At first glance, all Xbox Game Pass services may seem to offer the same thing. And in many ways, they do. All of them are subscription services that unlock a variety of AAA and indie games for one monthly fee. The major differences are which games are included, where you can play these games, and what extra features are included. It’s also worth remembering that there are four services here: Xbox Game Pass Core, Xbox Game Pass Standard, PC Game Pass, and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate. Here’s a quick summary of each, although we’ll go into more detail below.
Xbox Game Pass Breakdown
Xbox Game Pass Core: This replaces Xbox Live Gold, enabling online play on consoles and access to a small library of about 25 games.
Xbox Game Pass Standard: The console version unlocks a much larger catalog of console games and online play, but does not include day-one access to new games.
PC Game Pass: This unlocks a large catalog of PC games, plus EA Play titles and day-one access to new games.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate: The top-tier service includes online multiplayer on consoles, both the console and PC game catalogs, plus a few extras like EA Play and Xbox Cloud Gaming.
What Features Do Xbox Game Pass/Ultimate Have?
The core feature for all Game Pass subscriptions is access to a library of games at one monthly price. While subscribed, you can download and play games from over 100 fantastic titles on your PC, mobile device, or Xbox console (depending on the subscription). For the Standard and PC version of Xbox Game Pass, that’s precisely what you’re paying for. If you just want to play multiplayer games online, there’s a slightly cheaper plan called Xbox Game Pass Core, which replaced Xbox Live Gold in September 2023. This subscription costs $9.99/month or $59.99/year. Granted, you no longer need a subscription to play free-to-play games online, including heavy-hitters like PUBG, Fortnite, and Halo: Infinite.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is on the other side of the spectrum. The premium subscription bundles Xbox Game Pass Console, PC Game Pass, online multiplayer, and Xbox Cloud Gaming (more on this later) into a single service.
What Titles Are Included in Xbox Game Pass?
There is a lot of confusion about the Xbox Game Pass game library. In theory, the list of games for Xbox Game Pass vs Ultimate is more or less the same. However, if you check the official list online, it combines four separate libraries: PC titles, console titles, cloud gaming titles, and EA Play titles. Of course, if you subscribe to Ultimate, you gain instant access to all these. Those who opt for the cheaper Game Pass subscriptions might not get the full picture. To check each category, enable the filter for console, PC, or cloud-enabled games. Also, remember that the console titles include EA Play games, which are not included with a standard Game Pass subscription.
Each library constantly shifts, with new games added and old ones removed every month. Microsoft announces removals well in advance, so you have plenty of time to try or finish them. There are discounts to buy games leaving Game Pass, so watch for those if you want to keep playing.
To give you an idea of what to expect, here’s a short list of some of the best games on Xbox Game Pass:
- Back 4 Blood
- Cities: Skylines
- Dead Cells
- Deathloop
- Doom Eternal
- FIFA 23
- Forza Horizon 4
- Forza Horizon 5
- Gears 5
- Grid Legends
- Halo: The Master Chief Collection
- Halo: Infinite
- Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice
- Hollow Knight
- Microsoft Flight Simulator
- Minecraft Dungeons
- Ori and the Will of the Wisps
- Perfect Dark
- Prey
- Psychonauts 2
- Rage 2
- Slay the Spire
- Spelunky 2
