Control Ultimate Edition, MLB The Show 24, and more head to Xbox Game Pass

Xbox Game Pass March 2024 wave 1
(Image credit: Microsoft)

What you need to know

  • Several new games are coming to Xbox Game Pass in the first half of March 2024. 
  • New additions include games like Remedy's Control Ultimate Edition and Sony's MLB The Show 24. 
  • Some games like Hardspace: Shipbreaker are leaving the service in a couple of weeks. 

A new month means even more games to play. 

Several more games are coming to Xbox Game Pass, as shared on Tuesday via Xbox Wire. Some of the highlights include the previously-confirmed MLB The Show 24, the latest annual baseball game from Sony San Diego and PlayStation Studios. Control Ultimate Edition is also heading to Xbox Game Pass, letting players check out Remedy Entertainment's SCP-inspired story that's part of the same world as Alan Wake 2

As always, the new additions are being spread out over the course of a couple of weeks. With first-party games coming to the service later in the year from . Here's everything coming soon to Xbox Game Pass: 

Today

  • Warhammer 40,000: Boltgun (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows PC)

March 7

  • PAW Patrol World (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows PC)

March 12

  • SpongeBob Squarepants: Battle for Bikini Bottom

March 13

  • Control Ultimate Edition (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows PC)

March 14

  • No More Heroes 3 (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows PC)

March 19

  • Lightyear Frontier (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox Cloud Gaming, Windows PC)
  • MLB The Show 24 (Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox Cloud Gaming)

What is leaving Xbox Game Pass this month?

As usual, some games are departing in a couple of weeks, meaning if you haven't finished playing them yet, you'll want to buy them so that you can keep them forever. Remember, you get a discount for buying a game in Xbox Game Pass before it departs the service. Here's the games leaving on March 15:

  • Hardspace: Shipbreaker
  • Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch Remastered
  • Shredders

Analysis: Go play Control

If you haven't yet played Control, this is the perfect opportunity to rectify that. As it's the Ultimate Edition of the game that's being added to Xbox Game Pass, you'll get to take advantage of the upgraded visuals including ray-traced reflections, while you'll also have access to the story expansions that weren't part of the original game. 

This is especially true if you haven't played Alan Wake 2 yet. While going through Control isn't required before experiencing Remedy Entertainment's 2023 horror game, they are set in the same universe, and knowing some things from Control will give you some additional insight into the odd events that are transpiring. 

Outside of that, I know people will be happy with MLB The Show 24 here, and there's even more to come later in the month, with Activision Blizzard games starting to be added to the service with the addition of Diablo 4 on March 28, 2024. That will serve as a prelude to a number of other Xbox first-party games on the service this year, including Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2, Avowed, Age of Mythology: Retold, and more. 

Samuel Tolbert
Freelance Writer

Samuel Tolbert is a freelance writer covering gaming news, previews, reviews, interviews and different aspects of the gaming industry, specifically focusing on Xbox and PC gaming on Windows Central. You can find him on Twitter @SamuelTolbert.