Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Adds Unique Day-One Adventure Game

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members can start playing Herdling as part of their subscription starting today, August 21. This is the 11th new title to arrive on the service in August 2025, as well as the 106th new Xbox Game Pass Ultimate release since the beginning of the year.

Herdling is the latest title from Okomotive, a 2017-founded Swiss studio that previously released post-apocalyptic vehicle adventures FAR: Lone Sails and FAR: Changing Tides. It tasks players with guiding a herd of fantastical creatures—Calicorns—on a journey through the mountains. Described as a “wordless tale of trust” full of beautiful post-apocalyptic landscapes and environmental puzzles, Herdling is likely to appeal to fans of relaxing end-of-the-world games focused on exploration.

Herdling Now Available on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate

A year following its original reveal, Okomotive’s latest title was released for PC and consoles on August 21. As previously announced, Herdling also materialized as a day-one Xbox Game Pass release, and is now available to PC Game Pass and XGP Ultimate subscribers. Anyone paying for the highest tier of the service can also stream the newly debuted indie title via Xbox Cloud Gaming.

When Will Herdling Reach Xbox Game Pass Standard?

Since it’s a day-one release, Herdling is presently not available on Xbox Game Pass Standard. Based on Microsoft’s track record, this unique adventure could make its way to the Standard-tier library between February and August 2026. The game itself is the second Okomotive title to make its way to the service, following FAR: Changing Tides, which was added in March 2022 and then left Xbox Game Pass at the end of February 2023. If the pattern holds, Herdling is likely to arrive on XGP Standard in early 2026 and then leave the platform altogether around its first anniversary.

Two more titles are confirmed to be coming to Xbox Game Pass before the end of August 2025. The first of those is Gears of War: Reloaded, the second remaster of the iconic 2006 shooter, which is scheduled to arrive on August 26. BioWare’s Dragon Age: The Veilguard is then slated to follow two days later.

New and Upcoming Xbox Game Pass Games

Come August 31, Xbox Game Pass is set to lose five titles, including Paw Patrol: Mighty Pups Save Adventure Bay, Borderlands 3, and Sea of Stars. Ben 10: Power Trip and This War of Mine: Final Cut are also departing on that date. The Xbox Game Pass Wave 1 lineup for the following month is likely to be officially announced in the afternoon hours ET on September 2.