October was one of the biggest months in Xbox Game Pass' recent history. While some great indie titles like Sifu And Encryption were added to the service last month Call of Duty: Black Ops 6is the day one launch that cemented October 2024 as one of the best Game Pass titles. According to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 “Set a record” for new Game Pass subscribers on launch day.
Of course, Xbox Game Pass will be quite difficult to reproduce Call of Duty: Black Ops 6will be a success any time soon, and unfortunately it doesn't look like Xbox will even try this November. According to the subscription service's recent marketing, Xbox Game Pass already has a pretty strong lineup for November, with 10 games confirmed to release during the first wave. But that's not quite the whole truth.
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The Xbox Game Pass lineup for November 2024 features strange marketing moves
The November 2024 Xbox Game Pass graphics feel misleading
Just a few days ago, Xbox Game Pass confirmed its lineup for Wave 1 in November by releasing a graphic that showed a total of seven titles. These seven titles included releases from day one Goat Simulator: Remastered And Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024along with a handful of indie titles like Turnip Boy robs a bank And Harold Halibut. But observant fans might notice something strange about this graphic.
Below each game's image, it will state which platforms it will be available on and, more importantly, which Xbox Game Pass tier it will be available on. Many will quickly realize that four of the games listed are coming to Xbox Game Pass Standard and only three are being added to Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.
For those who missed the recent, confusing shakeup, Xbox Game Pass Standard is a cheaper tier that still gives players access to a large library of Game Pass titles, but doesn't give them new games on day one, either is not the case It gives them new titles as soon as they are released on Game Pass Ultimate.
That means the four games listed in Game Pass's November Wave 1 graphic (Harold Halibut, Turnip Boy robs a bank, Go to the Mecha BallAnd The rewinder) have all been available on Xbox Game Pass Ultimate for months, but are now coming to Xbox Game Pass Standard. This also means that only three of the games shown in the graphic are brand new additions to Xbox Game Pass Goat Simulator: Remastered, Flight Simulator 2024And Metal Slug Tactics.
It's hard not to feel like this graphic is a bit misleading. While only three new games are coming to Xbox Game Pass in the first wave of November, seven were shown here, giving the impression that the month is much busier than it actually is.
The standard Xbox Game Pass tier cannot take priority
Xbox Game Pass' November Wave 1 graphics are a strange, perhaps even misleading, marketing move, but there could be a much bigger problem on the horizon. Looking at the rest of Xbox Game Pass' November lineup, 10 games have been confirmed to be coming to the service between November 1st and November 19th, the end of Wave 1. Of these 10 titles, five are Game Pass Standard additions that are already available in Game Pass Ultimate.
This means that only 5 new games will be coming to Xbox Game Pass in the first wave of the month. This is significantly less than the offering in previous months: in October there were eight new titles in the first wave, in September and August there were seven and in July there were an impressive 11.
While it's important not to jump to the conclusion that this month's lineup sets a new precedent for the evolution of Xbox Game Pass, it's still a possibility that needs to be addressed. Xbox shouldn't disguise the lack of new additions to Game Pass by presenting Game Pass standard titles as new games when that's not actually the case for many subscribers. And more importantly, Xbox shouldn't reduce its Ultimate tier expansions and instead just add more to the Game Pass standard.
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate
Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is the highest tier of Microsoft's flagship gaming subscription service, offering over 100 game titles you can play with a single purchase, making it one of the Xbox ecosystem's most outstanding value propositions to date.
