters and the usual Ultimate Team mode. **Abyssus** is probably the least familiar name on this list, and possibly the most interesting one to watch. It's a first-person shooter with dark, underwater-influenced environments, and it was confirmed for Game Pass early in development, which usually means some level of backing from Microsoft. Comes June 25. **RV There Yet?** (June 30) is a road trip simulation game built around traveling in a motorhome. There's clearly an audience for this kind of low-stakes experience, and Game Pass is genuinely the best context for trying it — no commitment required. **Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4** arrives July 2, but only for **XGP Premium** subscribers. Developed by Iron Galaxy, the same team behind the 1+2 remake in 2020. If you grew up with these games, this is probably the most relevant release in the whole wave. Worth checking whether your current tier covers it. **Winds of Arcana: Ruination** (July 6) is an action RPG with fantasy visuals, available on Ultimate and Premium. Not much is known about it yet, but it rounds out the list for genre fans. ## What's Leaving at the End of June Eight games are exiting the catalog this month, including Payday 2 and Rise of the Tomb Raider. As usual, Microsoft is discounting them by at least 20% before they leave, so there's a window to buy them permanently if either is on your list. ## A Note on Shift at Midnight and Age of Empires Mobile Two games that had been expected for this window — Shift at Midnight (June 17) and Age of Empires Mobile: PC Edition (June 23) — didn't appear in the official announcement. The developer behind Shift at Midnight still has the Game Pass launch pinned on their social media, so it may still show up regardless. It's unclear what happened there, and worth keeping an eye on. ## Overall It's a decent wave, not a standout one. Tony Hawk carries the nostalgia weight, CoD Vanguard is the surprise, and Abyssus is the one that might catch people off guard if it delivers. The rest fills in the gaps for different types of players. Nothing wrong with that.