After establishing the Xbox Game Pass as the go-to video game subscription service (and basically forcing Sony's hand to revamp its PlayStation Plus offering), Microsoft is taking full advantage of one of its few Ws with this generation by adding an interesting new offering—the Game Pass Standard.
With the Game Pass Standard's introduction, the Game Pass now has four options to choose from, which admittedly can get confusing.
What you need to know is that the Game Pass Standard is Xbox's replacement for its basic Game Pass subscription for consoles (not the Game Pass Core, because that's different as well). However, it does have several caveats, including the removal of some 40 or so games, and the perplexing decision of removing day-one releases. It's a $5 step up from the Game Pass Core at $14.99 a month with access to hundreds of games, so at least you get more than 100 games for your money.
However, before we give you the list of Game Pass Standard games at launch, you'll want to know more about what Microsoft removed from it. Because it has no Day One releases and most first-party exclusives that came out within the past year are missing, some 40 or so fan-favorite titles are MIA, and these are: Age of Mythology: Retold Standard Edition Another Crab's Treasure Botany Manor Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III - Cross-Gen Bundle Core Keeper (Xbox Series X|S) Creatures of Ava Diablo IV Dungeons Of Hinterberg Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn Flock Forza Motorsport Standard Edition Galacticare Go Mecha Ball Harold Halibut Hauntii Heavy Weapon Humanity Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess Lightyear Frontier (Game Preview) Little Kitty, Big City Magical Delicacy MLB The Show 24 Xbox One MLB The Show 24 Xbox Series X|S Neon White OCTOPATH TRAVELER II Open Roads PAYDAY 3 PlateUp! Robin Hood - Sherwood Builders Rolling Hills: Make Sushi, Make Friends Sea of Solitude Senua's Saga: Hellblade II Slime Rancher 2 SpiderHeck Star Trucker Starfield Still Wakes the Deep Tchia The Case of the Golden Idol The Rewinder Turnip Boy Robs a Bank VALORANT You Suck at Parking Complete Edition So, if you're thinking about playing these games on Xbox, you'll want to pay for the more expensive Game Pass Ultimate, which should let you enjoy new and upcoming titles like Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, which would look absolutely awesome on the PlayStation 5 Pro, and Avowed, which isn't coming out anytime soon.
If you're interested in what games are included in the Game Pass Standard, you can head on over here or scroll down below: Expeditions: A MudRunner Game Riders Republic™ DOOM + DOOM II Mafia: Definitive Edition Crash Bandicoot™ N. Sane Trilogy Atlas Fallen: Reign of Sand A Little to the Left A Plague Tale: Requiem Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition Age of Empires IV: Anniversary Edition Amnesia: The Bunker Among Us Anuchard Arcade Paradise ARK: Survival Ascended ARK: Ultimate Survivor Edition As Dusk Falls Assassin's Creed® Odyssey Assassin's Creed® Origins Assassin's Creed® Valhalla ASTRONEER Banjo Kazooie: N n B Banjo-Kazooie Banjo-Tooie Batman™: Arkham Knight Battletoads Ben 10: Power Trip BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle Special Edition Bleeding Edge BLiNX: The Time Sweeper Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night Bluey: The Videogame Broforce Broken Age Brotato Brothers: a Tale of Two Sons Brütal Legend Call of the Wild: The Angler™ Car Mechanic Simulator 2021 Cassette Beasts Celeste Chants of Sennaar Chivalry 2 Cities: Skylines - Remastered Cities: Skylines - Xbox One Edition Citizen Sleeper Clone Drone in the Danger Zone Close to the Sun Cocoon Common'hood Conan Exiles Contrast Control Control Ultimate Edition - Xbox Series X|S Cooking Simulator Coral Island Costume Quest Costume Quest 2 Crackdown 3 Cricket 24 Crimson Skies®: High Road to Revenge™ Crusader Kings III Darkest Dungeon® Day of the Tentacle Remastered DayZ Dead by Daylight Dead Cells Dead Island 2 Death's Door DEATHLOOP Deep Rock Galactic Descenders Dicey Dungeons Dishonored 2 Dishonored® Definitive Edition Dishonored®: Death of the Outsider™ Disney Dreamlight Valley Disneyland Adventures DOOM DOOM 3 DOOM 64 DOOM Eternal