Xbox Game Pass Standard, the new basic tier of Microsoft's subscription service which costs $14.99 a month, doesn't include major games such as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Starfield, Diablo 4, and much more.
Microsoft announced the revised Game Pass tiers in July and as of September 12 the changes went into place. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate has risen from $16.99 to $19.99 a month and still includes all the typical benefits, but the Xbox Game Pass Standard tier is quite different from its predecessor.
It replaces Game Pass for Console (though those already subscribed don't have to upgrade) and includes significantly less benefits. Subscribers no longer gain access to day one titles or access to EA Play, Xbox Cloud Gaming, perks, Quests, and discounts on games in the Game Pass library. Microsoft said players would also be denied access to "specific entries to the Game Pass Ultimate library," and that list has now been revealed to be fairly extensive.
A total of 41 games are now available only through Game Pass Ultimate for new subscribers, including the aforementioned Modern Warfare 3, Starfield, and Diablo 4 but also Forza Motorsport, MLB: The Show 24, Octopath Traveler 2, Payday 3, Age of Mythology: Retold, and more. The full list is available below, courtesy of ResetEra user vixolus who collated the list.
Players subcscribing to Game Pass Standard therefore have access to 370 games instead of 508, according to the Xbox website. The remaining 96 titles belong to the EA Play library, which is not included in Xbox Game Pass Standard. Players looking to access this additional library of heavy hitters will need to pay $19.99 a month for Ultimate instead of $14.99 a month for Standard.
Xbox Game Pass arrived in 2017 at just $9.99 a month with all features included, though in 2024 it does have significantly more games, not to mention access to Bethesda and Activision Blizzard titles such as Starfield and the incoming Call of Duty: Black Ops 6.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate Games Not on Xbox Game Pass Standard (Not Including the EA Play Library)
- Age of Mythology: Retold Standard Edition
- Another Crab's Treasure
- Botany Manor
- Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
- Core Keeper
- Creatures of Ava
- Diablo 4
- Dungeons Of Hinterberg
- Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes
- Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn
- Flock
- Forza Motorsport
- Galacticare
- Go Mecha Ball
- Harold Halibut
- Hauntii
- Heavy Weapon
- Humanity
- Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess
- Little Kitty, Big City
- Magical Delicacy
- MLB: The Show 24
- Neon White
- Octopath Traveler 2
- Open Roads
- Payday 3
- PlateUp!
- Robin Hood - Sherwood Builders
- Rolling Hills: Make Sushi, Make Friends
- Sea of Solitude
- Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2
- Slime Rancher 2
- SpiderHeck
- Star Trucker
- Starfield
- Still Wakes the Deep
- Tchia
- The Case of the Golden Idol
- The Rewinder
- Turnip Boy Robs a Bank
- You Suck at Parking Complete Edition
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.
