Xbox's new Game Pass Standard tier yanks access to Starfield, Hellblade 2, Diablo 4, and more

Over 40 previously available titles shifted to Game Pass Ultimate tier.

Image credit: Xbox/Microsoft

News by Matt Wales News Reporter

Published on Sept. 10, 2024

Back in July, Microsoft announced sweeping changes to Xbox Game Pass that would see day one releases being removed as a benefit to subscribers of the service's revised basic tier. That new tier - known as Game Pass Standard - is now live, but it turns out subscribers are missing out on more than just new releases: Microsoft has pulled access to over 40 previously available games, including major titles like Starfield, Hellblade 2, and Diablo 4.

Microsoft's new £10.99/month Xbox Game Pass Standard tier replaces the older Xbox Game Pass for Console tier for new or lapsed subscribers wanting access to the Game Pass library and its "hundreds" of games. But while the company had previously confirmed the new Standard tier would no longer include access to first-party and other releases on day one (that benefit is now exclusive to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate on consoles), Standard subscribers also won't have access to some of the most popular titles already in the Game Pass catalogue.

As spotted by Kotaku, there are significant absences in the Standard tier catalogue that were previously available as part of a Game Pass for Console subscription. Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 - introduced to Game Pass back in July - is gone, for instance, as is Diablo 4. Microsoft's Age of Mythology Retold, which released onto Game Pass last week, also isn't in the Standard catalogue, and numerous older first-party titles are missing too.

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Starfield has been removed, as has Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2. And a whole bunch of smaller titles have also been whisked away from the Standard tier catalogue, including The Chinese Room's oil rig horror Still Wakes the Deep, oceanic Soulslike Another Crab's Treasure, cosy puzzler Botany Manor, stop-motion adventure Harold Halibut, and Ashen developer A44 Games' Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn. In total - as detailed in a post over on Resetera - more than 40 releases have been shorn from the Game Pass Standard catalogue, with the common pattern being that most were added as day one releases over the past year.

Microsoft recently confirmed it could be "up to 12 months or more" before day one releases on Game Pass Ultimate make their way to its Standard tier, suggesting the company has made the decision to apply its new rules retroactively, denying access to day one games added to the catalogue over the last 12 months - even if they were previously available on Xbox Game Pass for Console. These catalogue changes, it's worth noting, do not apply to the £9.99/month PC Game Pass, which will also continue to get day one games.

All this is likely to be an unpleasant surprise for new or lapsed Game Pass subscribers joining Standard, but I've reached out to Microsoft for clarity on the situation. And while we wait for a response, you'll find the full list of titles scrubbed from the Standard catalogue below: