Some newly-surfaced evidence suggests that Microsoft is prepping a new tier of Xbox Game Pass. This new Game Pass tier is reportedly codenamed ‘Triton’, and could sport a cheaper price tag than most other tiers of the service by way of a major omission.
What is the Xbox Game Pass Triton tier?
Over on Twitter, reliable Game Pass leaker redphx recently shared code snippets from Microsoft’s public-facing backend that allude to a new ‘Triton’ tier of Xbox Game Pass.
Most notably, Triton includes only Xbox first-party games, with the following titles tagged with the codename in Microsoft’s backend:
- Doom Eternal
- Doom 64
- Dishonored 2
- Fable Anniversary
- Fallout 4
- Fallout 76
- Gears 5
- Halo 5: Guardians
- Halo Wars 2
- Hellblade
- Ori and the Blind Forest
- Psychonauts
- Retro Classics
- State of Decay 2
- The Elder Scrolls Online
Why could Xbox be working on the Triton tier for Game Pass?
The idea behind the Triton tier seems pretty simple: reducing costs and offering Xbox Game Pass at a cheaper price. Game Pass has attracted some controversy over price hikes in the past couple of years, to the extent that Microsoft Gaming CEO Asha Sharma has even expressed interest in offering cheaper tiers of the subscription service.
At the time of writing, the Xbox Game Pass price structure is as follows:
- Game Pass Essential: $9.99/month, includes free monthly games, online multiplayer (console), and basic cloud gaming access
- Game Pass Premium: $14.99/month, includes a game library with hundreds of titles, online multiplayer (console), and greater access to cloud gaming
- PC Game Pass: $16.49/month, includes day one access to Xbox first-party games, game library, and cloud gaming access
- Game Pass Ultimate: $29.99/month, includes day one access to Xbox first-party games, expanded game library (EA Play, Ubisoft+ Classics), 1440p cloud gaming support, and other perks
As one would expect, getting a third-party game onto Xbox Game Pass requires Microsoft to pay its developer/publisher for the same. As more games join the Game Pass roster, the costs associated with the service swelter and thereby necessitate price increases.
That’s where the purported Game Pass Triton tier comes in. Eliminating third-party games entirely means Microsoft can offer a more affordable and curated option for those who want to enjoy Game Pass and are happy to do so with just Xbox first-party games.
And it’s not as if Xbox is hurting for game output, either. The core Xbox Game Studios group consists of 14 teams, and ZeniMax and Activision Blizzard King are under the Microsoft Gaming umbrella, too. This makes Xbox one of, if not the largest, game publishers in the industry.
With blockbuster titles like Gears of War E-Day, Forza Horizon 6, Halo: Campaign Evolved, Fable, and the next Call of Duty entry in the pipeline for 2026, it hardly seems like a first-party-only Xbox Game Pass tier would struggle with new additions on a regular basis.
The only question that remains is, will the Game Pass Triton tier materialise? And if so, what will it be priced at?