Xbox Game Pass July 2026 Wave 1: Palworld 1.0 and Halo: Campaign Evolved Lead a Loaded Month

Xbox has kicked off July with a Game Pass lineup that gives subscribers plenty to jump into, and it is stacked with a mix of big day-one arrivals, a fan-favorite return and some cozy discoveries.

Palworld hits 1.0 on day one

The headliner is Palworld, which lands on Game Pass as its full 1.0 launch on day one. The creature-collecting survival hit has been an early-access phenomenon, blending base building, crafting and exploration with a roster of collectible Pals to catch, raise and put to work. Having the 1.0 version arrive straight into the library is exactly the kind of anchor a Game Pass month wants, and it is a great entry point for anyone who held off during early access.

Halo: Campaign Evolved joins the fold

Right alongside it is Halo: Campaign Evolved, a return to Master Chief's roots that Halo fans will not want to miss. Xbox's flagship shooter series remains one of the platform's defining franchises, and seeing a fresh campaign land on Game Pass keeps that first-party energy front and center for July.

More to play across the month

The rest of Wave 1 spreads the love across genres:

- Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3+4 brings the skating series' combo-chasing thrills back for a new generation. - The Planet Crafter lets you terraform a hostile world into a living, breathing planet at your own pace. - Mistfall Hunter adds an extraction-style action option for players who like a bit of risk with their reward. - Wuthering Waves brings its stylish open-world action-RPG combat to the service.

Between a survival smash, a Halo campaign, a skating throwback and some relaxed sci-fi crafting, there is genuinely something here for every kind of player.

A busy backdrop

The announcement arrives during a turbulent stretch for Xbox, following a major restructuring at Microsoft's gaming division. But for subscribers, the takeaway that matters most this week is simple: the July library is one of the more varied Game Pass drops in a while, and it is available to dive into now.

As always with Game Pass, lineups roll out in waves, so this is only the first batch for the month, with more titles expected to follow later in July. If you have let your backlog pile up, Palworld's 1.0 launch alone makes this a great week to fire the console back up.

Image: MiNe from Taipei, Taiwan / CC BY 2.0, source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Xbox_One_Wireless_Controller_Model_1708_(35327619353).jpg