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Testers in Ireland can now add up to four people to their Xbox Game Pass subscription, as long as they’re all in the same country.
Microsoft is moving ahead with plans to add family sharing to its Xbox Game Pass, with a trial taking place in Ireland and Colombia.
Users who test this sharing feature will be able to add up to four people to their subscription, as long as they’re all in the same country.
Those who are added by a tester will get their own access to a Game Pass Ultimate subscription, featuring multiplayer offerings. Microsoft said in a blogpost that enrolment is limited and will remain open “while the offer is available”.
“Starting today in Colombia and Ireland, Xbox Insiders can begin to preview a plan that allows multiple people to share Game Pass Ultimate benefits,” said Microsoft senior technical manager Tyler Mittleider yesterday (4 August).
“This makes it even easier to play the best Game Pass games with friends and family across console, PC and cloud by enabling you to add up to four people to your subscription.”
Xbox Games Pass is Microsoft’s subscription service that allows users to access hundreds of games on console, PC or cloud.
Users who wish to test the new sharing feature need to sign up for the Xbox Insider preview plan from the Microsoft Store. Only one user needs to be a part of this preview.
Microsoft said joining this new preview plan converts any time remaining on a subscriber’s current membership to the new plan, based on the “monetary value of the old membership”. So a full month of the Ultimate tier subscription will be converted to 18 days of membership for the new plan.
The preview version of the family plan is being offered in Ireland for €21.99 per month, according to The Verge. The pricing is higher than the Ultimate plan, but is cheaper overall if five people take part.
It has been rumoured for a while that Microsoft was planning to introduce a family plan to its subscription gaming service.
Other subscription services such as Disney+, Spotify and Netflix have had family plans for years. Gaming rival Nintendo also offers a family plan for its Switch Online service.
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