Stalker 2 is leaving Game Pass after less than a year, and that's a damn shame

It makes all the sense in the world that so many great survival experiences lean on a gritty, post-disaster setting. No matter who you are, life in the apocalypse is going to be rough. However, two of our favorites, Stalker 2 and Frostpunk, couldn't be more different. The realistic, immersive FPS game and the sub-zero city builder push you in different ways, but both expertly make you feel the pressure of surviving in the toughest of environments. Despite the recent hike in Game Pass prices, Microsoft's subscription service continues to push out older titles to make room for new blood, and sadly Stalker 2 and Frostpunk are next in the firing line. If you're a subscriber and haven't played them yet, you've only got a few days left to do so.

It's a busy old time for Game Pass - the likes of The Outer Worlds 2 and Ninja Gaiden 4 just hit PC Game Pass and Ultimate as big day-one additions, and Call of Duty Black Ops 7 will soon crash its way into the library as well. I used to feel more than comfortable saying that Game Pass was the best deal in gaming, even if the contents aren't guaranteed to stay forever. However, with the recent price increases, my loyalty has taken a huge knock, and now I'm hearing that Stalker 2 is on its way out as well.

One of last year's big day-one launches, Stalker 2 hasn't even been on Game Pass an entire year yet. With challenging FPS combat, an unforgiving, irradiated environment, and narrative hooks aplenty, there's a lot more to concentrate on than simply looking after your health, hunger, and sleep levels. While there are safe havens where you can find friendly NPCs, the paranormal exclusion zone around the Chernobyl power plant makes for a terrifying setting - particularly at night. There are moments where it can give the best horror games a run for their money.

There aren't many shooters this hardcore or survival games this dark on Game Pass, so it's a real shame to hear that it'll be leaving soon. It's doubly frustrating knowing that Stalker 2 is so much better now than it was at launch - after a buggy start to life, developer GSC Game World has got things in a much healthier state in recent months, and there are still plenty more improvements in the pipeline.

Frostpunk is less of a gut-wrencher, but it's still sad to see the iconic city building game leave. Tasking you with building one of humanity's last bastions after a natural disaster turned most of the world into a frozen wasteland, it's a totally different survival experience versus Stalker 2, but one I'd still recommend playing if you love apocalyptic vibes. However, its bigger brother, Frostpunk 2, will remain on the service, so this departure is a bit more forgivable.

Stalker 2 and Frostpunk are exiting Game Pass on Saturday, November 15, according to the service's 'leaving soon' section. A few other games will also get booted on this date, those being Blacksmith Master, Football Manager 2024 (both the PC and console versions), and Spirittea.

Despite these departures, there are still a lot of excellent games to get stuck into across all tiers - check out our best Game Pass games list for some of our favorites. If you just want to immerse yourself in more post-disaster worlds, our best apocalypse games recommendations will come in handy.

Also be sure to head to the PCGamesN Discord to let us know if you're sticking with your Game Pass sub or hitting that cancel button in the wake of these new price increases.