Hades II Hits Xbox Game Pass Premium as 104-Hour Free RPG

Xbox Game Pass Premium subscribers paying $14.99 a month now have access to Hades II, the Supergiant Games roguelike that landed on the service on April 14, 2026, the same day it launched on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5. The game won Best Action Game at The Game Awards 2025, was nominated for Game of the Year, and runs roughly 30 hours for the main story or 104 hours for full completion, according to HowLongToBeat data.

For subscribers, the math is unusually friendly. A single month’s Premium fee is half the $29.99 Steam price, and Hades II’s main story fits inside one billing cycle. Roguelike completionists chasing 100% will spend two months and still come out cheaper than buying outright on PC.

Melinoë’s War Against the Titan of Time

You play Melinoë, sister to the original Hades protagonist Zagreus and daughter of Hades and Persephone. The plot kicks off after Chronos, the deposed Titan of Time, has overrun the Underworld and locked up Melinoë’s family inside the House of Hades.

Hecate raises Melinoë in a hidden hub called the Crossroads and trains her to kill the god who took everything. The structure is classic Supergiant. Die. Return to the Crossroads. Talk to NPCs. Grab upgrades. Run again. New for this entry are dual run paths, surface and underworld, each with their own bosses, biomes and narrative throughlines.

Combat builds on Hades’ weapon-and-Boon system but adds a Magick resource and a casting circle that lets Melinoë trap enemies and burst them with channeled spells. Aspects of Nocturnal Arms unlock new playstyles for each weapon. Gifts to Crossroads characters trigger romance arcs and side scenes that change run dialogue.

The $14.99 Tier That Unlocks It

Microsoft’s late-2025 overhaul split Game Pass into four tiers, and Hades II shows up on three of them at no extra cost. The official Game Pass compare page lists Premium ($14.99/month) carrying Hades II in its 200-plus library, with Ultimate ($22.99/month after April 21’s price drop) and PC Game Pass ($13.99) also bundling it in.

Essential, the cheapest tier at $9.99, does not. Subscribers on that plan see a smaller rotating library that excludes most day-one releases.

From Nintendo’s Hands to Everyone’s Library

Hades II spent over a year as a Steam early access title before going 1.0 on September 25, 2025, alongside a timed console-exclusive launch on Switch and Switch 2. PlayStation and Xbox owners had to wait nearly seven months for their turn, with the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition holding the spotlight throughout that window.

The April 14, 2026 multiplatform release ended that exclusivity and brought every console up to feature parity with PC and Switch. Xbox’s March 26 partner preview blog confirmed day-one Game Pass inclusion two and a half weeks ahead of release.

1. May 6, 2024. Hades II enters Steam and Epic Games Store early access at $29.99.
2. September 25, 2025. Full 1.0 release on PC, Switch and Switch 2.
3. December 11, 2025. Wins Best Action Game at The Game Awards 2025.
4. March 26, 2026. Xbox confirms April 14 day-one Game Pass launch.
5. April 14, 2026. Day-one launch on Xbox Series X|S and PS5; Patch 2 ships globally.

The Numbers Behind the Hype

Hades II’s commercial trajectory tells most of the story Microsoft was buying into when it locked the title for Game Pass. The game arrived on Xbox already validated by 16 months of paying early-access players.

• 2,000,000+ copies. Sold during early access at $29.99 each, per Gamalytic’s Steam tracking.
• $54.5 million. Estimated gross revenue from that early-access window.
• 94 Metacritic. PC score at full launch, derived from 30 critic reviews.
• 98 Metacritic. Average score on Xbox Series X|S as of April 2026.
• ~100,000 players. Peak concurrent Steam count at the September 1.0 release.
• 96% positive. All-time review rate from 118,000+ Steam reviewers.

