New to Xbox Game Pass – January 2023 Wave 1

We ended 2022 with only one wave, but now the new year has begun and it’s finally time to prepare ourselves for the first 2023 Xbox Game Pass wave of titles. It’s assumed that we’ll be returning to two waves again with this month. This is further supported by a rumor that there will be a special presentation to reveal more games, as well as how short this initial wave is. We’ll be keeping an eye out for any official announcements from Xbox either way. Let’s go over the three new (and time-consuming) games that will be available in the coming weeks.

All three games have been listed on the Xbox app for a while now and the first two were announced quite a bit ago, so these might not exactly come as a surprise. Starting the month off on January 19th is Persona 3 Portable for Cloud, Console, and PC. The story follows a group of students investigating a secret 25th hour of each day that most people don’t know about. This is the entry that’s considered to have revamped the Persona series into what it’s like today. Changes to this version include a female main character as well as the battle system allowing control over all characters.

Accompanying it on the same day for cloud, console, and PC is Persona 4 Golden. It follows a different group of students with their own Personas who are investigating a series of murders. Separating it from the original version is the inclusion of a lot of extras, such as new story content, dungeons, areas, and Personas to name just a little bit. With Persona 5 Royal added back in October, all of the modern entries of the series will be available with Xbox Game Pass.

The final addition for this wave is one we found out about just a little over a month ago. Monster Hunter Rise is coming on January 20th for cloud, console, and PC. Initially released on the Nintendo Switch, it features new mechanics such as an animal companion to ride on and wirebugs that can be used for quick traversal or in combat. The Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak expansion isn’t included, although it’s expected to be available in Spring 2023.

That just leaves a somewhat short but still notable list of titles that will be leaving very soon. Players have until January 15th to play or finish the following: Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc, Nobody Saves The World, Pupperazzi, The Anacrusis, We Happy Few, Windjammers 2.