Microsoft has launched its new Xbox Game Pass Standard subscription, a new middle tier in the Game Pass family. Xbox Game Pass Standard offers all the perks and online functions as the entry-level membership as well as “hundreds of high-quality console games.”
As noted on an Xbox Wire post, players around the world are now able to access Xbox Game Pass Standard. Described as bringing “together features that players love about Game Pass for Console and Game Pass Core,” the new subscription is available for $16.99/month in Canada. It supports access to online multiplayer and deals of up to 50 percent off select titles, the same perks you’d find from Game Pass Core. However, Xbox Game Pass Standard’s big selling point is the access to games across the Halo franchise, Age of Empires, Minecraft, Forza Horizon 5, and Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege.
Xbox Game Pass Standard effectively takes the place of the Game Pass for Console tier, which like Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, gave all subscribers access to the growing catalogue of games as well as day one first-party titles. That’s no longer the case. Now, for games such as Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, players must subscribe to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for day one access. First-party titles will exclusively live within the Game Pass Ultimate for a set period. For example, Starfield, Forza Motorsport, and Diablo IV are all still exclusively locked to the highest tier of the service.
Earlier this year, Microsoft announced that it is increasing the price of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate to $22.99/month. It was here that Microsoft also announced that Xbox Games Pass Standard would be arriving in September. It now joins the ranks alongside PC Games Pass, which includes day-one access to first-party games on PC as well as access to an EA Play membership, perks in Valorant, and 20 percent off select titles. Game Pass Core is also still offered as an entry-level tier, with 25 games in its catalogue, including Grounded, Among Us, Halo, Gears 5, and more
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