Xbox is testing a way to share Game Pass Ultimate with friends and family
Everything’s a subscription these days — like Microsoft’sXbox Game Passservice, which crossed 25 million subscriptions earlier this year, and shows no signs of slowing down. The gaming offering has so far held its own against the likes of Playstation Plus and cloud serviceGoogle Stadia, thanks to its wide variety of indie games and AAA titles. With Sonyrevamping Playstation Plus, Microsoft is also looking to shake things up, and is starting a test that allows users to share Game Pass Ultimate benefits with their friends and family.
Microsoft is giving Xbox Insiders in Colombia and Ireland the option to sign up for this test, which will allow them to share Game Pass Ultimate with up to four friends (viaChrome Unboxed). That gives them all access to Game Pass games across their PCs, consoles, and the cloud, while effectively bringing the pe-user cost down to just a few dollars a month.
Of course, there are a few big caveats here, and even in this early testing Microsoft has a lot of rules about just how this will work. The plan holder and any other users must all reside in the same country, for one. Subscribers looking to get involved in this test can convert their accounts to the new plan while getting credit for their existing one, but there are a lot of restrictions on how many people can join the group, and how often, so check outMicrosoft’s full FAQfor the specifics.
If the testing phase passes muster, hopefully we’ll see this friends and family plan open to wider availability in the near future. With Sony and Nintendoahead in the gaming subscription race, Microsoft needs to step things up, and this might be just the boost it needs.
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