Patch 2 Dropped With the Console Build

Supergiant timed its biggest post-launch update to land alongside the PS5 and Xbox release. Patch 2, available on every platform from April 14, headlines a Fated Prophecy update that adds new ending scenes for Odysseus, Arachne and several other Crossroads characters reachable through indefinite gifting, according to Supergiant’s official Steam patch notes.

The patch also rebalanced enemy stats, tweaked Boons and Aspects of Nocturnal Arms across the run, and reworked several Hexes that veteran players had labelled overpowered. A late-April Hotfix 2 followed with Dream Dives adjustments and bumped gold rewards in early Tartarus and Summit runs.

Notable changes shipped with the build:

• Indefinite gifting for most Crossroads NPCs unlocks romance and friendship epilogues.
• New Fated Prophecy entries with bespoke conclusion scenes for Odysseus and Arachne.
• Rebalanced cooldowns and damage values on several Hexes.
• Visual and audio polish across multiple regions, including new music cues.

Six Awards Nominations, One Big Win

Hades II walked into the December 2025 Game Awards with six nominations: Game of the Year, Best Action Game, Best Game Direction, Best Art Direction, Best Score and Music, and Best Independent Game. It walked out with one trophy.

Supergiant’s awards-night blog post confirmed Hades II took Best Action Game. Sandfall Interactive’s Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 won Game of the Year, beating Donkey Kong Bananza, Hollow Knight: Silksong, Death Stranding 2 and Kingdom Come: Deliverance II in that category.

Screen Rant’s Chris Carter, who reviewed the 1.0 release, summed up why the GOTY loss did not slow the game’s word of mouth.

“More often than not, I’d sit down for a multi-hour Hades 2 session and come away unlocking a ton of extras, new playstyles, and additional story revelations. The world this time around feels so much bigger, and although that can mean it’s less personal at points, the scope is massive.”

Supergiant studio director Amir Rao has said publicly that Hades III is not preordained. Speaking with content creator Haelian after 1.0, Rao said the studio is focused on “seeing what people are saying about” the second game before deciding what comes next, and that the team’s culture is to take a clean break before greenlighting any sequel. For Game Pass subscribers in May 2026, that means now is the moment to actually play the one that exists.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is Hades II free on Xbox Game Pass?

Hades II is included at no extra charge for active Xbox Game Pass Premium, Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers as of April 14, 2026. Subscribers download or stream the full game without paying the $29.99 retail price separately. Game Pass Essential subscribers do not get access to Hades II.

Which Game Pass tier do I need for Hades II?

You need Game Pass Premium ($14.99/month), PC Game Pass ($13.99/month) or Game Pass Ultimate ($22.99/month after the April 21, 2026 price drop). Premium is the cheapest console tier that includes Hades II. Ultimate adds top-quality cloud streaming, Fortnite Crew, EA Play and Ubisoft+ Classics.

How long does Hades II take to beat?

HowLongToBeat data lists roughly 30 hours for the main story, around 60 hours for the main plus extras path, and approximately 104 hours for full 100% completion. Players going for every Aspect of Nocturnal Arms, every Crossroads character ending and every Fated Prophecy entry should expect closer to the upper figure.

Do I need to play the first Hades to enjoy Hades II?

No. Hades II is set after the first game and references its events, but Melinoë’s story stands on its own. Returning players will catch more callbacks and recognize characters like Zagreus, Hades, Hecate and Nyx faster, but the sequel introduces every key relationship through its own Crossroads dialogue.

Can I stream Hades II on a phone or browser without an Xbox console?

Yes. Game Pass Premium and Ultimate subscribers can stream Hades II through Xbox Cloud Gaming on supported phones, tablets, browsers and smart TVs. PC Game Pass does not include cloud streaming. Cloud play requires a stable connection and a compatible Bluetooth controller for best results.

Premium hands subscribers a Game of the Year nominee for less than half the retail price during a single billing cycle, with no buy-in commitment beyond one month. For anyone who skipped Hades II while it sat exclusively on Switch, May 2026 is the cleanest entry point in eight months.