Game Pass Standard officially arrives on Xbox — and it’s a bittersweet change

Microsoft has just launched a new tier of Game Pass on Xbox , officially called Game Pass Standard. This is effectively a replacement for the original Game Pass for Console subscription, sitting between Game Pass Core and Game Pass Ultimate . And that change looks to be a little bittersweet.

Game Pass Standard was originally announced in July , alongside another price hike for Game Pass Ultimate — which now costs $20 a month. The good news is that Standard now rolls in all the benefits of Game Pass Core. Previously, the Game Pass for Xbox subscription didn’t let you play online multiplayer unless you were on a free-to-play game.

Obviously Standard doesn’t come with access to cloud gaming, which was always an Ultimate-tier exclusive. You’re also deprived of all the other Ultimate tier perks like access to the EA Play catalog and the ability to play Game Pass games on PC, Fortunately for PC gamers ,the Game Pass for PC subscription doesn’t seem to be going anywhere, and appears to be unchanged.

But the real bad news is that Game Pass Standard no longer gives you Day 1 access to first party Xbox games. You’re going to have to wait for those titles to make their way to the Standard Game Pass catalog, at which point they can be downloaded to your console and played like any other digital title. It’s not clear just how long that will take.

The price is also going up to $15 a month to boot. That is cheaper than paying for Game Pass for Xbox and Game Pass Core together — assuming you want online multiplayer privileges. But a lot of people may not be happy about paying more money and losing Day 1 access in the process. Even if it does mean being able to play Call of Duty Black Ops 6 with someone from the other side of the planet.

Microsoft stopped new Game Pass for Console subscribers some time ago, but existing subscribers have been able to keep their subscriptions going for now. Sadly if you let that subscription lapse, either by letting your auto-renewal expire or outright canceling the plan, your only option will be to subscribe to Game Pass Standard.

On paper, it still gives you access to more or less the same game library as before — just without immediate access to some of Xbox’s biggest titles on release day.

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