Releases

Microsoft’s May Game Pass wave adds Forza Horizon 6, Subnautica 2 and more

Forza Horizon 6, Mixtape and Subnautica 2 headline a crowded May Game Pass slate, with Microsoft stacking big day-one plays across driving, narrative and survival.

Jamie Taylor·5/5/2026·2 min read

Published 02:43 PM

Listen to this article•0:00 min

Share this article:

Microsoft’s May Game Pass wave adds Forza Horizon 6, Subnautica 2 and more — Source: news.xbox.com

This article contains affiliate links, marked with a blue dot. We may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Microsoft’s May Game Pass wave arrives like a backlog trap: a prestige racer, a mood-piece from an indie favorite, a survival sequel with co-op for the first time, and enough smaller additions to make the month feel crowded before it even settles in. The real question is not what is coming, but what deserves your attention first.

If you want the marquee single-player showcase, Forza Horizon 6 sits at the top of the stack. Playground Games is bringing it to Xbox Series X	S and PC on May 19, with Premium Edition early access beginning May 15. Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass members get it at launch, and Microsoft is pitching the open-world racer as the series’ biggest trip yet, set in Japan with more than 550 real-world cars. Xbox and Forza materials have also singled out the 2025 GR GT Prototype and 2025 Toyota Land Cruiser as cover cars, while an April 8 preview pointed to seamless races, collectibles and tourism-style exploration from rural Japan to Tokyo’s Ginko Avenue and Shibuya Crossing. It is built to be the month’s main event.
The best candidate for a shorter, more personal run is Mixtape, which lands May 7 and is optimized for Xbox Series X	S with Xbox Play Anywhere support. From Beethoven & Dinosaur, the studio behind The Artful Escape, the game follows three friends whose playlist triggers dreamlike reenactments of formative memories. That setup makes it the obvious pick for players looking for something more intimate than another giant open-world checklist, with vignettes that move through skateboarding, flying, photography, baseball and a fireworks show.
Subnautica 2 is the obvious time sink. It enters Game Preview on May 14 for Xbox Series X	S, Xbox on PC, ROG Xbox Ally and Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass, and it brings optional co-op for up to four players, the first multiplayer support in the Subnautica franchise. That matters because the series has always been about the slow-burn pull of Planet 4546B, but this sequel adds a new social hook on top of the usual dread and discovery. It was originally announced in October 2024 as a 2025 Game Preview title, so the May date marks a later arrival than planned.

If you want the marquee single-player showcase, Forza Horizon 6 sits at the top of the stack. Playground Games is bringing it to Xbox Series X

S and PC on May 19, with Premium Edition early access beginning May 15. Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass members get it at launch, and Microsoft is pitching the open-world racer as the series’ biggest trip yet, set in Japan with more than 550 real-world cars. Xbox and Forza materials have also singled out the 2025 GR GT Prototype and 2025 Toyota Land Cruiser as cover cars, while an April 8 preview pointed to seamless races, collectibles and tourism-style exploration from rural Japan to Tokyo’s Ginko Avenue and Shibuya Crossing. It is built to be the month’s main event.

The best candidate for a shorter, more personal run is Mixtape, which lands May 7 and is optimized for Xbox Series X

S with Xbox Play Anywhere support. From Beethoven & Dinosaur, the studio behind The Artful Escape, the game follows three friends whose playlist triggers dreamlike reenactments of formative memories. That setup makes it the obvious pick for players looking for something more intimate than another giant open-world checklist, with vignettes that move through skateboarding, flying, photography, baseball and a fireworks show.

Subnautica 2 is the obvious time sink. It enters Game Preview on May 14 for Xbox Series X

S, Xbox on PC, ROG Xbox Ally and Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass, and it brings optional co-op for up to four players, the first multiplayer support in the Subnautica franchise. That matters because the series has always been about the slow-burn pull of Planet 4546B, but this sequel adds a new social hook on top of the usual dread and discovery. It was originally announced in October 2024 as a 2025 Game Preview title, so the May date marks a later arrival than planned.

The rest of the wave keeps the subscription feeling busy in the way Microsoft wants. Final Fantasy V kicks off the month on May 5, while Ben 10 Power Trip, Descenders Next, Wheel World, Wildgate and other additions widen the spread across genres and play styles. Taken together, May’s lineup shows Game Pass leaning hard into contrast: blockbuster racing for the big-screen crowd, narrative experimentation for the story-first set, co-op survival for the long haul, and enough curveballs to keep the monthly queue in motion.