Ninja Gaiden 4 Lands Day One on Game Pass — Ultimate Just Jumped to $30/Month

Microsoft updated Xbox Game Pass at the start of October with new games and tier changes. Most notably, the Ultimate tier price rose to $30 per month, while the former Standard tier was renamed Game Pass Premium and kept a price of $15 per month. Below you’ll find the confirmed arrivals, departures, and the exact platforms and dates for the first half of October.

1. What is changing
2. New on Game Pass (first half of October)
3. Notable highlights
4. Leaving Game Pass (first half of October)
5. Context

What is changing

Microsoft raised the price of the Game Pass Ultimate tier to $30/month. Meanwhile, the former Game Pass Standard tier has been renamed Game Pass Premium and remains priced at $15/month. These are effective changes announced in early October.

New on Game Pass (first half of October)

Here is the full, confirmed list of games added to Game Pass in the first half of October, with platforms and which tiers they appear on.

Arrivals

• Supermarket Simulator — Cloud, Console, and PC (Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, PC Game Pass)
• Baldur’s Gate and Baldur’s Gate II: Enhanced Editions — PC (Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, PC Game Pass) — Oct. 9
• The Casting of Frank Stone — Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X (Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, PC Game Pass) — Oct. 14
• Ball x Pit — Cloud, Console, and PC (Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass) — Oct. 15
• The Grinch: Christmas Adventures — Cloud, Console, and PC (Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, PC Game Pass) — Oct. 15
• Eternal Strands — Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X (Now with Game Pass Premium) — Oct. 15
• He Is Coming (Game Preview) — PC (Now with Game Pass Premium) — Oct. 15
• Ninja Gaiden 2 Black — Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X (Now with Game Pass Premium) — Oct. 15
• Pax Dei — PC (Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, PC Game Pass) — Oct. 16
• Keeper — Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X (Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass) — Oct. 17
• Evil West — Cloud, Console, and PC (Game Pass Ultimate, Game Pass Premium, PC Game Pass) — Oct. 21
• Ninja Gaiden 4 — Cloud, PC, and Xbox Series X (Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass) — Oct. 21

Notable highlights

First, Ninja Gaiden 4 launches day one on Game Pass on Oct. 21, but it is available only to Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass subscribers. Second, the remaster Ninja Gaiden 2 Black was added to the service on Oct. 15 and appears under the newly named Game Pass Premium. Also, Supermassive Games’ choose-your-own horror The Casting of Frank Stone arrives on Oct. 14 across multiple tiers and platforms.

Leaving Game Pass (first half of October)

Several titles will leave Game Pass on Oct. 15. If you want to keep playing any of these, plan accordingly.

• Cocoon — Cloud, Console, and PC
• Core Keeper — Cloud, Console, and PC
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed — Cloud, Console, and PC

Context

These October changes follow the service’s September updates, which included titles like Hades returning to Game Pass. The new pricing and tier names are intended to reflect Microsoft’s recent restructuring of the subscription.

All dates and platform listings above are the ones announced by Microsoft for early October.