Microsoft's new Game Pass Standard subscription isn't getting day-one releases included in more expensive plans, but they could be added up to, and possibly more than, a year later.
The middle-tier $15/month Game Pass Standard plan is officially being rolled out after being announced back in July, and it's noticeably missing big hitters like Starfield, Diablo 4, and Hellblade 2, which had been selling points for the subscription previously. Notably, these games were available to all Game Pass subscribers prior to the restructuring of plans.
In a statement to Kotaku, Microsoft declined to commit to adding these missing games and future day-one releases to the Standard Game Pass tier, saying it's possible for them to be added at a future date that could be a year or more out.
"New day one games available with Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass will not be immediately available with Game Pass Standard and may be added to the library at a future date," reads the statement. "This could be up to 12 months or more and will vary by title." The key word here is "may," as this leaves the door open for such games to never come to Standard.
In July, Xbox revealed the Game Pass price changes that are going into effect for existing subscribers this week. The increase comes alongside a brand new Standard plan that replaces the existing Console plan and removes the long-running perk of getting certain new Xbox games on release day. This perk only jumped in value with the confirmation of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 coming to Xbox Game Pass on day one – a first for the series and a major push from Microsoft.
Shortly after its reveal, the US Federal Trade Commission called the Standard plan a "degraded product" and said it's "exactly the sort of consumer harm" it said would result from the Xbox Activision merger. Microsoft soon hit back and called the FTC's statement "misleading", pointing to the fact that the Standard plan includes online multiplayer – something the now-defunct Console tier didn't.
Microsoft has been vague about when the Standard plan will get the day-one releases included with the Game Pass Ultimate and PC plans, and this latest messaging does little to clear anything up. At best, we can now expect a hefty wait. It sounds like a case-by-case situation where some of them will be staggered to hit the lesser plans at a later date, and others simply may not ever be added.
In the meantime, here are the best games on Game Pass for Xbox and PC right now.
