Older Xbox Game Pass members are losing access to games when they activate the Standard tier

During the summer Microsoft has announced major changes to its Xbox Game Pass subscription servicewith the addition of a more expensive tier, Ultimate, at 17.99 euros per month, the only one to guarantee access to first and second party games from the day of launch, including the imminent Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, at least on consoles (on PC everything has remained unchanged).

The new price ranges have been activated in these days and users who upgraded from their old subscription to the Standard tier, but not to Ultimate, had a nasty surprise: they can no longer access some titles that they had been able to play up until that point. The new launch policy does not only apply to upcoming games, but also to those already available.

Many less games

Some might wonder why you should give up the months of your old subscription under these conditions. The problem is that switching to the Standard band is a requirement to access Xbox Live Gold servicesincluding online in games. Let’s see the titles that have been cut:

• Age of Mythology: Retold Standard Edition
• Another Crab’s Treasure
• Botany Manor
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
• Core Keeper
• Creatures of Ava
• Diablo 4
• Dungeons Of Hinterberg
• Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes
• Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn
• flock
• Forza Motorsport
• Galacticare
• Go Mecha Ball
• Harold Halibut
• Hauntii
• Heavy Weapon
• Humanity
• Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess
• Little Kitty, Big City
• Magical Delicacy
• MLB: The Show 24
• Neon White
• Octopath Traveler 2
• Open Roads
• Payday 3
• PlateUp!
• Robin Hood – Sherwood Builders
• Rolling Hills: Make Sushi, Make Friends
• Sea of ​​Solitude
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2
• 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
• You Suck at Parking Complete Edition

There are so many. For third-party games, the problem could be the agreements with the respective publishers, but for first-party games like Starfield or Diablo 4, it is not clear why Microsoft did not choose to leave them in all subscription tiers, given that they were already there. Create a perception of additional value for the Ultimate tier right away?