Xbox Game Pass subscribers are experiencing an exciting month with numerous new additions to the Game Pass library, including hidden gems available for all membership tiers.
This week, Xbox Game Pass subscribers received a variety of new and upcoming games, featuring titles like Little Rocket Lab and Sopa: Tale of the Stolen Potato, which were previously exclusive to higher-tier subscribers. Premium members are also enjoying several new free titles and day-one releases, including a new Vampire Crawlers game, available today, April 21.
A brand-new sci-fi game is set to join Xbox Game Pass on April 28 as a free day-one release from the studio behind Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, featuring gameplay and story inspired by real-world science (Xbox Wire).
Exciting Day-One Sci-Fi Release Coming to Game Pass Next Week
Fans of sci-fi action-adventure games who have an Xbox Game Pass Premium or PC-tier subscription will be thrilled with a new game from the studio behind Lost Records: Bloom & Rage, Don’t Nod. Aphelion is described as “a cinematic third-person action-adventure set on the planet Persephone, an uncharted, frozen world.” It will be available for free to Premium and PC members on Tuesday, April 28.
The game takes place in 2060, after Earth has become uninhabitable, and humans discover a ninth planet at the edge of the solar system. Players must survive in an unknown environment while following dual protagonists Thomas and Ariane on their mission.
“Ariane must persevere and push forward to save Thomas,” using a unique “Pathfinder tool” while facing challenging parkour-based obstacles. “Thomas, injured in the crash, must rely on ingenuity and observation to survive,” as both characters uncover details about the planet and what caused their crash.
Aphelion Incorporates Real-World Science into Gameplay
In addition to Don’t Nod’s signature storytelling and character-driven cinematic gameplay, developers collaborated with The European Space Agency to create gameplay based on real-world science, promising several key features:
- Grounded sci-fi exploration: a realistic depiction of near-future space exploration.
- Dual-perspective survival: experience both Thomas’s resourceful investigation and Ariane’s high-stakes parkour gameplay.
- Cinematic third-person action: engaging traversal mechanics that include grappling, sliding, and momentum-driven movement.
- Tense stealth encounters: face an alien threat in exciting stealth-based sequences.
- An emotional core: two astronauts connected by a complicated past, fighting to reunite.
This new adventure from a studio with a proven track record features various sci-fi gameplay elements such as stealth mechanics, open-world exploration, and real-world physics. Xbox Game Pass subscribers should mark their calendars for April 28.
