Xbox Users Get to Try Out New Xbox Game Pass Core Tier This Week

The new Xbox Game Pass Core tier starts with four free Xbox games.

By Tanner Dedmon

Xbox Game Pass Core is the new Xbox Game Pass tier that'll replace Xbox Live Gold in September, and if you're part of the Xbox Insider program, you may be able to try it out right now. Xbox announced this week that Xbox Game Pass Core has entered the testing phase with four of its free games that'll be included in the service able to be played right now. For those who aren't part of the Xbox Insider program, you'll have to wait until September 14th to see how Xbox Game Pass Core compares to its predecessor.

The new Xbox Game Pass Core tier should be testable now for those who are in the Alpha and Alpha Skip-Ahead rings of the Xbox Insider program, Xbox said this week in a new blog post about the Xbox Game Pass option. If you're part of those rings, you'll now have access to Psychonauts 2, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, State of Decay 2, and Doom Eternal, though you admittedly could've been playing those already if you had any version of Xbox Game Pass prior to this transition. 

For context and seeing how the new Xbox Game Pass Core tier is quite new, the new tier basically offers the online component of Xbox Live Gold as well as more than 25 different games that have been selected to be part of the Xbox Game Pass Core catalog. This'll be the cheapest Xbox Game Pass option, but it'll notably only offer those 25+ games as well as deals on other Xbox games -- if you want the full Xbox Game Pass catalog, you'll have to get either the console or the PC version of Xbox Game Pass which are two different tiers. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is still the all-in-one package at the top of the tiers and seems to be your best bet if you're trying to take advantage of the cross-platform play initiatives Xbox has been pushing across the console, PC, and cloud gaming platforms.

Related:

For the September 14th launch, the current list of known Xbox Game Pass Core games consists of Among Us, Descenders, Dishonored 2, Doom Eternal, Fable Anniversary, Fallout 4, Fallout 76, Forza Horizon 4, Gears 5, Grounded, Halo 5: Guardians, Halo Wars 2, Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice, Human Fall Flat, Inside, Ori & The Will of the Wisps, Psychonauts 2, State of Decay 2, and The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited. More will be confirmed pre-launch.

And whether you're part of the Xbox Insider program and can test this new tier or not, be sure to claim the last free Xbox Games with Gold games for this month since subscribers won't be getting any more after these.

Trending Now: