Microsoft has a few tiers of subscription services for owners of the Xbox One, Xbox Series X or Series S.

Xbox Game Pass is the firm's premier service that gives you access to hundreds of games for just one monthly fee.

Xbox Game Pass Core, for now still called Xbox Live Gold, is a monthly membership plan that is required for online play and gives you access to a small pool of games to play at no extra cost.

Finally, there's Game Pass Ultimate, which nets you all the benefits of the two plans above, plus PC Game Pass, EA Play, Cloud Gaming and access to exclusive game discounts for a single, cheaper price.

Xbox

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate (3 months)

Three months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate includes access to 100s of Xbox games, plus EA Play, Cloud Gaming, online play and more.

$44 at Amazon

Here's everything you need to know about Xbox Game Pass, Game Pass Core and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.

What is Xbox Game Pass Core, Game Pass and Game Pass Ultimate?

After launching with a simple proposition, there will soon be three tiers of Game Pass - the standard Game Pass, the cheaper Core version, and the premium Ultimate option.

Xbox Game Pass Core launches on 14 September 2023, replaces Xbox Live Gold and lets you play multiplayer online, and access over 25 Game Pass games at no extra cost.

The main Xbox Games Pass gives you access to well over 300 games to download and play on your Xbox One or Xbox Series X/S for one monthly fee but doesn't include multiplayer access.

If you upgrade to Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, you also get Xbox Live Gold, PC Game Pass, EA Play and access to Xbox Cloud Gaming, all for the same price.

You can download the games and play them as often as you like, as long as you continue to pay the monthly fee. Some titles might become unavailable as others are added, but you also have the option of buying any of the collection outright at discounted prices.

Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and original Xbox games are part of the line-up, the latter two through backward compatibility, so there are plenty of top titles to choose from.

Microsoft adds releases of its own and many third-party games on the same day they are released in stores. This includes Halo Infinite and Bethesda's new, forthcoming sci-fi RPG, Starfield.

It could also include all of Activision Blizzard's vast back catalogue of titles, when Microsoft's acquisition completes, including legacy and new Call of Duty games.

The included Xbox Live Gold also gives subscribers exclusive discounts on many games on the Xbox Store.

How much does Xbox Game Pass cost?

When Game Pass Core launches in September 2023, there will be three tiers of Game Pass available - check out the cost of each, below.

Xbox Game Pass Core price

It's not live yet, and for now is still called Xbox Live Gold, but Game Pass Core launches on 14 September 2023 and will cost $9.99 or £6.99 each month (or $60/£50 a year) for access to online multiplayer in your games, and a roster of over 25 Game Pass games.

Xbox Game Pass price

The standard version of Game Pass includes access to hundreds of games with new additions all the time, and costs $10.99 or £8.99 a month - however, it doesn't include online multiplayer access.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate price

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is priced at $16.99 or £12.99 a month. As mentioned, it includes Xbox Live Gold, Xbox Games Pass for PC and EA Play. Plus, Microsoft's cloud service, Cloud Gaming, is part of Ultimate at no extra cost.

You can cancel your membership at any time.

All of these prices changed in July 2023, when a price hike happened as you can see in the table below.

What games are on Xbox Game Pass?

Xbox Game Pass will always offer more than 300 games, made up of Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Xbox 360 and original Xbox backwards compatible titles.

Some might be switched in future for other games, but her2e is the current list of all the games that are currently available:

All the Xbox One & Series X/S games on Xbox Game Pass and Game Pass Ultimate:

Note, all games run on Xbox One as well as Xbox Series X/S, but can have enhancements on the next-gen consoles. Some games will also feature Xbox's Auto HDR and/or FPS Boost technologies.

All the Xbox 360 backward compatibility games on Game Pass:

All the games included in Xbox Game Pass Core

These games will be included when Game Pass Core launches on 14 September 2023.

All the original Xbox backward compatibility games on Game Pass:

** included as part of EA Play for Ultimate subscribers only.