Why Is Xbox Game Pass Standard Missing Key Games Like ‘Starfield’ And ‘Diablo 4’? | Gaming

Another day, another bad bit of news out of Microsoft, now at the same time as another 650 layoffs at the Xbox division where reports indicate remaining employees remain confused about the company’s own strategy.

What is not making that any more clear is this new tier of Game Pass, Xbox Game Pass Standard, which is a cheaper $15 a month than the $20 Game Pass Ultimate, but with the caveat that it does not include a main appeal of that service, day one launches of big exclusive Xbox games.

Well, there is another caveat, that Microsoft has seemingly arbitrarily picked a few dozen games, many of them big titles, that are not included in Xbox Game Pass Standard, many of which are more than a year old indicating this isn’t even necessarily some sort of time-based…