Activision is even defending the possibility of CoD exclusivity wow I never expected that.

People in ResetEra were saying there was no 2nd December update last year either.

Anyway, early 2023 for Game Pass looks ridiculous, it looks like the strongest line-up ever thus far, Imo.

They are wrong, there were 2 updates in December 2021. Here are all of the Games added to Gamepass in December 2021:

That is 22 games for December 2021 vs 10 for December 2022. 

The is also the first month where Gamepass lost more games than were added into it I believe, 9 new additions vs 20 removals between the December 15th and December 31st removal groups.

Additions

• Eastward – December 1 (Console, PC, Cloud)
• The Walking Dead: The Final Season – December 1 (Console, PC, Cloud)
• Totally Reliable Delivery Service – December 1 (PC)
• Hello Neighbor 2 – December 6 (Console, PC)
• Lego Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga – December 6 (Console)
• Chained Echoes – December 8 (Console, PC)
• High On Life – December 13 (Console, PC, Cloud)
• Hot Wheels Unleashed – Game Of The Year Edition – December 15 (Console, PC, Cloud)
• Potion Craft – December 15 (Console, PC)
• Rainbow Billy: The Curse of the Leviathan – December 15 (Console, PC, Cloud)

Removals

• Aliens: Fireteam Elite (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Breathedge (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Firewatch (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Lake (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Neoverse (Cloud and Console)
• Race with Ryan (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Record of Lodoss War: Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Rory McIlroy PGA Tour (Console) EA Play
• Transformers: Battlegrounds (Cloud, Console, and PC)
• Immortal Realms: Vampire War (Xbox, PC)
• Iron Harvest (PC)
• Tropico 6 (Xbox, PC)
• Scarlet Nexus (Xbox, PC)
• Secret Neighbor (Xbox, PC)
• Outer Wilds (Xbox, PC)
• Gorogoa (Xbox, PC)
• The Pedestrian (Xbox, PC)
• Embr (Xbox, PC)

Went back and I misread it, it was someone saying that there was nothing added to Game Pass last year past December 16th (everything announced for Game Pass in December 2021 released between Dec 1st - Dec 16th), oops, Lol.

I honestly wouldn’t be surprised if we see the amount of Game Pass releases start to get smaller, such as once a month being the norm, as the number of first-party Xbox releases increase. So far the service has heavily been reliant on third-party releases, but when Xbox’s first party’s start to ramp up, that might change their tactics on third party deals or how often they’re added. 

I'd be ok with one drop per month instead of 2 if it was a somewhat larger drop and had a greater focus on games that interest me (AAA games and AA JP games), but if Gamepass is going to move to 1 drop per month that is the same size as just 1 of the 2 monthly updates when we were getting 2 per month (8-12 games per update), and only have like one 3rd party AAA addition and 1 JP addition per month at most (sometimes less), then I may rethink having Gamepass as my primary gaming sub this gen.

Frankly, every month since Sony added their PS+ mid tier and high tier, the monthly PS+ mid tier additions have better suited my personal gaming tastes than the Gamepass additions. Xbox focuses largely on indie and PC additions, neither of which interest me all that much (I play like 5 indies per year at most, and don't play games on PC pretty much at all these days as my PC's specs are too outdated to play anything recent), while Sony has a much greater focus on AAA 3rd party additions and JP additions. The downside of PS+ of course is that they lack day one 1st/2nd party exclusive additions which Gamepass has, but they do seem to be adding their own exclusives to PS+ mid tier eventually.

Honestly, if the Gamepass situation doesn't improve before I get a PS5, I may find myself switching to PS+ mid tier as my primary gaming sub, and either subbing to Gamepass one month at a time when they add a 1st/2nd party exclusive or day one 3rd party that interests me, or getting that $3 ad supported 1st/2nd party exclusives only tier they are considering, if they decide to do it.

I don't know why the announcements have to be split between two a month, I'd just start each month by telling us the entire months Game Pass line-up, they could spice it up in some Direct style format, a written press release and a short 10-20 minute video (depends on the size of the drop) showing of a couple minutes of each title and this months Game Pass perks.

I do agree that I could see them cutting back on 3rd party deals as their 1st party grows, aside from filling gaps that they have and partnerships like EA Play, however, that definitely isn't the case with 2023 so far, it's absolutely stacked with 3rd party and 1st party, quite a few titles which have the potential for millions of players as well as IPs which are already very popular, it looks the strongest line-up ever.

Game Pass in 2022 was handicapped frankly by a lack of 1st party releases but I also think a lack of interesting titles on the 3rd party front as well, however, Game Pass absolutely saved Xbox's ass this year still, I don't know if December is that bad? Chained Echoes has a 90 OpenCritic, Eastward has a 80 OpenCritic and is from Chucklefish, Hello Neighbour isn't my thing but the IP is very popular, High on Life is an absolutely massive success, The Skywalker Saga was a huge get this early considering how much it sold, it's a pretty solid month I'd say for the general population.

Regarding Chained Echoes...It is made by a German developer but both Nintendo, Xbox and GoG list it as a JRPG. It has a 90 OpenCritic as well, I don't know if everyone will agree that it's a JRPG, Lol. We can debate what makes a JRPG a JRPG but regardless, it may satisfy your JRPG itch a little until January

Wait….are you telling me Germany is not considered Japanese?!? Damn my American education!