Does Outriders (purchased, physical disk) require a PAID pass subscription to play solo?...

This is a live service game, and therefore requires access to Xbox live. If you don’t have gold or game pass ultimate, the game will not function. As it is not free to play, it requires you to have a subscription

Thanks, that's what I wanted to know. In that case my complaint is that they should have said on the box, "Requires paid access to Xbox live," but they didn't — just "Requires Internet," which is misleading. Now I'm going to have to wonder every time I buy a game for Xbox whether it requires a paid subscription if the box doesn't say.

This is a live service game, and therefore requires access to Xbox live. If you don’t have gold or game pass ultimate, the game will not function. As it is not free to play, it requires you to have a subscription

If it says "requires internet", it's safe to assume that it needs Xbox Live or Game Pass Ultimate. The only things that don't are free to play games

We own the game. Is there a difference. It worked before until his subscription ran out. but he is now paid up. He has and wants to play again online. Does he need the disk to play online? or a separate purchase with his Gold Pass?

Hi, Todd. I’m Arturo, and I’ll be glad to provide some assistance with your inquiry today.

The warning symbol means you don’t own the digital license of the game with this icon, or, you don’t have the disc inserted in case you own the game physically.

Please be aware that some games like Outriders, and Subnautica, left the game pass library a couple of weeks ago in the case of Outriders and months ago for Subnautica. (In case you played those games via Game Pass)

Moreover, it is important to clarify that your progress on those games is not lost.
You can access to this progress as long as you decide to purchase the digital version or a physical copy of them.