Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Starfield, And More Missing From Game Pass Standard

Microsoft has officially rolled out Game Pass Standard, the Netflix-like subscription service’s new middle tier, and with it revealed which games will and won’t be included at the start. Among those missing are Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Diablo IV, and some other notable blockbusters like Starfield.

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Suggested ReadingAnnounced earlier this summer, Game Pass Standard is $15 a month and includes access to online multiplayer as well as a library of hundreds of games that can be downloaded and played on-demand. The big difference between Game Pass Standard and Game Pass Ultimate, the now $20 a month version, is that the former won’t include certain day-one additions to the library until up to 12 months later or even longer in some cases. The most notable example is Call of Duty: Black Ops 6, which will only be part of Game Pass Ultimate and Game Pass PC when it launches on October 25.

But a list of the existing libraries for each tier also reveals other discrepancies for games that already came to the service. Modern Warfare 3, added last month, is notably absent. As is Diablo IV, added in the spring with a new expansion, Vessel of Hatred, coming October 8. Valorant, Riot Games’ hero shooter that recently came to console, is free-to-play but locks certain characters behind a paywall. The Game Pass version that unlocks them all for free is part of Ultimate but not Standard.

There are some smaller day-and-date games missing as well. Flintlock, the colonial-era Soulslike, came to Game Pass in July but isn’t included in Standard’s library. Neither is Another Crab’s Treasure, the cartoony Soulslike that joined in April. Still Wakes The Deep, the horror walking sim that arrived in June, is also absent. It seems like a lot of recent day-one Game Pass releases, including Microsoft’s own Age of Mythology Retold, won’t be hitting Standard anytime soon, despite arriving on the service before the split was official. Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II isn’t there either, nor Starfield which came out over a year ago.

When will we see these games and others make it to the middle tier? That’s the most confusing part of all. For now there doesn’t seem to be one standard approach, with all releases being staggered by the same number of months. Even for Microsoft’s own first-party releases, it seems like their arrival on Standard will happens when it happens. Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, for example, might not hit Game Pass Standard until it first arrives on PS5 in the spring.

Update 9/11/2024 12:18 p.m. ET: Asked when some of these missing games would become a part of the Standard library, and how to know if and when future games will join it, a spokesperson for Microsoft shared the following, non-committal statement:

New day one games available with Game Pass Ultimate or PC Game Pass will not be immediately available with Game Pass Standard and may be added to the library at a future date. This could be up to 12 months or more and will vary by title.

Update 9/13/2024 3:08 p.m. ET: A user over on the ResetEra gaming forum collected a spreadsheet of every Game Pass Ultimate game that’s missing from the Game Pass Standard library as of today. Here’s the full list of 42 games:

Age of Mythology: Retold Standard EditionAnother Crab’s TreasureBotany ManorCall of Duty: Modern Warfare 3Core KeeperCreatures of AvaDiablo 4Dungeons Of HinterbergEiyuden Chronicle: Hundred HeroesFlintlock: The Siege of DawnFlockForza MotorsportGalacticareGo Mecha BallHarold HalibutHauntiiHeavy WeaponHumanityKunitsu-Gami: Path of the GoddessLittle Kitty, Big CityMagical DelicacyMLB: The Show 24Neon WhiteOctopath Traveler 2Open RoadsPayday 3PlateUp!Robin Hood – Sherwood BuildersRolling Hills: Make Sushi, Make FriendsSea of SolitudeSenua’s Saga: Hellblade 2Slime Rancher 2SpiderHeckStar TruckerStarfieldStill Wakes the DeepTchiaThe Case of the Golden IdolThe RewinderTurnip Boy Robs a BankValorantYou Suck at Parking Complete Edition