Game Pass Standard, a new middle tier in the Netflix-like subscription service’s ever-expanding menu of options, won’t get some games that hit the higher tiers on day one for up to a year or longer, Microsoft revealed today. The cheaper version is going into preview mode for Xbox Insiders for $1 ahead of its official launch in September.
Microsoft shared this caveat in a new rundown of the program over on the Xbox Wire blog. The preview version goes live today for players who are members of the Xbox Insiders initiative, with more games being added to the Game Pass Standard library throughout the preview period. So while we still don’t know exactly which games will be included in that tier of the program at launch, players should get a better idea in the days and weeks ahead.
But the biggest question is still how long it will take for new games to get added to Standard. Earlier this summer, Microsoft announced it was hiking the price of Game Pass Ultimate and creating a new tier called Standard that wouldn’t get big games that hit Game Pass on day one of release, one of the big selling points of the service since its inception. So while Standard is $15 a month instead of Ultimate’s $20 a month, it won’t be getting Indiana Jones and the Great Circle or Diablo IV’s Vessel of Hatred expansion the day they come out.
“Some games coming to Game Pass Ultimate (day one games or other game entries) will not be immediately available with Game Pass Standard and may be added to the library at a future date (can be up to 12 months or more and will vary by title),” senior community lead Megan Spurr wrote over at Xbox Wire today. “We’ll continue to share with all Game Pass members when games are being added and available to play for each plan.”
It’s unclear if this waiting period will be announced for each game ahead of release, or will be its own sort of mystery exclusivity period that fans have to speculate about when deciding if and when to subscribe to Standard vs. Ultimate. It’s also possible that third-party day-and-date games, like Frostpunk 2, could have launches that vary wildly across both tiers. Pardon the pun but it sounds anything but “standard.”
This big shift in Game Pass comes ahead of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6‘s release in October, the first game in the hit multiplayer shooter series to get a day-and-date release on a subscription gaming service, and likely the best-selling game yet that will have appeared on Game Pass. That’s in stark contrast to last year when Xbox owners could play Starfield for a whole month starting the day it came out for just $11. Its upcoming expansion, Shattered Space, will now require a $20 monthly subscription instead.
