Microsoft has finally announced the full details of the new tier of Xbox Game Pass called Standard.
Have you missed this change? Microsoft announced the Xbox Game Pass was set for a big change in July. That change was a price increase and a new mid-range tier called Game Pass Standard.
Microsoft has now revealed how much Standard will cost — and what it will offer — when it arrives in September.
Here’s all you need to know.
Xbox Game Pass Standard UK price
Game Pass Standard will cost £10.99 a month, nestled between the £6.99 Game Pass Core and £14.99 Game Pass Ultimate. PC players can still access the PC-only version of Game Pass for £9.99 a month.
The tier Game Pass Standard replaced was known as Game Pass Console and cost £7.99 before a price rise to £8.99 in July 2023.
Cost is not the only change in the Game Pass Standard, though. Unlike the old Console tier, not all games will come to this new plan at the same time they do for Game Pass Ultimate subs.
Game Pass Standard release delays
There will be a period of exclusivity for “day one” titles and “other game entries”, according to Microsoft. And the wait could be a long one.
The delay “can be up to 12 months or more and will vary by title,” says the Xbox Wire blog.
This could well mean PlayStation 5 gamers get to play former Xbox exclusive Indiana Jones and the Golden Circle before non-Ultimate Xbox Game Pass subscribers have a chance. The game was recently announced for an early 2025 release on PS5 during the Gamescom show.
Is Xbox Game Pass Standard a pure dilution of Game Pass Console, but for more money? Not quite.
The new tier includes multiplayer play, which (surprising as it may sound in 2024) was not included in the old Game Pass Console subscription.
This was Microsoft’s counter when the US Federal Trade Commission argued the change constituted a “degraded” product when Game Pass Standard was announced in July.
There’s no getting around it, though — Microsoft is not so subtly nudging more of us into forking out for Game Pass Ultimate.
Games coming to Xbox Game Pass
Upcoming games that won’t come to Xbox Game Pass Standard at release are expected to include Call of Duty Black Ops 6; Frostpunk 2; Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024; Avowed; Stalker 2; Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and Hollow Knight: Silksong, among others.
This is likely to prove frustrating.
“We’ll continue to share with all Game Pass members when games are being added and available to play for each plan,” says the Xbox team. But exactly when the length of the delay for each title will be known is still unclear.
Xbox Game Pass Standard launches on September 12 and is available now through a paid preview to Xbox Insider beta testers. Perhaps we should savour these last days of the current era of Xbox Game Pass while they last, though.
