All Xbox Game Pass members just got a huge, game-changing update – not just Ultimate

Core and Standard members wake up to a great new Game Pass feature

Xbox Cloud Gaming running on Ayaneo Pocket Evo gaming handheld
(Image credit: Rik Henderson / Future)
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Quick Summary

Microsoft has added Xbox Cloud Gaming access to all of its Xbox Game Pass tiers, not just Ultimate.

Available to Xbox Insiders initially, a full roll out is expected before the end of the year.

Xbox has delivered a gift to Xbox Game Pass Core and Standard members – they can now access Xbox Cloud Gaming without needing to pay for a full Ultimate subscription.

This is a big step forward for the gaming giant's cloud service, especially as it tries to attract members who don't even own an Xbox console or PC.

Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is superb value. For £14.99 / $19.99 / €17.99 per month you get access to a vast library of Xbox titles to download and play on Xbox Series X/S or Xbox One, including day one releases. You also get PC Game Pass, EA Play, exclusive offers and, of course, Xbox Cloud Gaming.

However, if you don't want to pay quite so much and are willing to cut out some of the additional benefits, Xbox Game Pass Standard is just £10.99 / $14.99 / €12.99 per month for access to 100s of games.

And even cheaper is Xbox Game Pass Core, which is priced at just £6.99 / $9.99 / €6.99 for access to a curated library of just over 25 titles.

The only issue with the latter two tiers is that they previously didn't give you cloud gaming, but now do.

At present, the new feature roll out is restricted to Xbox insiders with either Standard or Core membership, although it'll soon enough be available to all members.

It's limited depending on the tier, to games that are available in their respective libraries, plus eligible games each subscriber owns personally. But this also includes select PC games, something neither plan covered before.

Certainly, this is an exciting development for those who use Xbox Cloud Gaming on the likes of an Amazon Fire TV Stick 4K or Samsung Smart TV. They don't have to pay the full whack for Ultimate, but still get a whole lot of games through Standard.

However, there might be even better news on the horizon.

It was hinted during Gamescom last week that Xbox is planning a new cloud-only tier for those without Xbox consoles – or who just want to game on mobile. We're not sure when that could be announced or how much it'll cost, but it's one to keep an eye out for.

Rik Henderson
Rik Henderson
News Editor

Rik is T3’s news editor, which means he looks after the news team and the up-to-the-minute coverage of all the hottest gadgets and products you’ll definitely want to read about. And, with more than 35 years of experience in tech and entertainment journalism, including editing and writing for numerous websites, magazines, and newspapers, he’s always got an eye on the next big thing.

Rik also has extensive knowledge of AV, TV streaming and smart home kit, plus just about everything to do with games since the late 80s. Prior to T3, he spent 13 years at Pocket-lint heading up its news team, and was a TV producer and presenter on such shows as Channel 4's GamesMaster, plus Sky's Games World, Game Over, and Virtual World of Sport.

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