Xbox Game Pass Day-One Lineup: Football Manager 27, Digging a Hole Together and Grave Seasons

The three games at a glance​

Summary: only FM27 is ready to go on the calendar. Treat the other two as planned but not yet pinned down.

Football Manager 27: November 10, and read the fine print​

Pure Xbox reports that Sega and Sports Interactive announced FM27 for Game Pass alongside its November 10 date. The official Football Manager website supports this. Its news feed now has a September 29 item saying the game "launches from 10 November." That replaces the studio's August 27 post, which only promised a November launch and said the exact date and platforms would come later.

The studio has pitched FM27 as a response to player feedback. In that August post, community manager Chris Groves said the team was evolving the current design while bringing back ideas and behaviours that worked well in earlier editions. TrueAchievements reports that the main showcase feature is an "elevated" match day: reworked crowds that react more clearly to what happens on the pitch, better stadiums, and a new time-of-day system so a December kick-off looks different from an August one.

The official interface deep dive may matter more to PC players:

• New navigation: the main menu sections are now Portal, Squad, Tactics, Recruitment, Training and Club. Tiles are mostly for displaying information, and navigation happens in the top menus.
• Fewer cards: many information panels in FM26 required clicking into a card. In FM27 they become full-screen views.
• Messages you can act on directly: scout reports appear inside the message, and multiple transfer offers for the same player are combined.
• Monitor support: ultrawide support turns on automatically. There are also three information scaling modes (Default, Detailed, Condensed) for HD and 4K displays.

These are the developer's own descriptions, based on a development build that the studio says is still being polished. They aren't an independent review.

Which Game Pass tier covers it?​

According to the Football Manager FAQ, FM27 (PC/Mac) is available through the Microsoft Store and Xbox PC app to Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass subscribers. The same subscribers can also play FM27 Console through the Microsoft Store or Xbox PC app. The FAQ doesn't mention any other tier. If you're on a cheaper plan, don't assume you're covered.

Xbox One owners: the reports disagree​

TrueAchievements' launch coverage lists Xbox One among the FM27 platforms. It also hedged, saying the Console edition would cover Xbox One "if it's the same as last year's release." The official FAQ settles it: FM27 will not release on Xbox One, Xbox One X, Xbox One S, or Nintendo Switch. The confirmed platforms are:

• FM27 (PC/Mac): Steam, Epic Games Store, and the Xbox PC app, including Xbox handheld devices
• FM27 Console: Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Xbox handheld devices, and PlayStation 5
• FM27 Mobile: iOS and Android, available only through Netflix

Summary: FM27 arrives November 10 for Ultimate and PC Game Pass members on Series X|S, PC and Xbox handhelds. It is not coming to last-generation Xbox, whatever some coverage says.

A Game About Digging a Hole Together: a co-op sequel with no date​

This one surprised people. The original A Game About Digging a Hole was a small viral PC game that ended up with a real following. The game was designed in about 14 days and released on Steam on February 7, 2025. It received positive responses from critics and players, and sold 250,000 copies within a week of its release. Xbox Wire's December 2025 lineup confirmed it came to Game Pass on December 9, 2025, on Cloud, Handheld, PC and Xbox Series X|S, for Ultimate, Premium and PC Game Pass members.

The sequel adds friends and moves the dig to the beach. According to TrueAchievements, it is playable in online co-op for up to four players with crossplay, and you and your pals will explore a bigger world, digging up a beach in search of treasure. If you don't want company, DoubleBee has confirmed you can play this one solo if you prefer. Aroged's coverage adds a significantly larger world with a variety of terrains.

On subscriptions, TrueAchievements reports that a release window for the sequel has not been announced, but when it does launch, you will be able to play it with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass on day one. The first game was also included in Premium, so the sequel's tier list may be narrower. Premium subscribers should wait for official confirmation.

The platform lists vary. TrueAchievements says the sequel is coming to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox PC, and Xbox Game Pass. Reposted trailer descriptions also mention PlayStation 5 and Switch 2, but no developer source we've seen confirms them. Treat anything beyond the Xbox family as unconfirmed for now.

Summary: it's a four-player crossplay co-op sequel with solo play, due on day one for Ultimate and PC Game Pass, with no date yet.

Grave Seasons: now due March 9, 2027​

Grave Seasons is a farming sim with a murder mystery built in. You settle in the town of Ashenridge, grow crops, pursue romances, and try to work out which neighbour is a supernatural serial killer. Its release history is the most complicated of the three:

1. March 26, 2026: Xbox Wire's Partner Preview recap gave it an August 14, 2026 date on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC and Xbox Cloud, with day-one Game Pass and Xbox Play Anywhere support.
2. June 5, 2026: Gematsu reported that Blumhouse Games and developer Perfect Garbage had moved it to fall 2026 to allow more time for polish across all announced platforms.
3. September 30, 2026: it was reannounced for March 9, 2027.

Pure Xbox describes the earlier delay as "indefinite." The June statement did give a fall window, which has now slipped as well. Pure Xbox also points out that the new trailer doesn't mention Game Pass. The last official commitment we can verify is Xbox Wire's day-one Game Pass listing from March. There's no public sign of a change, but a trailer leaving out a subscription logo is worth keeping an eye on, not a reason for concern yet.

Summary: it has a date again. After two slips, it's reasonable to treat that date with some caution.

What this means for Game Pass subscribers​

A few practical points:

• Check your tier. For both FM27 and the digging sequel, the confirmed tiers are only Ultimate and PC Game Pass. If you're on Premium or Essential, check again at launch.
• FM27 on PC is a Windows store decision. The full PC/Mac edition is on Steam, Epic and the Xbox PC app. Game Pass members get it through the Xbox app, so your save and mod setup will depend on which storefront you use. Pick one before November 10.
• Xbox One owners are mostly excluded from FM27. The official FAQ is clear on this, whatever some roundups claim.

This lineup also shows how Game Pass is being filled out now. There's a big annual third-party franchise, a cheap viral indie getting a sequel, and a publisher-backed horror-cozy hybrid. None of them is a first-party blockbuster, but all three are the kind of game people often try because it's included in a subscription they already pay for, then end up playing for hours.

Which one are you most looking forward to? Let us know in the comments.