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,

Even at $19.99, Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is still the best deal in gaming. Speedrun your way through the catalog of hundreds with our 25 favorites.

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.

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 is launching its Xbox Game Pass Standard tier today. After briefly testing it with Xbox Insiders last month, the new $14.99 per month Game Pass Standard subscription is launching with the usual Game Pass library for Xbox and online console multiplayer access,

Xbox Game Pass now requires users spend $5 to $10 more for day-one games, but PC Game Pass has everything you want.

Try or gift Xbox Game Pass for three months for 28% off and play over 100 games including Starfield, Forza Motorsport, and Football Manager 2024 on your Xbox, PC, or mobile device.

Xbox officially launched its new Game Pass Standard plan on Tuesday, but it's missing some huge first-party titles.The Latest Tech News, Delivered to Your Inbox