Xbox Game Pass adds Life is Strange 2, Absolver, Ark, and more in January

Xbox Game Pass subscribers will get a fresh batch of new and not-so-new Xbox One games this month, including Absolver, Ark: Survival Evolved, and the first chapter of Life is Strange 2.

Microsoft and Square Enix added Life is Strange’s first five-chapter season and the game’s three-chapter prequel, Life is Strange: Before the Storm, to Xbox Game Pass in December 2018. Now, Life is Strange 2 is on its way to Game Pass, starting Jan. 3, with the first episode. Microsoft says episodes 2-5 will hit Xbox Game Pass “soon” — episode 2 is slated for release on Jan. 24.

Joining Life is Strange 2 on Jan. 3 are Ark: Survival Evolved, the futuristic action-adventure survival game, and Farming Simulator 17, the farming simulator released in 2016.

Rounding out January are martial arts action-RPG Absolver, coming Jan. 7; explosive open-world action sandbox Just Cause 3, coming Jan. 10; and the 3v3 asymmetrical competitive action game Aftercharge, which debuts on Xbox Game Pass on Jan. 10.

Microsoft promises more than 100 games as part of Xbox Game Pass, which costs $9.99 per month. The full list of games available on Game Pass is on the Xbox website.