Key Highlights–
- Over 90 titles were added immediately, including Diablo IV and Hogwarts Legacy.
- Xbox Game Pass restructured into three new plans namely – Essential, Premium, and Ultimate.
- Premium members receive new Xbox-published titles within a year of launch, while Ultimate members get them on day one, including major releases like The Outer Worlds 2 and Call of Duty titles.
Microsoft announced a massive restructuring of its Xbox Game Pass subscription service on Tuesday, introducing three new tiered plans namely, Essential, Premium, and Ultimate along with a substantial price increase for the top tier and the immediate addition of over 90 new games and benefits.
The changes, which take effect immediately, introduce a major revamp to the Game Pass offerings, integrating PC access, cloud gaming, and expanded third-party benefits across all new tiers.
Introducing Essential, Premium, and Ultimate Tiers
Microsoft is phasing out the old “Core” and “Standard” plans and replacing them with the new, three-tiered structure designed around different player habits:
| Tier | Former Name | Monthly Price | Game Library | Day One Access | Key Benefits Added |
| Essential | Core | $9.99 (Unchanged) | 50+ Games | No | Unlimited Cloud Gaming, PC Games, In-game Benefits |
| Premium | Standard | $14.99 (Unchanged) | 200+ Games | Within 1 Year (Excluding Call of Duty) | Unlimited Cloud Gaming, Shorter Wait Times, Diablo IV, Hogwarts Legacy |
| Ultimate | Ultimate | $29.99 (Up from $19.99) | 400+ Games | 75+ Per Year (Including Day One Call of Duty) | Fortnite Crew, Ubisoft+ Classics, 1440p Cloud Streaming |
Current “Core” subscribers are automatically upgrading to Essential, “Standard” to Premium, and existing “Ultimate” members transition to the new, more expensive Ultimate plan. The PC Game Pass standalone subscription also saw a price increase, rising from $11.99 to $16.49 per month.
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New Games and Major Partner Integrations
The launch of the revamped service is supported by the addition of over 90 games across the catalogue, including major titles available immediately in the Premium and Ultimate tiers which are as follows –
Ultimate Tiers
- Hogwarts Legacy (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Assassin’s Creed II (PC)
- Assassin’s Creed III Remastered (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Assassin’s Creed IV Black Flag: Freedom Cry (PC)
- Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood (PC)
- Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: China (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: India (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Assassin’s Creed Chronicles: Russia (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Assassin’s Creed Liberation HD (PC)
- Assassin’s Creed Revelations (PC)
- Assassin’s Creed Rogue Remastered (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Assassin’s Creed Syndicate (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Assassin’s Creed The Ezio Collection (Cloud and Console)
- Assassin’s Creed Unity (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Child of Light (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Far Cry 3 (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Far Cry Primal (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Hungry Shark World (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Monopoly Madness (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Monopoly 2024 (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- OddBallers (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Prince of Persia The Lost Crown (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Rabbids Invasion: The Interactive TV Show (Cloud and Console)
- Rabbids: Party of Legends (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Rayman Legends (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Risk Urban Assault (Cloud and Console)
- Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Skull and Bones (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S)
- South Park: The Stick of Truth (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Starlink: Battle for Atlas (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Steep (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- The Crew 2 (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- The Settlers: New Allies (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Breakpoint (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Extraction (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Tom Clancy’s The Division (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Trackmania Turbo (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Transference (Cloud and Console)
- Trials Fusion (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Trials of the Blood Dragon (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Trials Rising (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Uno (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Valiant Hearts: The Great War (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Watch_Dogs (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Wheel of Fortune (Cloud and Console)
- Zombi (Cloud, PC, and Console)
Premium Tier
- 9 Kings (Game Preview) (PC)
- Abiotic Factor (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S)
- Against the Storm (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Age of Empires: Definitive Edition (PC)
- Age of Empires III: Definitive Edition (PC)
- Age of Mythology: Retold (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S)
- Ara: History Untold (PC)
- Arx Fatalis (PC)
- Back to the Dawn (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Battletech (PC)
- Blacksmith Master (Game Preview) (PC)
- Cataclismo (PC)
- Cities: Skylines II (PC)
- Crime Scene Cleaner (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S)
- Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S)
- Diablo (PC)
- Diablo IV (PC and Console)
- An Elder Scrolls Legends: Battlespire (PC)
- The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard (PC)
- Fallout (PC)
- Fallout 2 (PC)
- Fallout: Tactics (PC)
- Football Manager 2024 (PC)
- Frostpunk 2 (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S)
- Halo: Spartan Strike (PC)
- Hogwarts Legacy (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Manor Lords (Game Preview) (PC)
- Minami Lane (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Minecraft: Java Edition (PC)
- Mullet Madjack (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S)
- My Friendly Neighborhood (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- One Lonely Outpost (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Quake 4 (PC)
- Quake III Arena (PC)
- Return to Castle Wolfenstein (PC)
- Rise of Nations: Extended Edition (PC)
- Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S)
- Sworn (Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X|S)
- Terra Invicta (Game Preview) (PC)
- Volcano Princess (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Warcraft I: Remastered (PC)
- Warcraft II: Remastered (PC)
- Warcraft III: Reforged (PC)
- Wolfenstein 3D (PC)
Essential Tier
- Cities: Skylines Remastered (Cloud and Xbox Series X|S)
- Disney Dreamlight Valley (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Hades (Cloud, PC, and Console)
- Warhammer 40,000 Darktide (Cloud, PC, and Console)
All Premium and Essential tier games are included in the Ultimate tier. A significant new perk for Ultimate subscribers is the inclusion of the Fortnite Crew subscription starting November 18, which provides the Battle Pass and V-Bucks monthly, a benefit valued separately at $11.99.
Ultimate members also receive enhanced Cloud Gaming, now out of beta, featuring best-quality streaming up to 1440p resolution.
