Mad King Redemption Lands on Three Game Pass Tiers, Not All Four
Microsoft's Xbox Wire roundup for the second half of September lists the game as arriving on September 23 on Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium and PC Game Pass, playable via Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, Handheld and PC. As of launch day, AllKeyShop confirms the game is available to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, Premium, and PC Game Pass members, on Xbox Series X|S, PC, handheld, and through Xbox Cloud Gaming.
Game Pass Essential is not on that list. The official Xbox Store listing says cloud play is included with Premium and Ultimate. Essential subscribers have to buy the game before they can stream it. So an Essential membership gets you the streaming service, not this game.
Xbox Wire does not label the title a day-one release. That is why it reaches Premium straight away, unlike brand-new first-party launches this month. GameRant's coverage says so directly: "Because it is not a day-one release, the beat-'em-up roguelite is available through both the Ultimate and Premium tiers." The same GameRant story also calls it "another day-one title" in one line, which conflicts with this. Microsoft's roundup is the authoritative record, and it gives the game no day-one tag.
The Xbox Store page lists the standalone price as $14.99. It also marks the game as Optimized for Xbox Series X|S, Handheld Optimized and Xbox Play Anywhere, with Xbox achievements and cloud saves.
Xbox Play Anywhere Makes the Windows PC Version Part of the Deal
For people who game on more than one device, Play Anywhere is the useful feature here. As GG.deals explains, Play Anywhere means you only need to buy a game once from the Xbox store to experience across all its supported platforms, with your progress and saves moving between them. Through Game Pass, the same idea works in practice: start a run on a Series X, pick it up on a Windows laptop or a handheld PC, and your save comes with you through Xbox cloud saves.
Xbox Wire notes that its "Handheld" label is for games that are optimized for handheld play. That label comes from Microsoft. How well the game actually runs on any specific handheld has not been independently measured in anything we reviewed.
PC Game Pass members get it on Windows through the Xbox app, and the separate Steam version is still on sale. If you buy it on Steam, you do not get the Xbox Store entitlement, so Play Anywhere save sync between the Steam and Xbox versions should not be assumed.
A 2.5D Brawler Built on Randomized Runs
Microsoft's own description calls the game "a unique blend of a traditional beat 'em up with strong roguelite progression, combined with a pixel art style in a 2.5D world." In a roguelite, each attempt, or run, is partly randomized. Some progress stays with you between runs, so failing still moves you forward. Here, Xbox Wire's blurb invites players to "Free the Mad King from his insanity and defeat the corrupted enemies in a way that's new every run!"
The setup is simple. Per the Xbox Store description, a king used forbidden magic to try to bring his queen back to life and lost his sanity, and the kingdom fell into chaos. You play one of four heroes. Each has its own fighting style, stats you can customize, and a backstory. German outlet XboxDynasty adds that each of the heroes has committed a sin and must also make amends, which is where the "Redemption" in the title comes from.
The influences are clear. GG.deals describes the studio's debut as an homage to the Golden Age of brawlers that included icons like Final Fight and Golden Axe. The store page calls it a mix of "old-school controls" and 3D mechanics. The ESRB rating is Teen, for violence and blood.
These are the publisher's descriptions. Players have been more positive than not: GameRant reported earlier this month that the game had an overall user review score of 84% positive on Steam at the time it wrote.
Couch Co-Op Only, and Still in Early Access
The headline's "couch co-op" is accurate but narrow. The Xbox Store lists single-player, two-player local co-op and two-player local multiplayer, with shared/split-screen support. It lists no online co-op. AllKeyShop reports that online multiplayer and crossplay are currently absent. If you want to play with a friend in another house, this game can't do that yet.
The game's status is less clear. According to AllKeyShop, the game was initially released on Steam Early Access on May 14, 2026, then made its way to Xbox and Xbox on PC last month, August 22, 2026. The same outlet says although the game is not listed as a Game Preview title, it remains in the early access phase. Game Preview is Xbox's early-access label. The Xbox Store lists the release date as August 23, 2026. The one-day difference from AllKeyShop's August 22 is most likely a time-zone matter and doesn't change anything for buyers.
Read the dates together and the four-month gap GameRant mentions runs from the May Steam early-access launch, not from the Xbox release. The game reached Game Pass about a month after it came to Xbox. Because it is still in early access, content and features could change. AllKeyShop reports that the game has been announced for PlayStation 5 and Nintendo platforms as well, but it gives no dates.
Where Mad King Redemption Sits in the September 2026 Game Pass Schedule
The game is part of Microsoft's second September wave, which Windows Report sums up as five games between September 22 and 25, with three day-one releases and two games expanding to more subscription tiers. Here is the surrounding schedule from Xbox Wire:
| Date | Game | Game Pass tiers |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 22 | Dune: Awakening | Ultimate, Premium, PC Game Pass |
| Sep 22 | Well Dweller | Ultimate, PC Game Pass (day one) |
| Sep 23 | Mad King Redemption | Ultimate, Premium, PC Game Pass |
| Sep 25 | Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 | Now with Premium; already on Ultimate and PC Game Pass |
| Sep 25 | Rematch | Now with Essential; already on Ultimate, Premium and PC Game Pass |
| Sep 29 | Minecraft Dungeons II | Ultimate, PC Game Pass (day one) |
| Oct 2 | Keeper | Now with Premium; already on Ultimate and PC Game Pass |
| Oct 6 | Gears of War: E-Day | Ultimate, PC Game Pass (day one) |
GameRant counts Mad King Redemption as the 11th new title of the month. That number depends on whether games expanding to new tiers count as "new," so treat it as GameRant's count. GameRant also lists later day-one titles, including Forever Ago on October 8 and Valor Mortis on October 13. Those dates come from GameRant, not from this Xbox Wire roundup.
Microsoft has also confirmed eight games leaving the library on September 30: Atomfall, Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, Little Nightmares 2 Enhanced Edition, Little Rocket Lab, Sifu, SOPA Tale of the Stolen Potato, Sworn and Terminull Brigade. If one of those is in the middle of a playthrough in your house, finish it or buy it this week.
What this means for you
If you already pay for Game Pass Ultimate, Premium or PC Game Pass and have a second controller and a second player at home, Mad King Redemption costs you nothing extra to try. If you're on Essential, or you mainly want online co-op, you can skip it for now.
- Mad King Redemption is included with Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium and PC Game Pass from September 23, 2026, but not with Game Pass Essential.
- Essential members can stream it through Xbox Cloud Gaming only after buying the game for $14.99.
- Co-op is limited to two players on the same screen; there is no online multiplayer or crossplay.
- As an Xbox Play Anywhere title with cloud saves, it can be played across Series X|S, Windows PC and handheld PCs with your progress carried between them.
- The game is still in early access, so features and content may change before a 1.0 release.
- Eight other games leave Game Pass on September 30, so finish or buy any of those you care about before then.
For Microsoft, the game is a cheap filler title in the gap before Minecraft Dungeons II on September 29 and Gears of War: E-Day on October 6. For players, it's an easy one to try: small, already out on Xbox, and playable on every device Game Pass supports. The things that will make a bigger difference to its audience, online co-op and a 1.0 release, are on the developer's roadmap with no dates yet.