Recent Xbox Game Pass additions like Hi-Fi Rush and Roboquest have earned rave reviews from fans and critics, ensuring a very strong start to 2023. Xbox Game Pass adds new games on a regular basis, but the service has been on an especially strong streak of games since the start of the new year.
The new Xbox Game Pass games for January 2023 may not have received the same kind of attention that Microsoft usually lends the games it adds to Game Pass, but they were still quite strong. The middle of the month saw the addition of Persona 3 Portable, Persona 4 Golden, and Monster Hunter Rise, with all three games earning acclaim from critics. While it's true that these were all new Xbox ports of previously-existing titles, they still serve as particularly strong additions to the Game Pass lineup and boost the service's value considerably. According to review aggregate site OpenCritic, Persona 3 Portable has an 81 rating, Persona 4 Golden has an 89, and Monster Hunter Rise has an 88.
As far as brand-new games go, Xbox Game Pass recently added Hi-Fi Rush, which will likely end the year as one of the highest-rated brand-new releases. A day one Xbox Game Pass game, Hi-Fi Rush shocked the world as it was released the very same day that it was announced. Currently holding an impressive 90 overall rating on OpenCritic, Hi-Fi Rush is being hailed as one of the first big hits of 2023.
More recently, Xbox Game Pass added Roboquest to its Game Preview program on consoles, giving subscribers the chance to try out the early access first-person shooter game. A roguelite FPS with co-op support, Roboquest has "Very Positive" ratings on Steam, indicating that fans have been having quite a good time with the game, even its early access state. Time will tell how Roboquest fares with professional critics when it has its full release, but in the meantime, fans can try the game through Game Pass.
Looking ahead, Xbox Game Pass subscribers have a lot more to be excited about. While Microsoft has only announced a handful of the new games coming to Xbox Game Pass in February 2023, we know that one of those games will be highly-anticipated FPS Atomic Heart. Later in the year, Xbox Game Pass is looking to add major new releases like co-op vampire shooter Redfall and Bethesda's open world sci-fi RPG Starfield, so as long as those games and others live up to expectations, 2023 should be a huge year for the service.
Source: OpenCritic, Roboquest - Steam