Every month, as Microsoft continues to add new titles to their popular Xbox Game Pass subscription service, the package of games that become available make a compelling case for purchasing this subscription if you are part of the Xbox One ecosystem.

The $1 for the first month deal, is still available for new subscribers and then the monthly cost is $9.99. However, there are plenty of deals to be found during the course of the year that can save you on 3, 6, and 12 month versions of Game Pass. Since all first party studio games are available on Day 1 of their release, you can easily cover the cost of this subscription just because Sea of Thieves and Forza Horizon 4 are available in the library. Of course, more than 100 titles are in the listing and combined can easily save you even more over the course of a year’s worth of gaming. By the way, you also save 20% on Xbox One game purchases from titles in the catalog plus 10% on game add-one as a subscriber to Xbox Game Pass.

OK – enough on the compelling argument for the value of the Xbox Game Pass – let’s talk about the new titles that are arriving to start 2019.

First, two titles were added during the recent 2018 holiday period:

Life is Strange Complete Season (Episodes 1-5) (December 20)
Welcome to the portside town of Arcadia Bay. In the seminal award-winning narrative adventure game Life is Strange, you play as Max, a high school senior who discovers that not only can she rewind time, but that all her actions, no matter how big or small, have consequences that will last a lifetime.

Life is Strange: Before the Storm (Episodes 1-3) (December 27)
A three-episode arc taking place years before the first game, Before the Storm puts you in the shoes of Chloe Price, whose rebellious character formed much of original game’s tone. As Chloe struggles with difficult changes in her own life, she will need to support her friend Rachel whose world continues to be rocked and shaken.

The following titles are already available in January 2019:

Life is Strange 2: Part 1 (January 3)
A new adventure with new characters and the prevailing themes of friendship, family, and mystery the series has come to be known for. Life is Strange 2 will follow the path of two brothers, Sean and Daniel Diaz, as they are forced to flee from their home after an unexplainable and tragic event. Experience this first episode with Xbox Game Pass, plus look out for episodes 2-5 coming to Xbox Game Pass soon.

Ark: Survival Evolved (January 3)
Ever wanted to run around on a mysterious, futuristic island full of giant dinosaurs? Cool, we thought so too. Which is why we’re bringing Ark: Survival Evolved to Xbox Game Pass in January. You’ll have to craft, hunt, and survive against not only the ferocious local wildlife, but the hundreds of other players as well all in the hopes of escaping the shores of this deadly island.

Farming Simulator 17 (January 3)
It’s time to live out your dream as a farmer, but without that whole, getting dirt under your fingernails business. In Farming Simulator 17 you will have access to over 250 vehicles and equipment to help harvest a variety of crops, take care of livestock, and then sell your goods to your local market and continue to expand your farming empire so you can take over the world… ok, maybe that’s too far. But you can ride a tractor!

Finally, these three games will be added during the rest of January 2019:

Absolver (January 7)
Live out a life as martial arts expert focused on a variety of fighting skills, weapon knowledge, and hand-to-hand combat in the competitive, online world of Absolver. Journey across forsaken lands and come face to face with others like you, learning new combat skills, obtaining new weapons, gear, and armor along the way, all in the hopes of being considered worthy enough to be welcomed into the corps of the Absolvers.

Just Cause 3 (January 10)
Cause chaos on a massive scale to take down a Mediterranean island’s evil dictator. Return as Rico Rodriguez in the third entry of this awesome open world action game that lets you skydive, swoop across mountain ranges, hijack vehicles, and experiment in all sorts of unique, hilarious, and explosive ways to get your mission done.

Aftercharge (January 10)
Aftercharge is a bit like a cat and mouse game. But in space. With invisible robots (and no cats). With teamwork at its core, two teams of three players compete against one another – one must sneak across the battlefield to shatter six cylinders; the other is completely invincible, armed to the teeth, and must stop that from happening. Both teams need to work together, either coordinating attacks or creating distractions, all in the hopes of coming out on top.

By the way, Xbox’s Mike Ybarra who is Corporate Vice President of the division, mentioned on Twitter this week that even more titles will be added later this month.

You can browse the entire Xbox Game Pass library on your console, via the web, and get the Xbox Game Pass app for iOS and Android at these links:

Note: The Game Pass apps are very handy because notifications are delivered to your phone when new titles are released plus you can remote install them to your console directly from the apps.

Xbox Game Pass December 2018 and January 2019 Titles