Standard Edition Dordogne Dune: Spice Wars Dungeons 4 Escape Academy EVERSPACE™ 2 Evil West Exoprimal F1® Manager 2023 Fable Anniversary Fable II Fable III Fallout 3 Fallout 4 Fallout 76 Fallout: New Vegas Far Cry® 5 Far Cry® 6 Farming Simulator 22 Figment: Journey Into the Mind Firewatch Football Manager 2024 Console FOR HONOR: MARCHING FIRE EDITION Forager Forza Horizon 4 Standard Edition Forza Horizon 5 Standard Edition Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery From Space Frostpunk: Console Edition Full Throttle Remastered Fuzion Frenzy® Gang Beasts Gears 5 Game of the Year Edition Gears of War Gears of War 2 Gears of War 3 Gears of War 4 Gears of War: Judgment Gears of War: Ultimate Edition Gears Tactics Generation Zero® Genesis Noir Ghostwire: Tokyo Goat Simulator Goat Simulator 3 GoldenEye 007 Golf With Your Friends Gotham Knights Grim Fandango Remastered GRIS Grounded Halo 5: Guardians Halo Infinite (Campaign) Halo Wars 2: Standard Edition Halo Wars: Definitive Edition Halo: Spartan Assault Halo: The Master Chief Collection Have a Nice Death Headbangers: Rhythm Royale Hell Let Loose Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice Hello Neighbor 2 Hi-Fi RUSH Hollow Knight: Voidheart Edition Homestead Arcana HOT WHEELS UNLEASHED™ 2 - Turbocharged House Flipper Human Fall Flat HUMANKIND™ Hypnospace Outlaw Immortals Fenyx Rising™ Indivisible Injustice™ 2 Inkulinati INSIDE Insurgency: Sandstorm Iron Brigade Isonzo Jetpac Refuelled Journey To The Savage Planet: Employee Of The Month Jurassic World Evolution 2 Jusant Kameo Killer Instinct: Anniversary Edition Kona Kona II: Brume LEGO® 2K Drive Cross-Gen Standard Edition LEGO® Star Wars™: The Skywalker Saga Let's Build a Zoo Lies of P Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name Little Nightmares II Loot River Lost Judgment Madden NFL 24 Mafia III Marvel's Avengers Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy Mass Effect Legendary Edition Max: The Curse of Brotherhood Metro Exodus Middle-earth: Shadow of War Minecraft: Story Mode - Season Two Moon Hunters Mortal Shell Mortal Kombat 11 NBA 2K24 Need for Speed™ Unbound Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl Ni no Kuni II: Revenant Kingdom No Man's Sky Octodad: Dadliest Catch Outer Wilds Overcooked! 2 Oxygen Not Included Paladins Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous PAYDAY 2 Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire Planet Coaster Planet Zoo PowerWash Simulator Prey Quantum Break Rainbow Six Siege Raft Red Dead Redemption 2 Remnant: From the Ashes Resident Evil 7: Biohazard Resident Evil Village Return to Monkey Island Ridge Racer Unbound: Deluxe Edition Risk of Rain 2 Rocket League Rogue Heroes: Ruins of Tasos Saints Row (2022) Satisfactory Sea of Thieves Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice Shadow of the Tomb Raider Shovel Knight: Treasure Trove Slime Rancher 2 Sniper Elite 5 Solar Ash South Park: The Stick of Truth South Park: The Fractured But Whole Spiritfarer Splinter Cell: Blacklist SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom – Rehydrated Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Star Wars: Squadrons State of Decay 2 Streets of Rage 4 Subnautica Subnautica: Below Zero Sunset Overdrive Super Lucky's Tale Super Meat Boy Tales of Arise Tangle Tower Team Sonic Racing Terraria The Ascent The Binding of Isaac: Rebirth The Crew 2 The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition The Evil Within 2 The Gunk The Last Guardian The Messenger The Outer Worlds The Sims 4 The Surge 2 The Walking Dead: A New Frontier The Walking Dead: Season Two The Wolf Among Us Thief This War of Mine Thronebreaker: The Witcher Tales Tides of Time TMNT: Shredder's Revenge Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Extraction Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition Totally Accurate Battle Simulator TowerFall Ascension Train Sim World 3 Tunic Two Point Hospital Unravel 2 Valhalla Hills Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 Warhammer: Vermintide 2 Watch Dogs: Legion What the Box? Wolfenstein II: The New Colossus Wreckfest Yakuza: Like a Dragon Yonder: The Cloud Catcher Chronicles You Suck at Parking Zombie Army 4: Dead War Zoo Tycoon: Ultimate Animal Collection