Microsoft has now revealed more details about its Friends & Family plan
The new Friends and Family Xbox Game Pass plan has been officially confirmed by the company, following recent leaks that suggested Microsoft was working on a new Game Pass subscription that would allow subscribers to share their library with up to four of their subscribed players. This new subscription would allow subscribers to share their library with up to four of their subscribed players. Microsoft has just disclosed additional information regarding its Friends & Family plan, which now includes the capability to share one’s Xbox Game Pass subscription with more than one individual. Microsoft is currently testing out its new plan in Ireland and Colombia, where it is priced at EUR 21.99 per month, which is significantly higher than the EUR 12.99 per month price that is normally associated with the Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription.
Xbox Live Game PassMicrosoft has been quietly rolling out new titles for members, including providing them with a first-day free pass that costs less than half of what a game would normally cost. With this package, a select group of Microsoft customers can pay a single monthly subscription to gain access to the Game Pass service on as many as five different Xbox profiles. All of the perks that come with Game Pass will be shared across those five accounts. These benefits include access to hundreds of games of the highest quality; coverage of launch days; unique content from Xbox Game Studios; member discounts; and a subscription to EA Play.
The subscription allows users to share the benefits of their account with up to five other people who are part of their gaming circle, as the name of the subscription suggests. As a result of the fact that each account inside a group is handled as an independent entity, features such as Microsoft Achievements, Cloud Saves, and Game Progress will be customized appropriately for each individual user. Additionally, it was disclosed that each participant in a friends-and-family plan will be given their very own Xbox profile, which will enable them to save their progress and keep tabs on their statistics.
According to a Frequently Asked Questions document published by Microsoft, customers who are currently subscribed to Game Pass Ultimate will have their hours recalculated to reflect the cost of the friends and family plan once the switch is complete. With the new option, Xbox Game Pass subscribers in Ireland will be able to share their subscription with up to four other friends or family members for the same monthly price of €21.99.
One subscriber and up to four other family members or friends can share access to all of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate’s benefits through the family & friends plan box. These benefits include Xbox Cloud Gaming, multiplayer on Xbox Live, and even PC versions of games that are available through the Game Pass subscription service. This provides further evidence that the new plan has the potential to be an advantageous addition to the local family-sharing options that are already available on Xbox.
In August 2022, Microsoft conducted a trial run of the plan for Xbox Insiders in Colombia and Ireland. It is quite likely that the service will be rolled out to a greater number of countries in the near future. Although Microsoft did provide preview versions of this service to Xbox Insiders in certain areas earlier this month, there has been no indication of any formal plans to roll out the feature in additional areas.