There is another caveat, that Microsoft has seemingly arbitrarily picked a few dozen games, many of them big titles, that are not included in Xbox Game Pass Standard,

Xbox Game Pass has long been the key differentiator for Microsoft's gaming business, offering an alternative subscription-based store against Steam on PC, and offering heaps of value on console against PlayStation with its day-one games pledge. That covenant has been undone now, though.

Thankfully, if you're on PC or Xbox, Diablo 4 is readily available via Xbox Game Pass. But can you play Vessel of Hatred on Game Pass?

Xbox's new Game Pass Standard tier, which replaced the existing console tier and excludes day one launches onto the service, is missing much more than that. Massive first-party games that were previously used to sell the service like Starfield, Diablo 4, and Hellblade 2 are nowhere to be found among the subscription's strange middle tier offerings.

Microsoft has rolled out the new standard tier for Xbox Game Pass, with many big games now no longer available for subscribers.

Microsoft announced sweeping changes to Xbox Game Pass that would day-one releases being removed as a benefit to subscribers of its revised basic tier. That new tier - known as Game Pass Standard - is now live,